My final project of this year’s graphic design class.
This is a back to back spread that becomes some sort of a booklet when it is folded. The facing pages are those that I have uploaded separately, and you can see the whole spread at the very beginning.
Our wonderful teacher (Adam Pekalski) had given each of us a city from Italo Calvino’s novel, Invisible Cities. The stories in the book are very visual, you instantly have an image in your head as you read them. I really enjoyed picturing and illustrating Zobeide. Also I’ve got to say that I was inspired by Dragon Age Inquisition’s tarot card designs (I really love them).
It is the original and the whole text in the pictures, so read it and enjoy it.
〜 Water, Earth, Fire, Air 〜
Mineral Palace, art by me
Because I cry every time I think about them.
Gonna put a link to my Hunter x Hunter fanarts here just in case that someone wants to check them out [x]
Drawings of scenes from my animated short film, which you can watch here.
The Pathfinder and At Least 3 Worlds (2018)
This image is significant to me, which has much to do with its unusual way of emerging. It is not my creation but rather my sober hallucination. I started with tree branch-like shapes and a background texture. In the texture I was seeing things, and I started giving them visibility by going over them, preserving their original appearance. After I did this throughout the whole image, I checked whether there was a pattern with the images that had come about, and realised that the painting was divided into three.
LEFT - HELL
On the left, figures like demons (middle) as well as what I believe to be a suffering woman has emerged (bottom). An interesting detail which didn’t emerge clearly in the picture, but that I can vividly feel, is a girl of innocence who has sat on a dragon.
MIDDLE - EARTH
A dog’s face, a snake preying on a bird, a boy with headwear over them, a pregnant woman are some figures among this part of the image that emerges from the branch-like shapes that give the whole work its body, it’s structure. The most important figure of all is that whom I called the Pathfinder. He is a dwarf-like figure with a pointy hat, has lifted his hand as though if he is in command and is somewhat mischievous though also religious. I imagine him appearing to those who seek and take them places on a vast green, rocky land.
RIGHT - HEAVEN
This part of the image is the one with the least figures, and is also divided into two. On the top, there is a being of a different dimension, somewhat in the appearance of an elf, smiling mischievously as though if seeing through the dreadful humor of existence. On the bottom, there is a wise old man with a key and a badger-like animal appearing next to his image.
Transitory Figures
There are two figures in the Earth section that seem to be referencing to the Heavens. One is a small alien, much like a baby in a womb, standing between earth and the elf-like being. The other is the face of a man on branches, which seems like a narrow reflection of the wise old man (though a different person).
Very quick sketches of Hikari Club members I drew when I was nostalgic. Drawing them gives me a really strange, dark yet energetic feeling which I enjoy very much.
Quick acrylic on paper. Inspired by a pyrite cube I have.
Welcome to Sena’s Adventures!
The Government Building in Shun Fei, one of the three independent city states
The story takes place 165 years after the original story, with a completely different world building than Legend of Korra. (Yes, this comic is a sequel to AtLA and not LoK.)
Life in Shun Fei is a little bit different than how things used to be.
As for the main character of the story, it is Sena, a 12 year-old, non-bender boy. He is a bookworm and mostly annoyed with his life.
>>Click here to start reading from page 1
Now, please let me tell you a little bit about how this comic came to be!
I was a die-hard fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender as a kid, and that love has never died. I've always felt that Avatar's world was so lush and alive, that so many unique stories could be born from it. And even the most simple and humble ones would be infinitely interesting.
You definitely don't have to agree with me, but I was personally disappointed with how things went after the first series, meaning with both LoK and the comics (which I must admit I've never watched or read in entirety). For one thing, I couldn't come to terms with how Avatar's world had changed so much and became a lot more like our own world. So I asked, "If it were me, how would I write it?" And that's how this comic came to be.
( Despite this, I really hope that LoK fans will still enjoy my story as an AU! )
Sena's Adventures, at its core, is meant to be a story which examines the complex spiritual problems that arise from modernization. AtLA did something very similar, but through the framework of imperialism and war. Sena's Adventures on the other hand, takes place in a peaceful time. And even though its world is technologically far less advanced than that of LoK, it still carries the seed of a conflict between "reason and magic".
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I wanted this story to feel simple and naive, like a children’s story. I really like that about AtLA and I believe many others do too, despite our biological ages.
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And a final confession. I have never tried being active on the internet consistently before and it makes me a bit nervous. I have actually been drawing this comic for almost 2 years and I made only 24 pages in total, because I had very long breaks. But now that I’m uploading it, I intend to try my best to keep it going consistently.
Just so you know, from page 9 and on, I went monochrome for convenience and I’ll probably go less detailed with the shading in future pages for the same reason.
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Please enjoy Sena’s story!
( I’m really excited for the other main characters to be revealed, but it will take a while! )