'Manipulation'. (1/7) Aquatint on A3 sized paper.
The Reality of Fantasy is my Masters project I did at LUCA School of Arts in Ghent, for the Master Visual Arts (Beeldende Kunsten) with specialization in Illustration.
In this project I took my own experiences, feelings and thoughts and used my passion for the Fantasy genre to translate them onto paper.
I started out with processing recent experiences with a manipulative relationship. I saw manipulative people as dragons, who take for themselves and blind people with their smoke. From there the project grew and I figured out what other experiences or thoughts I had that felt I needed to express.
Bad thoughts I had became visualised as spirits that haunt a person. Skeletons are everyday people, you and me, all of us lost and figuring out our way in the maze of life. Crystal balls give information, but who gives you that information and is it even trustworthy? The same goes for Ai chatbots.
All these topics I researched and illustrated. I discovered making aquatint etchings, and I loved using pencil again to illustrate. For other images I stuck to using ink and dip pens, or inkwash and brushes. Materials I keep coming back to and give me great pleasure in using.
'Overshadowed'. Pencil on A3 sized paper.
'Could be anyone'. Ink on A3 sized paper.
'Aimless wandering'. Dry needle etching on A3 sized paper.
'Going on without a purpose'. Ink on A3 sized paper.
'Torment at night'. Ink wash on A3 sized paper.
'Why get out of bed at all?'. Ink wash and charcoal on A3 sized paper.
'Finding the orb'. Pencil on A3 sized paper.
'The use of the orb'. Pencil on A3 sized paper.
'Do you mean what you say?', (1/3) Ink wash on A3 sized paper.
'Do you mean what you say?', (2/3) Ink wash on A3 sized paper.
'Do you mean what you say?', (3/3) Ink wash on A3 sized paper.
'Manipulation'. (3/7) Aquatint on A3 sized paper.