By god there are September Updates

Once again a hearty hello.

Last week or so, I started revisiting some content with the intention of creating a reference bank for production; but the thousand arms is a more elusive then meets the eye. It flows more like magical realism then anything else. And I am yet to find a direct reference that I can point to and say, “That’s it!”

Though I really like the style of storytelling that Douglas Adams mastered, it is very much a satire. And I don’t want to talk about alcohol with any frivolity. It is a very sensitive topic and I want to give it that respect. But at the same time, it would be a folly to not recognise how the cosmic humour plays out. But anyway, some of the links below are modern-edgy scripts, while Hitchhiker’s, is just literary genius! Leaving these here for you all to enjoy 🙂

— Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. Of course!
— Eternalised
— Massive Swerve
— Disrupt
— WORLD OF TOMORROW by DON HERTZFELDT

The current illustrations convey a very settled feeling. Though they are dense, they feel very structured for a story that is so intense and manifestly mad. There is a humorous darkness in the narrative that does not translate through the clean and tidy art. It could be that I am working in my comfort zone and need to get out or it could be that I need more time. Either way, just recognising here that there is much work required moving forward.

To explain in symbols — I want there to be violence in the lines. Like that of Eric Canete. I love the aggressiveness of his style. It’s full of abstractions and details. It’s highly stylised and yet detailed. At least in theory that is what I am looking for. The question is how am I to achieve this in a way that feels natural to this story.

My process blends visuals and stories, one informing the other almost always. Like, when the project took off with Mind of My Mind I was satisfied with art style because it made sense for that chapter. But now that the project has evolved, I have to consider an art style that resonates with the entire story and not just a paragraph.

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Leaving here some other artist for you to be inspired by 🙂
— Alex Hanukafest + Liana Anatolevich + Yoji Shinkawa
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The OG start of the story, Wu Wei, which was short, snappy and cryptic has now been replaced by a staggering 4000 word prologue. Over kill and how!

Maybe I’ll use in a different section. But Here’s a short snippet from the new chapter 🙂

Out in the mountainous plateau above the world, a poet woke up visibly shaken. Unaware that he was about to foretell a chain of events that would lead to our Satori, he sprang out of his bed, covered himself in a rag, and decided to rush out of the house. His wife stopped him at the door; with a palm to his face.

— You fool! She growled. Put on your clothes. I am not going to take care of you if you fall sick. There was frustrated love in her voice, but he brushed her aside.

— Shhh. I will forget. He ran out the door ignoring her lamenting groans.

Men. Poets. Now or whenever. Just the same. She thought.

Doldol rushed through the frozen ground breathing only fog. The sun had barely come up among the jagged horizon. With his toes numb, and his eyes frozen he reached the great hall partially blind and limping where his master sat on his ill fitted wooden chair with his back to a warm fire. He was about to bite into the salted meat when Doldol said the words out loud.

— A pair of hearts will merge at a basketball court. Suddenly. And absolutely.

And immediately knew how stupid it sounded.

Like I wrote earlier, I will have to rethink this entire style, but for now I am loving the one with basic muted colours more then the saturated tones. Reminds me of old Japanese art. Not that, that is the reference.