Brut Mag Submission Research

Total Neonkyo

DEADLINE: Feb 16, 2018
Issue 2 will be a collective of far east Asia inspired work with neon apocalypse setting. We've seen many fresh street style worn by fictional characters who carry a load of stories to tell this year. Let's gather up all these stories and put them in one place for all to enjoy.
PLEASE REFER TO THE FOLLOWING IDEAS BEFORE SUBMITTING!
For inspiration have a look at modern Asia, Total Recall (the original) and Ghost In The Shell the anime.

I originally found the opposrtunity to submit on Brutemagazine's Instagram. This sort of theme isn't really something I have looked at before but the change to get to know it a bit better drew me in. I also think the colour pallet I use would go well with the sort of 'modern Asia'. I used to be very interested in Tokyo fashion because of its layers and vibrant colours so I thought this might be something to start me off. 

After looking around for a while I decided to talk to an illustrator Georgia Down. Her work clearly shows her understanding of Asian aesthetics and culture so she seemed the idea person to talk to about possible themes. I was mentioning the bright colours I used in Raccoons n'Shrooms II and she introduced me to the animal tenuki. After just a quick internet search I decided this was the way to go. 

What The Heck is a Tenuki? had some great starting points, especially as I had come across some art showing the creatures with massive ball sack. 

I did loads of sketches and had quite a few ideas but the final was the most simple design just featuring the head and some robotic features. I sketched it, coloured it in Photoshop so that I would have an idea of what it would look like then used the risograph as I think the colour are perfect to create a neon apocalypse feel. I also didn't want to loose the whole story around the balls, so I disguised them a little as hearts.

I tried a few different ways, scanning, photographing etc. to get the colour the same as on the actual prints but nothing worked that well, the digital versions don't do it justice. I experimented with these by printing them onto different papers such as cartridge, black paper and white card. The images on the white card turned out the best as there was no bleed which happened on the cartridge.