Rhona's Research Class: Portfolio Creation

     Only a couple classes into the semester and already I'm learning about myself as an artist (yay). One big thing that I've come to understand in particular is that I'm drawn to a good story and a fleshed out character. Doesn't matter what the medium is, could be anything: comics, drawing, video games, movies, books, storyboards, RPGs, whatever. What they have in common (or should) is the story and characters. Something could have crappy production value, poor graphics, anything...but if the characters are believable and well thought out and the story is compelling, then I'm willing to overlook its flaws.
     Medium is not the message. The medium is simply a backdrop for the real stars of the show; the stage for the actors.
     We did a collaboration/conglomerate of a project last semester in Commercial Art II for our final. And one of the first things we had to do was basically to invent this character and give them a life and persona of their own. And damn it, if by the end of that project I didn't feel like Dr. Frank after he gave life to his monster. I knew my character "The Wolf" inside and out. Heck we were finishing each others sentences by the end of the project...its like we were the same...person....O_O
     Now, albeit, in hindsight parts of his design may have been a bit...well say, well trodden...but I still pieced this guy together from scratch and made him what he was. I could really put him in just about any situation and know how hes going to react. In doing this I also learned a great deal about myself. He ended up teaching me as much as I taught him. I put into him my frustration, anger, confusion, hurt, and need for revenge; and in return he helped me deal with those things in a round about way.
     Ok DJ, getting sidetracked....back to earth now.
     Where were we? Story and characters, that's right. Yes, so that final project was a great exorcise in character building and story weaving, especially since we had to work with other artist within the class and even in partner with a GIT class from the Tech department to complete it.
     We also ended up doing a storyboard and a children's book illustration in that class (pictured below). We were giving the freedom of choosing how to illustrate the children's book and I was Inexorably drawn towards the comic book medium of storytelling. I think this is because of a certain level of comparability  within that style of illustrating, but also because it is a nice blending of story telling (like traditionally from a book) and of course from a visual standpoint as well. It's different yet similar to other mediums.
     So, for personal work, what I am going to do is to explore this interest in the telling of stories and the building of characters. I do enjoy the previous work I have done in this area (The Wolf, Rapunzel, Brave New World), and while I do think they are well done there is always something that can be improved upon. I want to find that. At the present I believe one of the major things is that I need to take that story or that person and really adopt them and make them MY own. To totally own that work and tell it in my way, which I believe I can see starting to come through in the Brave New World page. I had to translate a very adult conversation and make it suitable for a younger audience so I think I was in greater control over that piece that some of my other perhaps. But that is my goal: to completely understand and control a work so that I may express it in the best way possible, even if the subject matter started as someone else's, rather than just translating something into something else and calling it art.