Artist Statement:
I am Justin Ampong, 23, a BAMMA - Animation student that has a passion for art and design specially in illustrations and concepts. My work is about a mythological story from Maguindanao about the ventures of King Indarapatra and his brother Sulayman. I wanted to illustrate the part of the story where Sulayman encounters the monsters that wreak havoc on Mindanao because for me it is the part where the mythology takes place the most and why the two were hailed as heroes. I wanted to make an illustration for this for a long time and I thought that it is a good opportunity to make it now because I now have the skill to do so, I also want to introduce it to the younger generation for it the story continue to live on as part of our culture and tradition, because the story not just give you a great tale of two brothers but also teaches you to fight for what’s right, care for your family, and standing up for people in times of need.
CONCEPT ART
Sulayman vs Kurita Sketches
Sulayman vs Tarabusaw Sketches
Sulayman vs Pah Sketches
Sulayman vs seven-headed bird
Sketches
Sulayman sketches
Sulayman's Weapons
For these illustrations, I chose to do it digitally because it is where I am most comfortable and experienced. I also think that it is much faster to do it that way since I will be making 4 pieces of artwork for it, additionally I have to animate it after as well. For the theme I am leaning towards dark fantasy for the background because I wanted to create a feeling of gloominess and impending danger. However, for the technique, I used digital painting and just mainly followed the principles and elements of design to create a visually balanced work so the audience would recognize and understand the story happening in the illustrations.
Before I made the blocking for the pieces. I first went and searched for some references of what the characters would look like during those times. I had to look for references for their clothing, weapons, and etc. The hardest part for me was the monsters, and how I would try to portray them and what creatures they are in real life based off their descriptions from the story. I wanted it to appear as painterly as possible and yet be friendly and visually attractive to younger audience as well.
MOOD BOARD and References
JOURNAL
illustration
Kurita
A monster with many limbs, that lived partly on the land and partly on sea.
Kurita's arrival caused tremors, alerting Sulayman to its presence.
Tarabusaw
A monster that takes in the form of a man, who devours and lays waste on the land.
Sulayman preparing to attack after Tarabusaw warning him not to.
Pah
An enormous bird, was so large that, when it stretch its wing, it covered the sun and brought darkness to the earth.
Sulayman searching for Pah not knowing it is about to descend upon him.
Seven-headed bird
The fourth monster was also a dreadful bird, that has seven heads and the power to see in all directions at the same time.
Sulayman meets the dreadful bird that has seven heads.
ANIMATIONS
FINAL OUTPUT
