Conjure Brief:

• Create a pair of Conjures based on free will and determinism respectively.
• Determinism Conjure will draw from occultism
  • Deer skulls and skeletal bodies
  • Each Conjure ‘hanging’ via golden threads spun around their antlers that fade into the air above them
    • Inanimate pose as to suggest they cannot act until the threads are pulled
      • No muscles to imply the same thing
  • Experiment with multiple instances, as to imply assimilation into fate

Sketches and Ideas

I didn’t do any sketches for this one, as the idea is easily visualised in my mind, thus I am skipping this step to save time.

Designing Construct

1. The first idea was to simply make a Construct puppet hanging from its horns. I blocked in the highlights and shadows, giving Construct a distinctly ‘limp’ feel to it, as though it is waiting for the input of the puppet master above.

2. I also trialled an idea in which Construct is the puppet master instead. I like this idea, but I ended up making Construct the puppet instead, as I like the mystery behind the anonymity of the puppet master above, pulling the strings. I think that better suits the idea as well, as, if there is a puppet master controlling all of our fates, it seems more fitting that it’d be a higher, unseen entity beyond our comprehension.

Final Default Artwork

Lifeline Protocol

1. This idea was to expand on the mystery behind Construct, its origins, and the puppet master. In my head, Construct instances would mysteriously crop up seemingly out of thin air, so I wanted to play off that mystery by placing multiple instances in the same place, with the ‘viewer’ stumbling across them. I blocked in the highlights, and added some depth of field by adding a torchlight effect to the piece.

2. To make the piece feel like found footage, I added noise and slight blur, which I think looks good.

3. I then began to add the threads that hold each Construct instance up, making sure they aren’t all taught, just to emphasise how they are hanging.

4. I added some glow, and diffused it across the piece to better reflect the way in which a retro camera would process light.

5. I added some atmospheric snow, just to further emphasise that this is in the wilderness, and that the viewer has really stumbled across these Construct instances.

6. Finally, I added some blur to the Construct instances to further the retro effect and add additional depth.

Final Lifeline Artwork

Card Iteration History