Art x Designer


Movie Still from Whisper in the WInd
Movie Still from Howl’s Moving Castle (with color palette)
Movie Still from Spirited AwayDress by Rei Kawakubo for Comme de Garcon’s Spring Wedding Collection

Initial drawing with pencil

Final painting with acrylic and markers

 

 

My collaboration for the Artist x Designer project was with Hayao Miyazaki and Rei Kawakubo. Kawakubo’s designs are already so cartoon and imagination like that I thought it would be interesting to take one of her designs and create a Miyazaki-esque world for the character that design creates. I decided to make the painting big because I wanted to add details and a story within the painting, and I thought this would be more noticeable and effective if I did it on a larger scale. I used inspiration from various of Miyazaki’s existing films such as a color scheme from Howl’s Moving Castle, pieces of the castle from Castle in the Sky and the inspiration for the movement of the main figure from Kiki’s Delivery Service‘s first scene. But I didn’t want the character to have just been put into one of Miyazaki’s beautiful films- I wanted to come up with one just for her on her own. I have been listening to a book on audio called the Princess and the Goblin, and while I was drawing I was thinking about how it’s such a charming and fantastical tale. It’s innocence and clever but kind heroine creates the essence that is usually embraced into Miyazaki’s films, and something about Kawakubo’s dress made me think about the little girl character.

I chose specifically Miyazaki as the artist rather than any other animator because I believe that he creates the most perfect children’s movies. The messages he sends through fantastical and original stories are always reverent and important for kids to understand at a young age (i.e. global warming, selfishness and consumerism, depression, the importance of being aware of others). He also has a tendency to create female characters that are so real, so perfectly child like in a way that doesn’t make them sexual, or dainty or unbelievable. They are always strong with kindness, independence and resilience. And his movies don’t just have to be for girls; the male characters in them are always just as important and helpful figures as the heroines, and I think that’s an important part of creating movies for children to watch because it teaches boys that instead of having to save the girl, they can work in a team to save themselves as well. I just think he’s a genius and it made this project a lot of fun to work on.

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