Saptan Stories
Discipline: Illustration
Client: Aardman Animation & British Council
Saptan Stories was a 7 week long collaborative arts event, a mass game of consequences written and voted on by all of India. Its was conducted by Aardman Animations (UK) in collaboration with British Council India. I was really happy to be handpicked among 7 Artist from UK and India.
The process actually began with getting the first line from Aardman animation guys and the rest of the lines coming on a vote basis from the audience. The story started to take shape with each line coming in and every artist have their own take on it. Since it was a spontaneous build-up, I didn't have any idea what's it going to be like before I got the lines. With each changing line, the story molded, while intentionally or not I kept a consistent style/color palate to keep the story cohesive. I loved how the story evolved so profound, mysterious, fantasy, and adventurous at the same time.
Read on all the seven quotes below to see how the story evolved over time.
WEEK ONE
I found it hard to get over my broken heart, I thought I never would. Then one night, by the moonlit river, something happened that changed everything.
I found it hard to get over my broken heart, I thought I never would. Then one night, by the moonlit river, something happened that changed everything.
WEEK TWO
As the moonbeams danced to a heavenly beat upon the silvery water, I gazed to the stars and contemplated my future. It looked bleak on introspection, when out of the water arose an apparition.
WEEK THREE
It was a woman, as translucent as fog and as ethereal as a dream. She smiled at me and whispered in a voice as soft as a dewdrop "Love once lost can be regained, but are you willing to pay the price?"
WEEK FOUR
Before I could utter an answer, my heart made the choice. How she heard its silent cry, I do not know. The lake opened and a chasm appeared. I was sucked into a whirlpool of water, light and chaos.
WEEK FIVE
I was falling through what seemed like a long tunnel, blinded by lights. I somehow landed on my two feet and found myself in a large hall. Walls covered in photographs. Photographs of my entire life.
WEEK SIX
"These are your memories" whispered the apparition, now a shimmering silhouette "for your love to renew, you must begin anew. If you don't wish your heart to rust, you must choose to forget the past!"
WEEK SEVEN
They say love is ephemeral but isn't that true of life too? As my iridescent body emerged from the shadows, I felt reborn. Suddenly I loved every inch of myself, and isn't that the greatest love of all?
I split the process into three parts. Firstly, as I read the lines, I build up imagining the scenario. Then secondly I try to make rough pencil scribbles, add more elements, and compose in a frame. And lastly, the rendered the art using Apple Pencil on my iPad mainly for inking and coloring on Photoshop.
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