I chose a piece of Yoshitaka Amano's art work. Amano is known for his illustrations for Final Fantasy and Vampire Hunter D. In the illustration titled, A Verse of the Moon, Amano's thin lines give his work a dreamy and wispy quality that I find beautiful and surreal. The textures remind me a lot of cloth, and the shapes seem like they are melting off the plane lending to the picture's other worldliness.
The crescent shape of the creature's wings on the left makes you focus on the couple who are cradled in the semi-circle of feathers. I understand the relationship between the characters. The two find comfort in each other, in the darkness, setting a romantic tone for this scene.
I confess I have not read, The Tale of Genji where this picture originates from. I never played Final Fantasy, and only read one Vampire Hunter D novel. The best thing about this piece and other Amano works are that they tell the story without the words. The art transports the viewer to another place through the colors, shapes, the lines; all the components of the picture. Being able to tell a story with the art is just as important as it is being pretty or interesting to look at.
When I first saw this I have to say (though I am going to sound like a nerd) but it reminded me of some of the manga I have seen for Sailor Moon. Though this work is a lot darker, it does has a dream like sense to it but at the same time the dark colors and hard designs have an eerie feeling. I do love the use of color, the blues and reds really pop out at you. There is not too much color, it showcases the minuscule use of it with this fact.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you talk about the art telling a story without words. I think that's one of the most important aspects of illustration, and something that makes it different from graphic design.
ReplyDeleteYou took me way back to my GameBoy Advance days, haha. For that I thank you..
ReplyDeleteLooking at it a few years later, I have to agree with what you wrote about telling a story through the art. I googled more images by the same artist and I really do get a sense of 'plot' in a lot of his work. This artist's style is so distinctive, I like that he's branded himself really nicely.
I never really got into Final Fantasy either but I always thought the artwork was pretty original and beautiful. Its good to see something like this done by someone who typically does video game art. I really like the sense of depth you get from the cloth-looking stuff in the background. The composition is very effective and gives the piece that narrative quality.
ReplyDeleteLike. Oh...wait this isn't facebook...
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