Concept and Mood of "The Signal-Man"
What I appreciated most in reading Charles Dickens' horror short story was the ever-present unease it managed to capture. All of the events in the story, even those more grounded in reality, feel hazy and ephemeral, something I wish to capture visually in my final product.
When it comes to the tone that I intend to capture with my illustration, words that come to mind are anxiety, alarm, paranoia, and mystifying
Depending on which location ends up being my final subject, the primary colors will change as well. With the tracks on the outside, I will be using a series of cool grays and blacks for a foggy landscape, contrasting with the bright red light of the signal to make a clear point of focus in the piece and create a sense that something is off. For the living space of the titular Signal-Man, the colors used would be on a warmer spectrum, with most of the interior blanketed in shadow outside of some select objects illuminated by firelight, reflecting the dreary and deteriorating mindset of the Signal-Man himself.
When it comes to the tone that I intend to capture with my illustration, words that come to mind are anxiety, alarm, paranoia, and mystifying
Depending on which location ends up being my final subject, the primary colors will change as well. With the tracks on the outside, I will be using a series of cool grays and blacks for a foggy landscape, contrasting with the bright red light of the signal to make a clear point of focus in the piece and create a sense that something is off. For the living space of the titular Signal-Man, the colors used would be on a warmer spectrum, with most of the interior blanketed in shadow outside of some select objects illuminated by firelight, reflecting the dreary and deteriorating mindset of the Signal-Man himself.
I find promising how you're connecting firelight with the deteriorating mind set. Fire, on the one hand, purifies, but on the other, destroys. In the case of the Signal-Man, it's more of a destructive force that's entangling his mind, so that's an interesting connection.
ReplyDeleteOne more thought: ask yourself how you can make your image feel "uneasy." What other artworks out there have that and what is it about them that gives them that feeling. Study that and see if you can transpose some of those properties, blended with your artistic voice and vision, in the final version of your digital painting.