My story follows a 21 year old named Calvin Tyler. Although his grandfather was a great jazz musician, Calvin’s father refuses to let him pursue his career as a musician. In response, he defies his father by sneaking out to play gigs in Los Angeles. The main venue he’s around is Al’s, owned by Albert Johnson, an old friend of Calvin’s grandpa before he passed away and graciously took over, mentoring Calvin and watching over the club. Through many complications Calvin eventually realises that life is too short to hold grudges rather than mend relationships. In this specific scene, Calvin is making his way to Al’s. Rather than proudly journeying to his destination, he feels the need to hide himself from the rest of the world. He takes the backroads and alleys instead of the sidewalks which may seem scary, but to him is comfortable.
The process of creating this creature, while sometimes tedious, I found to be extremely fun. I loved using color, layers, abstract shapes, and gradients to visualise my creation. I specifically designed my creature to represent Calvin in an odd way, especially through the loud and vibrant color scheme in contrast to the background. This is to represent Calvin’s true form in comparison to his surroundings. At first glance you may never suspect that it’s him, but the characteristics are fitting. His parrot wings represent his musicality and creativity, his seahorse tail suggests how quiet he can be, the deer antlers show kindness, the lion face and mane represent how charismatic he is, and his turtle body shows honesty. Last minute I incorporated praying mantis arms to show patience. My creature is located in an alley in Los Angeles. I chose brick because I felt that it captures the feel of Calvin’s comfort zone as well as Al’s venue. My use of one-point linear perspective was integral especially when making the individual bricks properly. I added some movement by placing the vantage point off center. Finally I added lamps to make it more interesting and realistic, and to provide unique lighting. If I were to do it again I would plan more on paper first to have a true vision of what I was creating. While there is of course room to grow, I am pleased with my work on this project and look forward to using Illustrator again.
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