Introduction
In this essay I will be analysing a variety of eight different
illustrations that revolve around the themes of anthropomorphism and character
and archetype though I might talk about some of the other themes in some of the
art work. These different pieces of work will be from a variety of different
forms of media; the different forms of media I will be analysing will be
Graphic novels, trading card illustrations, video games and fairy tales. After
analysing all eight pictures I will be concluding on how both of the themes work
well or not so well together and how anthropomorphism is used to signify
characters and archetypes.
Picture 1
The
first picture I will be analysing is an illustration known as “Shawdowborn
Demon” which was created by the artist Lucas Graciano. This illustration is used for the trading card game known as Magic: The Gathering. This piece of art shows a dark being with the body of a man with black and maroon wings and whose head has been replaced with only a ball of fire within a dark helmet that is the same shape as the symbol on his belt. I find this piece really interesting because it shows an amazing amount of detail on the body with its “over-stylized muscles” and the wings of the creature. However the only problem with the artwork in the illustration is the head of the beast which, as Mike Linnemann said in his review about the piece “makes it move from “Holy crap; Lucas is amazing,” into, “Oh, well, that’s a nice illustration.””[1] Another thing I find intriguing with this piece, in my opinion, is how Graciano has used the colours and brushstrokes to make the character really stand out so you will focus all of your attention on him. This illustration works with both themes because for the theme of anthropomorphism, it shows a humanoid looking creatures that has wings that resembles a bat and a ball of fire for a head. It also works well with the other theme of character and archetype because since this creature is a demon which is defined in the dictionary as being an “evil spirit” or a cruel evil person[2], it could be defined as being a typical villain in the world.
[1] Linnemann,
[2] Dictionary.com
Picture 2
This
piece of work was created as a frame of issue number 86 in the comic book
series known as “The Darkness” and was created by the artist Sheldon Mitchell.
This illustration shows the main character Jackie Estacado in his darkness form
facing a large arrange of villains he had already thought in his past that are
regenerating after Jackie made them crumble,[3]
though within the text in the frame you can see that he is losing the battle
because he is tiring from what he seems years of fighting them.[4]
The art here works well with both themes because for the theme of
anthropomorphism it shows a large amount of creatures that appear human
attacking Jackie while Jackie tries to use the dark entity within him named The
Darkness to defend himself. This also works with the other theme of character
and archetype because all the creatures in this image are shown as the villains
while Jackie is shown as the hero, even though Jackie and his powers are known
as villains facing against heroes in the story of the Darkness.[5]
The art work within this image is extremely detailed and the artist was able to
capture the “wicked look” when it came to the Darkness empowered Jackie,
however as it says in the review of this issue “the art does get a little muddy
at times” and “could have been a little more cleaned up” which it shows in this
illustration, especially within the colouring.[6]
[3] Andrenn
[4] The Darkness – Accursed Volume 5
[5] The darkness – accursed volume5
[6] Andrenn
Picture 3
This
piece of work is an illustration known as “Portent of Betrayal” and was created
by the artist Mike Lim or as he is also known by Daarken. This illustration is
another piece of work used in the trading card game known as Magic: The
Gathering and it shows two merfolk at the shore with one of them on the floor
cowering in fear and the other one pointing a trident right at the one on the
floor, however this piece of work is meant to show the one standing is meant to
be a “possessed merfolk”[7]
This piece of art works well with both themes because for the theme of
anthropomorphism, it shows two different characters who are both part human and
part fish and it also follow the theme of character and archetype in my opinion
because the illustration is meant to have the possessed merfolk being
represented as the villain by attacking his fellow people and is meant to be
showing the merfolk on the floor as being the victim. The artwork in this piece
works really well for what it is because it is really detailed and how he set
the piece shows, as Mike Linnemann says in his review, that both “figures don’t
fight for the space, and the separation creates depth”[8]
and in my opinion this work well because it allows the viewers to see the
background where there are dark clouds for which I believe represents the dark
shroud that is possessing the merfolk. Also, since this card is used for a red
ability in the game the red colouring of the possessed merfolks fins shows that
it has a good colour connection which is especially useful here because “in
such a small space, getting two figures to interact is hard.”[9]
Picture 4
This
piece of work was created as a frame in issue number 3 in the comic book series
known as “Fables” and was created by the artist Mark Buckingham. This image
shows the main protagonist Bigby Wolf charging at the side character Bluebeard
to try and save another side character called jack from getting cut by
Bluebeard.[10]
This piece of work works well with both of the themes I am using in this essay
because from the theme of anthropomorphism you can see Bigby in his wolf form
standing up looking like a werewolf and it also works for the other theme of
character and archetype because it even though in the image Bigby looks
villainous, he is shown as the anti-hero because he is trying to save someone’s
life while threatening to kill someone and Bluebeard is shown as the villain by
holding the knife to Jack’s throat. The artwork in the image is really
interesting because it uses the “familiar style of classic comics” to show “the
vivid imagery and detail” that is within the frame.[11]
In my opinion, the tones are used really well to represent how dark this
situation actually is by showing Bigby and Bluebeard half in darkness which I
believe is showing their villainous behaviour coming out ready to fight.
However, in a review about the entire book they said “Sometimes the reader can
be distracted by the sheer presence of colour and detail and may look over
important character or plot details,” which I agree with in this image
partially because when it comes the Bluebeard’s dialogue in the image it is
easily able to overlook because of the art, although with Bigby’s dialogue,
they made the text so large and erratic, you could not overlook it.
[10] Fables – The deluxe edition book one
Picture 5
This
next illustration is known as “Seraph of the Sword” and was created by the
artist Jaime Jones. This piece was also created for the trading card game known
as Magic the Gathering. This piece shows an armoured angel drawing her sword in
mid-flight high in the clouds appearing to get ready to charge to a battle. I
believe this image works well with both themes because within the theme of
Anthropomorphism it shows a human figure but has bird wings attached to her
which gives her a more heavenly and look, it works well with the other theme of
character and archetype because angels are depicted as messengers of god and
have aspects of kindliness[12]
so this character can be seen as a heroine. Also within the theme of
Sexualisation the artist hasn’t appeared to sexualise his work by making sure
that the woman is in reasonable armour instead of having her half naked like
the artwork of the Shawdowborn Demon from earlier in this essay. The art style
within this particular illustration is intriguing because Jones decided the
crop out some of the image intentionally to make the figure stand out and
appear “larger, more important and impressive” to show a
bottom-left-to-top-right eye-pushing technique. In a quote from a review by
Mike Linnemann he says “He’s normally a pretty loose painter using those big
brush strokes.”[13] I agree with this quote that the critic said
because for the first quote, in my opinion, the image doesn’t look as detailed
in the background with the clouds, however I believe that Jones’ use of tone in
the image is incredible with the sunlight shining from the top left of the
image to make the inside of the wings darker and the fact that in the
background the clouds shows the rays of light breaking through as if the
angel’s appearance is helping break the clouds to allow sunlight to spread
again.
Picture 6
This
piece of art that was created as concept art for the computer game known as
“Rayman Legends” was illustrated by the artist Aymeric Kevin but is an unnamed
artwork by him. This concept art shows the main protagonist Rayman standing on
the floor of a garden area with the other main character Globox standing on top
of a hedge with both of the characters looking at each other. This piece of
work easily follows the theme of anthropomorphism with the main protagonist
being a humanoid looking creature that has no arms, no legs and no neck but has
his head feet and hands, however the artwork does not follow the theme of
characters and archetypes because it doesn’t show what their role is even
though in the game they are the heroes trying to save the creatures known an
Teensies after they have been kidnapped.[14]
In the review of the game by gamesradar the critic said “you’ll have exhausted
every synonym you know for “pretty””[15]
and the illustration here is a good example of what the critic says because, in
my opinion, the background gives off a calm atmosphere of peace and
tranquillity while the foreground gives off an gloomy atmosphere with the dark
tones surrounding the wildlife. The art that has been used in this image and
for other images in the game also helped it to win multiple artistic
achievement[16]
which I am not surprised about because of the “gorgeous art style”[17]
that we can see in this illustration.
Picture 7
This piece of work named “Mast Blast” was
created as concept art for the video game “Donkey Kong Country Returns” and was
created by the illustrator Sammy Hall for the creator of the game Retro Studios.
This illustration shows the main character Donkey Kong swinging across a rope on a ship while throwing a barrel at the mast of the ship while there is a naval battle in background. This piece of art works well with the theme of anthropomorphism because it shows the main character who is a monkey with his red tie swinging across the rope. However it doesn’t really work well for the theme of character and archetype in my opinion because the image only shows the main character throwing a barrel at a mast and being destructive, even though in the game plot he is known as the hero because he is fighting the villains who stole his bananas and hypnotised to local wildlife to do their bidding.[18] In a review about the concept art of the game the critic James Newton said “The concept art that went into producing this unique art style is every bit as impressive as you'd expect … the art itself completely captures the spirit of the game”[19], I agree with this quote because in the illustration there is a lot of great detail used within the scenery from the mast breaking apart to the mountains in the distance and the spirit of the game is known to have a lot of “fun cartoonish nonsense”[20] which they show here with the large ship battle in the background.
Picture 8
This piece of work was created for
a frame within the book “A Long Road Home” that is in the Marvel graphic novel
series “The Dark Tower” and was created by the artist Jae Lee, who sketched the
image and Richard Isanove who added the colours into the artwork. This
illustration shows one of the side characters Sheemie being experimented on by
a strange robotic creature by having electrical equipment attaching itself to
Sheemie’s head while the robot passes electricity from itself into Sheemie. I
believe this image works with the theme of anthropomorphism because it shows a
large humanoid shaped robot experimenting on this child, it also works with the
other theme of character and archetype because it shows the robot as being the
villain in the scene by doing evil deeds to this child and the child is
represented as being “Hampry’s village idiot” within the story.[21]
The art work within the image, in my opinion, is well suited for what the image
is trying to represent by showing a gloomy atmosphere to portray a dark feeling
of evil within the image. In a review of this comic he says “Jae Lee’s art is
always fabulous, but Richard Isanove’s hazy colours do not compliment Lee’s
stark black-and-white illustration well at all.”[22]
I agree with this quote slightly because in my opinion, the contrast of the
blue glow surrounding the edges and the darkness in the centre doesn’t really
work well, however how Isanove used the colours for the electrical effects
coming from the robot looks much better and seems more detailed and intriguing
than the rest of the colours. However I agree completely on how he sees Lee’s
art because the detail Lee is able to create with the lines and tones of this
piece to create the dark atmosphere it is meant to be showing and it is able to
make the robotic creature looks mysterious since nobody knows much about it at
all.
Conclusion
To conclude, I believe that the two themes of
anthropomorphism and character and archetypes do work well together to create
some beautiful pieces of artwork for a variety of different media forms from
graphic novels and trading cards to award-winning video games. Through analysing
all of these images it seems that when it comes to the use of anthropomorphism
in character and archetypes that they are often used for either villains,
minions or anti-heroes which shows that they are often used for darker purposes
but are still used to create heroes and sidekicks to show that they are also
able to be used for greater purposes.
Bibliography
1. 13. Fig 1. Linnemann, M. (2013) Magic 2014 Art
Review, Part 1. Available at http://www.gatheringmagic.com/mikelinnemann-m14-vorthos-07172013-magic-2014-art-review-part-1/
2. (2014) Demon. Available at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/demon?s=t
3. 6. Fig 2. Andrenn. (2010) The Darkness #86
Review. Available at http://comicbookrevolution.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=562:the-darkness-86-review&catid=57&Itemid=71
4, 5. Hester, P. and Fialkov, Joshua Hale (2011)
The Darkness: Accursed, Los Angeles: Image Comics7. 8. 9. Fig 3. Linnemann, M. (2013) The Art of
Theros, Part 1. Available at http://www.gatheringmagic.com/mike-linnemann-vorthos-09252013-the-art-of-theros-part-1/
10. Willingham, B. (2009) Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book One. New
York: DC Comics
11. Leahy, C. (2012) Fables: The Deluxe Edition,
Book One by Bill Willingham. Available at http://graphicnovelcourse.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/fables-deluxe-edition-book-one-by-bill.html
12. (2014) Angel. Available at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/angel
14. 15. 17. Taljonick, R. (2014) Rayman Legends
PS4/Xbox One Review. Available at http://www.gamesradar.com/rayman-legends-review/
16. (2014) Rayman Legends. Available at http://rayman.ubi.com/legends/en-gb/home/
18. 20. Riendeau, D. (2013) Donkey Kong Country
Returns 3D Review: The Wild Side. Available at http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/17/4338520/donkey-kong-country-returns-3d-review-the-wild-side
19. Fig 7. Newton, J. (2011) Drool Over This Donkey
Kong Country Returns Concept Art. Available at: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2011/01/drool_over_this_donkey_kong_country_returns_concept_art
21. King, S
and David, P (2008) The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home. New York: Marvel
22. Callahan,
T (2008) Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home. Available at http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=382
Fig 5. (2013)
~Jaime Jones “Seraph Of the Sword”. Available at http://womenphenomenally.tumblr.com/post/64818246009/jaime-jones-seraph-of-the-sword
Fig 6. Kevin,
A (2013) Rayman Legends Concepts. Available at http://aymrc.blogspot.co.uk/
Fig 8. The
Long Road Home No. 2. Available at http://creativevisions.scificincinnati.com/long_road_2_page.html
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