The Subway Wizard...
Inspirations can come from any where and at any time. This is why I think it is always a good idea to have a sketchpad handy. What starts out as just a simple sketch can turn into something quite unique later down the road.
As a New Yorker, you travel by subway quite frequently. You can either zone out and listen to your iPod or you can do something constructive. You can learn a language, write a story, or you can let your imagination run wild in sketchbook.
While on the subway, I saw an interesting man sitting. He was older, and had an unusual outfit on. I decided to take a moment to visualize him in my sketch book as a magical character and I closed my book.
Sketchbooks are filled up with ideas over time, some of these ideas lay dormant only to spark creativity later on. I picked on of my old sketch books one day and flipped through it. I came across my original sketch of my "Subway Wizard," and saw it in a new light.
I pictured him as a vibrant colored character living in a land of full of colors. I wondered how I could achieve this effect... The first thing to pop into my mind was watercolors. My next step was to create water color textures on paper, and then scan them into Photoshop. These vibrant colorful paintings would serve as textures that would help bring the character to life.
I would like to present to you "the Subway Wizard." I leave it to you and your imagination to dream up a story for him...
My original sketch. The man on the subway of course was not dancing, but I wanted to give him more movement and life. A kind wobbly fun wizard.
The textures I created using watercolors.
After adding the watercolor textures and some shading. The original person I saw was in more muted colors but I pictured him as being a vibrant character once I transformed him into an illustration.
Here the Subway Wizard is.... living joyfully in a brightly colored world. Very much like a character you might find in a children's book! Singing and dancing with a story that has moral to it.
email: kshinabery212@gmail.com