theblueboarandtheredgirl

[theblueboarandtheredgirl]

These are all the illustrations made for my Capstone Project! Its a original fairytale that takes place in Hawaii. It takes inspiration from Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, and the mythology of the battle between Kamapuaa and Pele.

[theblueboarandtheredgirl]

This is a original Fairytale written and illustrated by myself for my senior capstone project in digital media. The Blue Puaa and Red Wahine is a story based off of Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, and the mythological battle between two Hawaiian gods, Kamapuaa and Pele.

I wanted to adapt these old fairytales that once focused so heavily on blaming the victim of the situation. Instead I wanted to focus on how victims can find solidarity with each other to fight back against a common abuser.

[theblueboarandtheredgirl]

Final post

What were your thoughts about your research topic going into the first week of the semester?

I was already strongly familiar with my topic but I felt very lost about where to take it next. It was intimidating to try and make a storybook that was considered good representation of Hawaii.

Because I was so intimidated on the project itself I ended up doing a lot of extra research as a way to feel more prepared. But instead I ended up losing a lot of time to it. One of the things I over researched was native Hawaiian plants. I intended to put a bunch of them in the background but once I started actually working on the backgrounds I realized that I couldn't focus on individual plants because they didn't serve a purpose to the story. I actually photobashed a lot of pictures of Hawaii and it's rainforests so there wasn't a need to plan out which plants would be used in which scenes.

What are your thoughts now about your research topic and your project/practicum?

Now that I'm done I'm a lot less nervous about the whole idea. My goal for the story was to take classic fairytales and rework them into a story that separated itself from the hegemonic values instilled in fairy tales.

I made a story that I believe did that and I contributed to the larger pool of fairytale adaptations that aim to accomplish that as well. The goal is not to create the perfect non-hegemonic fairytale but instead to create more art and stories that focus on minority voices and stories. To help normalize our own existence and share our struggles.

What did you learn about yourself as a creative through this journey?

I learned that a couple of things about myself. Here is a list:

Social media is still very intimidating to me as an artist and I need to learn how to get over that.

My work schedule works best when I have control over it and I should look for work positions that allow that.

What did you learn about the creative and production process?

Something that worried me and caused hesitation was that this project required me to push my art skills farther than I was comfortable with. In particular, I was anxious about doing the backgrounds, but once I started I found that I was resourceful and a quick learner.

It taught me that parts of the creative process may be unfamiliar but that it's nothing to fear over, just another new skill to learn.

What advice would you give new senior capstone students?

I would advise new senior capstone projects to not let their fear overcome them. If something seems too intimidating they should either break the task down into smaller steps or dive head in. If it comes out bad at first that's ok, sometimes it's easier to polish a sucky draft, than it is to create a masterpiece out of nothing.

Where to now?

Now I want to begin job hunting for a good starting position while I use my free time to casually build up my portfolio.

[theblueboarandtheredgirl]

This semester has been really rough on me but I'm pushing through every day and I think I am handling these setbacks well. At the beginning I felt like I was completely prepared, but life has been throwing me a lot of curve balls that I wasn't ready to handle and it had a negative impact on my work. While I wished it went the way that I planned, I will look on the positive side instead, and be thankful that I had an opportunity to learn how to handle these situations. It's important to learn how to handle setbacks now so I can handle them better when I am a professional in the industry.

Some progress that I made was completing a huge task for my other class. With that out of the way I will have an easier time completing this. For this project in particular I have designed the monster version of Polu, compiled a full list of native hawaiian plants to use in the background that is accurate to the location and climate, and finished the layout for the storybook.

My next step will be to finish the 12-13 illustrations that I have planned for the book. One of which is the book cover, and another is a double page spread.

A hurdle that I need to cross is that I havent started promoting my project yet on social media. This task is something that I am struggling with because my anxiety has been much higher than usual and I've always had a hard time putting myself and my work out there. To solve this hurdle I've talked to my doctor to better adjust my medication as well as assist my partner in holding me accountable. Tomorrow on 4/12 I will post a promotional post for my project on tiktok, tumblr, twitter, instagram, and youtube.

[theblueboarandtheredgirl]

I have made huge progress in my project. Both Ula Ula and Polu are fully designed. Polu was left in a concept art style for now because I had to turn my focus to several other important tasks. One of these tasks of mine was to create custom brushes of the tapa and tattoo patterns. I would be drawing them often onto the characters and I know I needed a way to draw their designs quickly and consistently. The other task that I completed was to re organize my schedule because my original one was not compatible with my workflow.

My next step will be to sketch out all the artwork for the storybook and to design custom brushes of Hawaii foliage so that background art is quick and efficient.

A hurdle I will have to face is that I have only a month left to complete everything that I want to do. It will be tough but I think I can do it with my new improved schedule.

[theblueboarandtheredgirl]

Update 4

I finished designing Ula Ula completely, Polu's design is almost finished, and I have collected all the references for art style and specific plants necessary for the next step.

My next step will be to finish designing Polu. Creating brushes/stamps for the specific Native foliage and storyboarding the story.

A hurdle I will have to face is that I have to split my time and energy creating digital art assets for both this class and my video game class.

[theblueboarandtheredgirl]

Update 2/3

Where are you now? - Outline your project plan as your way forward

I'm currently back home with my art software and beginning to get more in depth with my concept art. I have some basic sketches of what I want for character designs and I have compiled a list of design references for both the main characters and the scenery.

My next step will be to design the two main characters and create a reference sheet for them with multiple angles and their color sheet.

A hurdle I will have to face is that I have to split my time and energy creating digital art assets for both this class and my video game class.

Here is some of my work of Ula and my reference images for her

[theblueboarandtheredgirl]

Update 1

Where are you now? - Outline your project plan as your way forward

I'm currently finished with the draft for the story and I am now working on edits.

My next step will be to begin working on the concept art for the story. A hurdle I will have to face is that I will be away from my computer due to a house sitting job. This means my concept art will have to be maily traditional.