Pssssst...

I know it's been quiet here lately.

But I now have a new website!

arminnelsyn.com

It has info and new artwork regarding my book project, as well as a portfolio of older work. From here on out I will be doing my blogging there. I'll keep this blog online for old time's sake, but I won't be updating here anymore. So long, blogspot! Thanks for reading along!

Museum Finds

Spent the last week in Chicago leading students through the sites and museums. After being promptly ditched by my students at the Field Museum, I struck out on my own. Here are a few discoveries I made...

Engraved Globe. See if you can spot the severed head!

Pocket Sundial Cube

Cannon Sundial. The sun's rays fire a mini cannon at the right hour!

Decorative Telescopes

Creepy Dolls

Yelling Deer

"Far Side" Mask

Crocodile Warrior Gear

...including dehydrated crocodile sword sheath

Prehistoric Oversized Mammals

...including jurassic jumbo deer

And this little guy.

I is for Imp

As used in English vocab, an imp is a mischievous, troublemaking child. It refers to the mythical creature from fairy stories. An imp is a small fairy or gremlin-like character who spends a lot of time pulling jokes and hanging out in the underworld. Unlike other meddling underworld creatures, imps have a certain innocence about them. This little blurb from Wikipedia reminds me of some of my past students - don't tell them!

"Imps were often portrayed as lonely little creatures always in search of human attention. They often used jokes and pranks as a means of attracting human friendship, which often backfired when people became tired or annoyed of the imp's endeavors, usually driving it away."

So don't mind the imp's misbehavior. It's just a screen for needing attention. Not that they'd do anything seriously troubling...

"Most of the time, the pranks were harmless fun, but some could be upsetting and harmful, such as switching babies."

Oh. 

The Fox and the Crow

Took a break from my current project to paint something besides monsters doing alphabet yoga.

The painting's based on one of Aesop's fables. In the story, the fox flatters a vain crow into singing for him. The crow opens his beak to sing, thus dropping a piece of cheese which the fox quickly steals away.

My favorite version comes from the band mewithoutYou, which is based on Bawa Muhaiyaddeen's interpretation of the fable in My Love You My Children. It culminates in a very different moral played out in bizarre lyrical brilliance:

We'll rest upon the Knee

Where all divisions cease to be

And rootbeer float in our banana boat

Across the tapioca sea

When letting all attachments go

Is the only prayer we know

May it be so

May it be so

May it be so

The Ettin

E is for Ettin, a two-headed giant. He's a lazy one, and doesn't get moving much. I applied some watercolor "blooms" to his skin to look as if large patches of lichen had grown over time.

The Ettin is an etymological evolution of the Jøtunn, or Frost-Giants, of old Norse mythology. In Old English, Jøtunn became Eoten which in turn became Ettin.

This guy (or guys?) isn't specifically named in many monster tales. However, they are present in C.S. Lewis' Narnia. The majority of The Silver Chair takes place in a region north of Narnia called Ettinsmoore, which happens to be the cold, mountainous home of the giants.

The Cockatrice

The cockatrice is half rooster, half dragon. It's produced from a rooster's egg (yes, a rooster not a chicken!) that has been nurtured by a toad. The cockatrice is essentially a variation of the Basilisk myth with similar qualities. It's gaze kills or turns things to stone, weasels are the only living things that can survive its staring contests, etc.

Where do creatures like this come from? Many monsters originated from medieval bestiaries. These books were something between natural history encyclopedias and Sunday School lessons. Each animal was a sort of Christian spiritual symbol. Where there were gaps in biblical or biological knowledge, natural creatures were embellished to illustrate the various moral principles. Often, creatures were simply made up, derived from mistranslation or superstition. In fact, the cockatrice cameoed multiple times in the original King James Bible as a rendering for the Hebrew word for cobra or viper. 

And that's where we get something as bizarre as the chicken-snake.

Early Sketch

D for Dragon

The project continues...

Here's an early sketch for layout and values:

My original color scheme was on the warm side of the color wheel, but I kept getting frustrated with it during painting. Everything was sickly yellow-green, brown and red. Eventually I switched my entire color scheme to cooler blues and purples.

I'm happy with how it turned out. My personal nitpick, however, lies with the fire. It's too static. Reminds me of Dale Chihuly's glasswork instead of flickering flame. More to learn next time!

Christopher Tolkien vs the Franchise

A rare interview with Christopher Tolkien has recently been published in English. (Originally in French.) It's a great read. If you don’t have time to read the whole thing, the last quote sums it up well:

"Tolkien has become a monster, devoured by his own popularity and absorbed into the absurdity of our time," Christopher Tolkien observes sadly. "The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has overwhelmed me. The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: to turn my head away."

On one hand, I can appreciate his dismay. The pop culture phenomena surrounding LotR over the last decade has distorted the voice of the original. The general public knows a different Middle Earth than what was first conceived. (Here's just one hilarious example.) I’m sure any artist would be equally frustrated by someone franchising their legacy.

The article leads me to a slightly unrelated question, however. Is it right for new generations reboot, remix and rewrite great works of art? The answer that comes to mind is: as long as the source is recognizable. Art given to the public imagination will always be freely interpreted and misinterpreted. Provided that the bread crumbs are intact enough, people can still follow the path back to the starting point.

But here's what really makes me wonder: if a ridiculous Denny's promotional leads someone to eventually experience the poetry of The Silmarillion, does that make it ok?

Monster ABCs Page 2

The second spread from my book project!

The book's progressing, bit by bit! C and D are next and nearing completion.

I have two friends who are firm believers in Bigfoot, Sasquatch, what-have-you. Personally, I think that in this smartphone age we'd have a video of him by now.

Monster Alphabet Page 1

First spread from my as-yet-untitled Monstrous Alphabet book:

So what's this project about anyways?

I came up with the Monster Alphabet project last October. It’s a simple rhyming book pairing each letter of the alphabet with a creatures from folktales, legends and myths.

The inspiration comes from my own experience learning to read. As a kid I was drawn to books featuring the weird and funny and fantastic. My early "reading" material came from the illustrations in Calvin & Hobbes, Dr. Suess, Where the Wild Things Are, Little Critter, and others. Eventually I learned how to read the stories that went with the pictures.

That's the philosophy behind this book. I'm not making a reading primer, but I hope the pictures and characters might be a gateway for young kids grow their interest in reading. I had many classes in Early Childhood Education back in college, and it's amazing what a healthy enthusiasm for reading can do for a child. It's got to start somewhere!

This is my first structured writing and illustration project. I've always wanted to make books, and I hope this is a creative kickstart. I've got many more ideas I'd like to tackle in the future. Since I'm just starting I knew I needed to work on something simple, fun and systematic. My goal is to take this project to completion - which in this case means a finished book submitted for digital publishing. 

Expected release: Summer 2013. I'll update progress along the way.

Nessie

Here's another early draft for my work-in-progress alphabet monster book:

N for Nessie. Watercolor + Photoshop

In other news, Christmas Break is almost over. I had big plans for making headway on book art, but family time and hosting guests took precedent. Not a bad trade off. 

Fatty Raccoon

A cut-n-paste cartoon from last spring. I can't remember where I pulled the critters from, but I know the ice cream came from an old copy of Wayside School.

Thoughts on PJ's Hobbit

What does Mr. Baggins hate? 

I saw An Unexpected Journey twice over opening weekend. First with a group of students and colleagues, second with a good friend.

The first viewing was like putting together a puzzle with pieces from two mismatched sets. I had recently revisited the book, so the whole 3 hours I was mentally parsing out what did and did not belong. Perhaps the next two movies will add more weight to the scenes that felt extraneous.

I’m glad I saw it a second time. While there are still poor bits, mostly in terms of storytelling and pacing, the good stuff overshadowed the bad.

The film’s best moments are when its characters are given room to carry the story forward without flashback, narration or extensive exposition. This is why the dwarves’ song in Bag End is such a stand-out scene. Yes, Howard Shore’s music is fantastic. But it also serves an important story point. The song tells us what the dwarves want – known as the most important story element; their primary motivation for the rest of the plot – while influencing what Bilbo wants. The dwarves sing of the wide world, tragedy and ambition – things the Hobbit has read about but never experienced. And the next morning, with yesternight's dreamlike events faded to quiet, Bilbo makes a small choice that influences the fate of Middle Earth.

(This, by the way, is my favorite moment of the movie and I believe the climax of Act 1. The camera lingers on Bilbo’s silent hall long enough for the audience to fill in the blanks and anticipate his decision. We put 2+2 together, making Bilbo’s farewell “I’m going on an adventure!” all the better because we’ve earned it.)

Middle Earth continues to be an amazing place on-screen, far bigger than what I visualize in the books. I love how Jackson’s crew utilizes the New Zealand landscape as an underpainting for Tolkien’s myths.  The vistas, design and architecture are what set these movies apart from most fantasy fare. As always, the Weta gang and production team are full of amazing artists at the top of their craft. Can’t wait to see what they've created for the next two films.

Letters and Monsters

I've been planning a new project this past month: an alphabet book based on myths and monsters from around the world. Hoping to complete it by February for digital publication, but this is my first go at a project of this length so you never know :). I'm happy with the thumbnails and sketches so far.

Below are the first three color comps. The first is nearing final rendering while the second and third are still in sketch mode.

To Bring People Back Home

"We have a language to celebrate waywardness, but not a language to to bring people back home." -Makoto Fujimura

Makoto Fujimura is illuminating a beautiful edition of the four Gospels. See the video below for a look at his exquisite technique and some great conversation on the subject of art and faith. (The above quote comes in around the 7:30 marker.)

His words struck a chord with me and make me wonder: In what ways can creativity, art and story orient us towards reconciliation? Can these tools beckon us "homeward"?

Three Foot Six and Underground

Like anybody who’s anybody, I’ve been re-reading the Hobbit before it hits theaters next month. And, like all the cool artists on the interwebs, I wanted to do an illustration or two.

Except I didn’t make it past the first paragraph.

The Hobbit is an illustrator’s dream, filled with spectacular scenes of distant mountains, grim creatures, jolly elves, burning pines and evil forests. “Never mind that,” I thought. “Let’s just start painting the very the beginning.”

In his opening line, Tolkien describes a sort of anti-Hobbit hole to better distinguish the squalor of most underground dwellers from the gentrified nature of Hobbits.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat, it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

We could pause here and do a socio-political analysis, but let's not tarnish the fairy-tale, shall we? Here’s my visual take on The Hobbit, Paragraph One:

The unHobbit-hole. Nothing to sit on. Nothing to eat. Bits of worm.

I’ll leave the rest of the book to more accomplished illustrators.

Thicket

Here's a quick watercolor doodle. Eric Carle, did you crawl into my subconscious?

A Picky Peccary

I've never met a peccary, and I'm ok with that.

The not-so-Picky Process:

This lovely thing modeled for me on Google images:

Source

He looks unpleasant.

I did a quick pencil sketch and scanned for linework.

Watercolor time! Tried to not be too selective about where the color went on the page.

On to digital. I changed the character design halfway through painting – the pig’s “mane” needed taming. I wasted a lot of time manipulating the original watercolor to fit the new linework . Lesson learned: commit to a design before beginning the painting process!

The result lacks polish, but it has the texture I was after. And if you're wondering, peccaries prefer cactus!

Starting Out

Starting Out After Rail
by Thomas Eakins

Hi internet. What's this blog for? Mainly sharing my artwork and other creative projects. Since I'm a learner (aren't we all?) I'll be writing about techniques and what I'm finding out along the way. Oh, and expect some general thoughts on stories and what makes a narrative effective, etc.

For context's sake: my creative interests mainly fall under the poorly-titled category of Children's Literature, so a lot of the material here will be in that vein. 

Thanks for reading!