Eerie Elegance

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In my feed today, there was an awesome post by @artwatch in which they used an existing book illustration and repurposed it into a really cool little art piece. It reminded me of this crazy illustration professor I had during college. He loved having us take existing objects and imagery and repurposing it into artwork. I wasn’t very good at really letting myself go and getting out there with it. Regardless, the entire class was a great exercise in submitting to the will of chaos and turning random things into something greater than the sum of their parts.

One of the repurposed projects we had was to take old toys and dolls he had picked up from a thrift store (seriously, they were all just stuffed into one of those dusty plastic bags), and alter them in a way to be used in promotional items for a piece of horror literature. So, basically we took innocent toys and treated them like Sid from Toy Story would have. Well, I guess I didn’t, but my childhood has given me and unnatural attachment to toys.

While many of my classmates really destroyed and creeped up their dolls and toys, I went a more deliberate route and turned mine into more of a Japanese horror movie villain. During the process, she gained the name Yona. It was something I had just pulled out of the air because it just felt like it fit her. When I looked up the meaning later (not even sure if I had picked a real name), I found out it actually means dove. Given how I changed her, this ended up being very fitting.

To begin the process, I meticulously untangled her hair and used my hair straightener to flatten out any unwanted curls and kinks (it had been tied in a ponytail for what appeared to be years). Doll hair is made of synthetic fibers that melt very easily, so I had to move very quickly across the strands and made sure not clamp the flat iron too tight. Of course, I did all that work so that I could cut all the hair off into a straight line bob.

From here a lot of alterations happened. I dyed her hair using ink, for some reason… I think I didn’t have time or access to actual dye at the moment? Realistically, what probably happened was that I was getting manic over the project and was too excited to take the time to go get more supplies and just used what I had on hand. Anyway… I then taped off her hair and gave her a couple coats of white spray paint. After the spray paint dried, I used gel nail polish and clear coat to paint her eyes a glossy, deep black.

See? She looks like a dove! A creepy, spooky, dove.

Her dress is a little handkerchief cloth I found at a consignment store and splattered with blood-like ink. The wrappings are just gauze soaked in the same medium. Initially they were meant to look splattered as well, but the ink sort of bled throughout. The final touch was to secure the “dress” to her by using some tack nails I had picked up at a local hardware store. You know, now that I’m remembering all the supplies I purchased for this project, I’m really not sure why I didn’t just go pick up some dye for her hair. Hmmm…

We then took high resolution photos in the studio and transformed the images into promotional posters for a selected horror literature compilation. I ended up doing two different color schemes. The class and my instructor preferred the green and red combo, which I considered the more Americanized version and a throwback to old 3D monster movies from the 80s. I, however, have a personal preference for the light, pink version. It’s a continuation of Yona’s color palette and had more of a Japanese horror vibe to it.

Which do you prefer? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Also, sorry for springing another throwback on you guys so soon. We’ve been dealing with our daughters worsening reflux, so my sleep, which has a correlating relationship with my productivity, has been lacking the last few days. We have an appointment today to get her checked out, so hopefully there will be some light at the end of the sleepless tunnel soon.

Until next time!

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I love feedback, so if you have any questions, ideas, or requests, make sure to leave a comment below. And, if you need more fun stuff to shove into your eyeballs, hop over and check out my YouTube channel, Chimp Skipper, or my online portfolio.

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