Illustrations for Silence In Time - A short story by @liberosist
For almost two weeks ago @liberosist asked me if I wanted to illustrate his sci-fi short story, Silence In Time. I had never illustrated something like that before, so I was not sure how I would even go about starting a task like that. But I really liked his story. It reminded me of my favorite anime, Steins;Gate, and I had been wanting to practice drawing people for a while, so I said yes.
Initially, I wanted to make bigger drawings, that had a lot more detail in them. But that would have taken me at least 4-5 weeks to complete, and they needed to be done way before that, so I had to come up with another solution. I decided to make smaller drawings (15x7 cm) and try to make them tell the story without putting to much details into them. In other words – simple, but expressive.
The following contains spoilers, so I highly recommend reading the short story before continuing:
Silence in Time – by @liberosist
From Initial Idea to Fnished Illustration
I read each of the chapters, one chapter at a time. After each chapter I wrote down the first words or feelings that I got, and drew a quick stick-figure sketch of the first thing that popped up in my mind. I found this to be a really effective way of coming up with initial ideas. Of course, a few of the ideas had to be changed, they were either to difficult for me to illustrate, or they didn't work out like I had intended, but I actually ended up using most of my initial ideas.
I don't have much practice with drawing humans, so the sketching process took much longer to complete than if I had been drawing something that I'm familiar with, like pokémon or animals. It was challenging, but also a lot of fun, working in this new style. I know there are some anatomical errors in the finished drawings, but I'm still really happy with how they turned out.
Chapter 1
Initial thoughts: Woman, rural, hotel
Concept sketch
Translation: Nature, hotel, deserted.
Finished drawing
I wanted to express that we don't really know who this woman is, and to put her in a setting that is kind of mysterious.
Chapter 2
Initial thoughts: Assassin, silence
Concept sketch
Translation: Lighting, green, assassin
Finished drawing
She knows, or feels, that she was a spy, a saboteur or an assassin. That's what I wanted to express. I chose assassin, since it seemed like she was going to kill the man in the hotel room.
Chapter 3
Initial thoughts: Ghost, shadow, invisible
Concept sketch
Translation: Invisible
Finished drawing
I wanted to express the fact that she was like a ghost. She could move around without getting detected, and there were no trace of who she really was.
Chapter 4
Initial thoughts: DNA, possibility
Concept sketch
Translation: Pumpkin (my concept sketch looked like it had a pumpkin for a head... :P )
Finished drawing
DNA brings new possibilities to find out who she is.
Chapter 5
Inithial thoghts: Sneak, corridor, time
Concept sketch
Finished drawing
I initially had planned on making three small drawings, but this turned out to be too difficult. I dropped the initial idea, and decided to go for a situation that expressed her sneaking around, avoiding the lights, heading for the door.
Chapter 6:
Initial thoughts: Escape, security, red light
Concept sketch
Translation: Rødt lys
Finished drawing
She is escaping. They're after her, but are never able to get close to her. She is always one step in front of the red light.
Chapter 7
Initial thoughts: Alone, disbelief
Concept sketch
Finished drawing
I dropped the initial idea, and decided to go with something that better expressed the feeling she had when finding out she's all alone.
Chapter 8
Initial thoughts: Gun, confrontation, answers
Concept sketch
Finished drawing
She demands answers, and she's not gonna stop until she gets them.
Chapter 9
Initial thoughts: Silence in Time, time travel, dimensions
Concept sketch
Translation: Face, front
Finished drawing
I love how this drawing turned out. For me this is the one I'm most happy with. It expresses the feeling "Silence in Time" gives me - a mysterious, exiting, thrilling, sci-fi feel.
Some coloring improvement was also made
I had only colored hair three times before starting on these drawings, but I've never colored hair in this particular style.
The first one I colored didn't turn out that good, but I'm really happy with the last two I did. I figured I had to use less strokes and less blending, making the shine and details in the hair stand out.
The Support Crew
Only one of them this time. Sometimes she just stares at me like this...
Postface
If you want to know more about me, check out my:
- Introduction post
- Steemit blog
- Instagram: @pixielolz
- Etsy: www.PixielolzArt.etsy.com
Love your art @pixielolz! Great work on illustrating @liberosist's writing! Out of all the illustration, I'm particularly loving the one with the DNA helix.. that one's just perfect!
Thank you so much! I'm so happy that people are enjoying the illustrations, I was a bit insecure about them since they were a completely new style, so I feel a bit lost for words when getting all this positive feedback :) Very cool to know which one was your favorite, I like that one as well ^_^
Your talent seriously amazes me. I had to look you up the other day to show my fiance the Tree on A Turtle's back drawing. That one and the wolf universe touch my soul. Your creativity is beautiful and rare.
Thank you, I really appreciate it ^_^
Your illustrations are beautiful and congenial to the story, I like them very much. And it´s impressive and inspiring to see how fast you developed these mastery skills. What I find very special are the background patterns in most of your drawings, the snow-flakes, stars, rain-drops, etc. A signature element with high recognition value! Great work!
Thank you so much for your comment! It means a lot :)
I'm so glad I started following you @pixielolz these are awesome.
Thank you ^_^
You has some amazing skills and did a fantastic job illustrating the story well done. and thank you for sharing your process.
Thank you, it was fun to do something different, and I'm glad people seem to enjoy them :D
Amazing work @pixielolz. Really enjoyed your illustrations.
Thank you ^_^
Very much it is pleasant, your creativity, I will follow you
Thank you :)
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Hey! I love you artwork, Its very well done.
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Hey @pixielolz! I mentioned you in my most recent post to thank you for your inspiration. I hope that is ok!