The Mabinogi (or Mabinogion depending on who you’re hearing it from) are a collection of Welsh Legends and Fantasy stories written hundreds of years ago in the style of The Legend of King Arthur (he actually features in the tales). There is much written about them online, and many translations, and the BBC had decided to do their own version to post onto the BBC Wales website.
Gareth was looking for an artist to do some illustrations to accompany the tales. They wanted them to be in a very bold, almost Manga-style, to appeal to young people. After a few “audition” pieces, where I used watercolours, and then moved onto Photoshop and Manga Studio, Gareth miraculously loved my work (you will notice that I put myself down a lot in this post).
In August last year he presented me with the brief, and asked me to deliver by January.
I toyed with some designs for a few months but I ultimately ended up leaving everything till last minute. In the last few weeks I attempted to learn how to use Photoshop to the best of my abilities, having to use the pen tool to draw entirely because I did not have access to a working scanner. In the end I wound up with RSI: repetitive strain injury, in which my back and neck were severely crippled, my eyes ached from gazing at the computer screen and I developed a habit of shaking whenever I had to draw.
Interesting titbit: During the making of Toy Story 2, which was done from scratch in nine months, a number of Pixar employees developed RSI, one of which was never able to work at a computer again. Thus Pixar now have an employee protection system where they allow their workers to relax regularly with Yoga, Basketball and other activities. How’s that for employee benefits?!
Anyway, my RSI stunted me greatly and I felt like I had really let Gareth down. But, and I must point this out as important, Gareth was so, so incredibly kind about the situation, so generous and unlike anything I had thought a client was supposed to be like! He offered me an extension and asked me to take my time, even going so far as to offer to send me a printer/scanner or software to help me!
However, I declined and just took the new deadline. The second time around I was not going to mess up. I organised myself and worked my butt off. And by March this year I delivered to the BBC eleven illustrations and a title page, via Dropbox (seriously, this is the best file-transferring site around, I highly recommend it!). The guys at the BBC were very pleased and praised me highly, which really gave me a confidence boost. They asked me to draw two more images over Easter to go with some games that Cube Interactive had produced to go with the website.
It was the most nerve-wracking, exhausting project I’ve ever undertaken, but also the most rewarding. I learned so much about working in Photoshop, about my own style and how I can develop my skills. I learned so much about colour theory and combinations, and composition, which this time last year I had no clue about. I also learned how textures could be used as overlays in Photoshop to give warmth and a dreamy wash to images, and I used a lot of different textures in this project, such as parchment and stone, to give each illustration an otherworldly, book-like feel.
The style I went for is inspired by Manga, but I didn’t want it to be completely Japanese, as they are Welsh tales, so I added a pinch of realism to the character’s figures, as well as my own personal style (which frankly needs re-working so that it is more recognisable). My colour palette consisted of clichéd pastel colours, as I didn’t want anything to be too bright or colourful. The illustrations needed to retain the ancient book look, and I found that this worked well with darker colours.
As you’ll probably notice I also went very minimal on the backgrounds. I did this for two reasons: Firstly, the background, unless stated in the story, presented no extreme importance, as the stories centred mainly on the characters and their emotions/reactions. So I focused on them for more impact, and I feel that it works well, as I was able to give each illustration a “mood” by using certain colours/textures/lighting.
Secondly, I am not at all adept at drawing backgrounds. That’s rather an understatement really, as I have very little grasp of perspective and am still learning (doesn’t help that my depth perception in everyday life is slightly off). While I would have loved to do some amazing scenery, I felt it was in the best interests of my client that I not attempt something that I am extremely bad at, to save ruining the whole image.
Overall I’m pleased with the outcome, and the subsequent popularity it has afforded me among fellow artists, as it was a huge learning curve for me. Sure, it may be the only commission I ever get, but it’s still something to add to my CV!
Here are a few of my favourites from the bunch, and you can find the rest, as well as the fascinating stories, here. It is all in
Welsh, but if you don’t speak it you can still play the games and look through the gallery.
These are the two duelling dragons from Lludd and Llefelys. I based the red and the green on the Welsh flag, but also used those colours because they contrast so brilliantly. I think I’m most proud of this illustration because of its impact, and also the fact that it was the first time I’d ever designed dragons from scratch.
Not a very interesting image, but I love this one for the idea behind it. Gareth wanted a title page of sorts for the website, and I juggled between the idea of having the title look like it had been carved into stone, or having the title look like an old wax seal. Ultimately the seal looked far more cool. I went through various tutorials online about how to make one in Photoshop, but in the end I wound up making it on my own by playing about with Photoshop (it’s amazing what you learn when you’re not trying to!), and I’m pretty pleased with the outcome.
Finally, this image is the first one I completed, and what a feeling it was! Blodeuwedd is the character I “auditioned” in the beginning when I was trying to get the job, and I bonded with her so well that I had to use her in the final image. This is where she is born into the world by broom, meadowsweet and oak. One of the main reasons I like this image so much is that I got to explore the brush tool by making my own. Each flower, leaf or blade of grass is a brush mark that I was able to create in Photoshop. I also used this “make your own” brush tool in a couple of other pictures. See if you can guess which ones.
The Mabinogi are truly fascinating tales and it would be interesting to see this develop into a comic series, or books, or even a television show. They’re full of fantasy, magic, darkness – everything you want in a good story!
I hope you’ll check out the Mabinogi website, not just for my benefit, but also for those others that have put so much effort into making it a reality.
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