Although I finished this work a long time ago, I did not show it to a wider audience - I forgot - I also showed it at the Festival of Comics in Łódź. It's now on exhibition display and I thought it was time to tell you a bit about it.
So almost 5 years ago I made the first sketches. I build a peaceful scene in my mind. Sea, without evil and negative emotions. A total chill. No anger. It wasn't supposed to be idyllic. Here in this silence, I wanted to feel concentration and contemplation.
The hero that appeared in my head was supposed to be part of that world.
Darkness. Black screen photoshop background. In the beginning, the character was emaciated and poor. I felt sorry for him somehow. I didn't want such a sufferer to float on a board. So he gained weight - even too much, like a Polynesian muscleman, surpassed even my vision. From extreme to extreme. I was looking for patterns. I couldn't decide who to be. I wanted him to be an authority. To teach. I knew that if he was going to be on the board, he must have been swimming for a long time. I googled historic surfing spots. I've been to Bali and Australia, Portugal and South Africa, and many other places. I chose Japan. I wanted there to be some wisdom in it. I started looking for photos. I was looking for a face. Surfers, monks, martial artists.
And for a while, my hero began to become one. A Japanese monk devoted to the sea, and then as the moon shone behind him, he changed. It has acquired other characteristics. I started to recognize him. I also left out some of its Asian character. I started seeing him. I looked him in the eye. Once they were closed, and once directed somewhere ahead. In the end, I left it without irises.
That was the moment when I realized that since I wasn't surfing, I really don't know how to behave with a board on the water with someone on me. I looked at photos and videos looking for a similar situation and those that seemed to be closest to my work - somehow they didn't convince me at all - were always a bit different. I wrote on many surf forums in different parts of the world, posting a sketch that I was looking for someone who could get in the water with a board and ask someone for a photo. Of course, in the pose from the sketch. Many people spoke up, but only one person got wet. Alan Bruce from Bali. It was very nice. I saw that the board was sinking, and mine was sticking out above the surface. Fixed my surfer setup - made some minor adjustments.
I felt its power as the moon and glow appeared behind him, changing his character. I thought I'd add some kitsch to it all. I have already included flying fish in another illustration, and here they may have returned. I wanted many of them. To be between them. I sat down to draw a sea glider. It's a nice moment. I learn a lot by doing research, watching movies, and looking for photos. I'm gone. After many hours of fun - it was created. I've concluded that she's too complex to be part of a herd. two?
One. I have been looking for a place for her for a long time. Even for a moment, I doubted whether maybe it shouldn't fall out sometimes.
I knew there would be depth under the Surfer. Something will emerge from this unexplored world. It was "something" for a while at work, but I liked it so much that I'll leave it for another illustration. Then I'll remind you,,, and it's not an octopus.
Tentacles? Although the hair somehow satisfied me in this topic, I came to the conclusion that I will reach for one of my favorite creatures - Medusa :) They have something totally otherworldly about them. Construction, way of moving. Delicacy and fragility. They are also venomous and can be predatory and dangerous. These little, almost invisible - contribute to many deaths in the world. However, I did not want them to arouse negative emotions.
It was supposed to be calm.
Finger - I read it differently. Sometimes he tells me something - I can see a certain reprimand in his eyes, but also a concern. That's my surfer.
And then I looked at Him and thought, is that it?
I invite you to stay with him for a while.
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