Pages
Reflection
The goal of this project was to create a 12 page illustrated book of a popular story, fable, myth, or legend from Asia, Africa, or South America. The story that I chose was about a mythical creature from South Korean myths called a Bonghwang. A Bonghwang is a korean phoenix that is a symbol of benevolence and good fortune. The story that I specifically chose was about a king whose lands have fallen on hardships. One night, he had a dream about a bird from the sun landing in a specific part of his land. The next day he sent his men to that same spot where they discovered an ancient cache of salt which the king then used to restore his lands. This means that the Bonghwang is not just about wealth but instead about wisdom and peace. For this book, I took a lot of inspiration from children’s story books so the illustrations were kept relatively simple, very minimal shading, and mainly using simple shapes with line art that varies in weight and thickness. The colors were kept pretty neutral while the main creature, the Bonghwang, was colored a brighter red and orange color to emphasize how much the bird shines and how big of a symbol it is. Since this was the last project I feel like I got the opportunity to experiment a lot this semester. I have been doing digital art for years and this book was definitely a different style than I usually do. Along with the illustrations, it was also challenging to create a book with a story with no words and relying heavily on the images to understand what is happening. But overall this book was a fun and creative yet challenging project that helped me learn new techniques when it comes to digital art.
