Nautical Path ( Graduation Project)

                    ༄ A retelling of the story Orpheus and Eurydice with a nautical aquatic twist. 

Synopsis

After the death of His lover, Orpheus a young musician, embarks on a journey across the seven seas to retrieve the seven shattered fragments of her soul and bring her back to life. 

The story begins with our main character Orpheus and to his left his lover Eurydice. I designed both characters with a few key things in mind. First, I wanted them to look harmonious together, making them feel like a pair. I also aimed for their colors to be unique yet slightly similar, enhancing their sense of unity. I chose not to restrict myself to "historical accuracy" and instead took a more creative and artistic approach to their garments. After all, this is fantasy :)

Orpheus

For his character, I aimed for a heroic vibe. I wanted to keep his design more grounded compared to the rest of the fantastical elements in the portfolio. Even though his appearance is simple, he stands out as being from a different world.

His design came naturally to me. I envisioned a character that strikes a balance between bold and heroic while also being soft and charming enough to showcase his gentler side.

Lastly, he's a perfect excuse for me to draw beautiful men. What can I say, I'm just a girl lol. 

Eurydice

Unlike Orpheus, Eurydice's design was a bit more of a challenge. I wanted her to feel soft and elegant, but after multiple explorations, I hit a roadblock when it came time to translate her design into her soul form (which we will see shortly). So, I decided to go back to the drawing board and re-design her concept, this time keeping the shape language of her soul form in mind.

Re-designed concepts 

I believe I made the right decision to do so, as her overall design now feels much more thoughtful and intentional, aligning with my original depiction and ideas for her character. I explored a range from innocent to daring, confident, and elegant, and I feel I found a good middle ground with her final design.

Eurydice Soul form

In this retelling, humans worship water and are buried in the ocean after death, becoming one with the water. Their soul fragments are then divided across the seven seas. To bring Eurydice back to life, Orpheus must collect all seven fragments of her soul.

For her soul form, I tried to mirror the design of her original form but exaggerate and push the silhouette further, incorporating oceanic elements like coral and pearls to enhance the fantastical feel. I explored various directions and I aimed to strike a perfect balance, making her feel ghostly yet still ethereal and beautiful.

I explored three main directions and settled on the final design. I liked the idea of her original design being bottom-heavy and resembling a mermaid tail, so I exaggerated the shape language to reflect that even more.

In the story, rather than asking Hades for help, I imagine Orpheus approaches "THE GOD OF THE SEA".

Here, we have an illustration titled "The Plea" that depicts the moment Orpheus cries out to the god of the sea, who then provides him with special magical items to aid his quest. I felt this illustration was a great way to capture the overall tone and mood of the story.

for my own indulgence, I also put on my writer's hat and wrote a little poem to accompany it, cheesy as it may be. To summon the god, you must provide a sacrifice or show resolve, and he will only answer if he deems you worthy. In this case, Orpheus sings a song on his lyre, and his cry is heard.

Illustration process 

Soul Vessel 

The soul vessel is the item he uses to collect a soul. Since it came from the sea, I wanted it to incorporate those elements. I drew inspiration from ancient Greek pots and patterns. I'll be honest, even though the idea is simple, working on this design was quite challenging for me, and I do feel it is likely the weakest link in this project.

Aqua Bow

His bow was also crafted by the god of the sea, transforming his lyre (the physical manifestation of his plea/sacrifice) into a magical weapon to aid him against future foes. Rather than pulling elements from the sea, I focused on translating and mirroring the shape language of his lyre into the bow's design, so it looks like it was indeed once the lyre itself.

The Forsaken 

The Forsaken is my personal interpretation of mermaids/sea sirens in thier world. In this story, they were once humans who have been punished to live in the sea. Rather than becoming one with the ocean, they morph and change into horrible sea creatures.

To strike a good balance between beautiful and fearsome, I chose to make them appear human-like at first glance until their true form is revealed, hiding under the facade. Her design also came naturally to me and I'm pleased with the final result.

And that's it! 

I want to say a huge thank you to all my instructors and classmates at Syn Studio. Attending the program was truly an honorable experience and I'm glad I was able to push through and finish up my portfolio. I still have a lot to learn and I'm excited to continue improving my skills. 

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ARTSTATION: NeddyisNeddy

THANKS FOR VIEWING 💙