Funtimes with the Art of Lightlark

    This is my blog post that details the rambling adventure of my silly turned slightly serious art project and examination of the official art from a YA/teen book called Lightlark by Alex Aster. I am going to be honest here and I don't think Lightlark is a very well crafted book. This is due to, in my opinion, the author not being skilled enough yet to execute on her ideas and the publisher caring more about money than craft by rushing this book out to market without proper story edits and revisions.

 

   I going to be focusing mostly on the making Muscle Queen Isla and giving a somewhat serious review of Lightlark's official character art.

 

    If you want more information, I have links to Reads with Rachel video on Lightlark and the strange behavior of Alex Aster's marketing of the book, MyNameisMarines video on Lightlark and the greater discussion on who gets the opportunity to make art and get published, and Julian Greystoke's chapter-by-chapter read along.

Reads with Rachel Lightlark Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5i5DJqej80
Reads with Rachel explaining Alex Aster's strange behavior over the marketing of this book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epib1H5Su-U&t=0s
MyNameisMarines Lightlark Review & Discussion of Privilege and Opportunity in Creative Spaces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvOaEMBGpV4
Julian Greystoke's Lightlark Real-Along Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSS328qwlB0

    If you don't want to read my entire blog post I put the final ummm... art pieces from this project here.

MUSCLE QUEEN ISLA

DISNEY VILLAINESS ISLA (A RETRACE)

 

    I decided to do this quick and silly project to turn Isla Crown into a muscle queen while watching Julian Greystoke (whose Youtube channel is of the same name) slowly grow more confused, frustrated, and perhaps some loss of sanity from the poorly plotted and writing decisions of the hastily published Lightlark.

 

 

    I wasn't sure what Isla even looked like so I began searching for the official art of Lightlark's main cast. It took a little bit to get there, but I did find images of the official art that depicted the six members of the main cast. I will say that the art is well rendered and looks nice enough for what it needs to be. There sadly there an unevenness in the art in that some are more visually compelling than others.

 

    When I found Isla's official art it was disappointing for a multitude of reasons.

 

    First reason is that Isla looks like every "young and pretty" YA/teen or NA novel heroine without some kind of unique physical trait (like unusual colored eyes, over-the-top hair color/style, or a strange birthmark) to give the token attempt to make her different.

 

    Second reason is the strange choice to give Isla the facial expression of I'll say... dull surprise? Maybe bored confusion. This to me is strange because written on the character card it says that Isla must "LIE, CHEAT, and BETRAY..." to survive the death game she is a participating in. However Isla's facial express doesn't show her as someone who needs to become or is a deceptive trickster who outwits her enemies.

 

    Third reason is the choice of clothing where Isla is wearing a one shade of red sexy ribbon dress that seems to go against what Isla likes or wants to wear (In the book Isla is unhappy and uncomfortable that her dresses given to her are too form-fitting or revealing). This was also a missed opportunity that doesn't take advantage of the fact that in the book the Wildlings (the people Isla belong to) have access to multicolor clothes unlike the other groups of people who are stuck with only one color.

 

    Fourth reason is that Isla's body pose doesn't reveal anything of her personality in the story or her position to the readers. The only good thing about her body pose is that we can see her sexy ribbon dress. If it is saying anything it is that Isla is an open and easy to read person which again goes against what Isla is supposed to be. Maybe one can say that in the book Isla was sheltered so she doesn't know how to act deceptively thus innocent and naive (strange story choice in my opinion), but then the writing on the character card should've added "she must (learn to) LIE, CHEAT, and BETRAY..." to clarify that aspect of Isla and her journey to becoming that person.

    Fifth reason is more of a personal taste thing, but I would've liked to see more elements and allusion to nature and plants on Isla's clothing (other than the small amount of roses and thorny vines on Isla). This also is a mark against the character card background that is simply black and gold rather than something that connects to plants and nature. I say this because the Wildlings are stated in the book (and on the card) to be connected to nature and plants. In my humble opinion, I don't mind for the nature and plant connection to be obvious since it's an important part of the culture and the people Isla comes from. The art isn't bad at all technically, it's the visual choices and composition that doesn't tell the story of who Isla is.

 

 

    If anyone is thinking, "you're being unfair and unreasonable" or "art is subjective so there is no standard of which to judge them (which I vehemently disagree with)," then you must have forgotten that I already stated that some of the official art (by the same artist I assume) have more compelling visual storytelling. Let's look at Celeste's, or Isla's best childhood friend, official art and immediately it is saying something interesting about Celeste.

 

    First good thing about Celeste's art is that her clothing express the element of her people (the energy of stars) with the sparkle and shine of her dress.

 

    Second good thing is that her body is positioned in a more interesting pose that characterizes Celeste in a way I will explain at the end.

 

    Third good thing is the high contrast of the light and shadows on Celeste's more dynamic pose creates a far more visually interesting art to look at and creates a certain mood (an ominous one in my opinion).

    Now to talk about what I think Celeste's official art is saying about her. From my opinion and knowledge in visual storytelling (from comic books and movies) I think the art is saying that Celeste is hiding a deep secret and/or is being deceptive to Isla (and the other rulers) about something. My reasoning for this is that Celeste's body is positioned towards the viewer to make it seem she is being forward and honest, but her face is turned away from the viewer and covered in shadows as if she trying to avoid being seen (or hide her thoughts).

 

    Maybe this is all just accidentally aligned to say this, but I want to believe that something from Lightlark was done with competence and thought.

    Since we're already here I guess can look into the other official art of the main cast.

 

 

    Looks it's my wind man and second favorite character Azul. Already I am sad that his official art fails him so much.

 

    First problem is the writing on the character card contradicts the art in one major way in that writing says he has a "glittering smile," but Azul's facial expression is simply one of neutrality (or boredom). This also has the negative effect of depriving Azul of the personality he is supposed to have in the story that he barely shows up in.

 

    Second problem is that Azul's body pose is just him standing there, well not menacingly, but just standing there which gives us no information about Azul.

 

    Third minor problem is that he lacks the "glimmering jewels" on his art that the writing on the character card says he has.

 

    Overall just as bad as Isla's official art in terms of visual storytelling in my opinion.

 

 

    Now we're onto my favorite and best character Cleo (and Celeste's older sister). Okay a little off topic, but from what I can see from this official art either the artist has a limited range in body and facial types or was ordered by their client to make the art this way (though the official art should have not made Celeste and Cleo share a similar color in hair and dress at least).

    It's a great improvement over wind man Azul's art as what is depicted Cleo's art is giving viewers relevant information about her that matches what the writing on the character card says about Cleo. 

 

    First good thing is that Cleo's body position is turned away from the viewer that visually shows us that Cleo is aloof and distant from others which matches the idea that Cleo is a cold person.

 

    Second very good thing is the way her hand is raised up towards her chin as if she is contemplating something which matches with the writing on the character card that says Cleo is cunning.

    Then there is the high contrast between the lighting and shadows that make Cleo much more visually interesting and gives her a nice glow. Also her face is turned to give the viewer a more direct gaze that tells us she is confident and forward with her purpose and thoughts (even if in the story Isla is constantly confused by the intentions of others). This was a good one and I hope the next one is too.

 

 

    It's our dark lord and savior Grim the love interest who leaves Isla confused by his attempts to flirt with her. Sadly this is a downgrade from Cleo in terms of the visual storytelling of character. He is simply standing there with his fisted hand raised towards his chest.

    The most interesting thing about Grim's art is that Grim's body, face, and intense gaze is directed towards the distance to look at something the viewer (and perhaps Isla) cannot see. Grim probably knows more about what is going on behind the scenes, but I wouldn't know what that is.

    Also it's nice to know that Grim wears razor blades on his shoulder to keep away those unwanted hugs. I get you Grim, unwanted hugs are the worst.

    Now that I think about it, Lightlark is actually the tragic tale of how Grim wants to be hugged by Isla, but he has no idea how to remove the razor blades, thus dooming himself to loneliness and awkward flirting that goes nowhere.

    Finally its the King of Lightlark and gold man Oro who I thought was much older and looked like... the Burger King mascot in my head for some reason.

 

    Somehow he looks more bland than Grim and if Oro wants to be a competitive love interest in a love triangle he will likely lose, he better step up his game. Oro is also just standing there with his fist raised up like Grim's and I still can't figure out what that means (Maybe determination? Is it a parallel?).

 

    His outfit is golden which makes sense for a dude who is connected to daylight, but it would've been nice to add way more dark blues or blacks to add some contrast to the bright, warm gold and oranges. 

 

    The most interesting thing is that Oro is looking directly at the viewer very likely saying that he is an assertive and direct dude (and maybe honest?).

 

    Unfortunately Oro's crown needs to be refitted as it is sitting atop his head rather than his forehead. He needs to get that fixed soon lest the wind knocks down his crown.

 

 

    Now to the part where I began to rework Isla Crown into a muscle queen and do a retrace of the original art with some of the changes I made for funsies.

 

    I first started with the retrace to figure out how to add in elements that would make Isla have more visual characterization without changing her overall pose too much. I felt that if just a little more was added then Isla could still be in a more static pose and also have personality reflective of what I think she was supposed to be which to me is a trickster hero who is conniving and keeps her heart away from others due to her people's curse.

 

    This would make her a seemingly less "approachable" protagonist to both potential readers (and the other characters in the story), but I felt it was more important to match Isla to the whole "LIE, CHEAT, and BETRAY..." tagline for her character. I wanted to make her visually be someone who you look at and can believe she will "LIE, CHEAT, and BETRAY..." in order to survive and save her people.

 

    First thing to think about was Isla's dress and how it didn't fit with what she wanted in the actual book. I ended up completely revamping the dress and changed it to be mostly cool greens (ya know nature) with compliments of red and other warm colors for contrast. I made sure to choose very different shades of green and place them in the best contrasting place to prevent Isla's dress from becoming a monochromatic blob. I also added more references to nature and plants so it would be very obvious what the Wildlings are about.

    The top part of the dress would cover up Isla more since she hated overly revealing dresses (despite those things somehow being packed for her to wear in the story) and for the practical purpose of hiding items she can use for her clandestine activities. The only "sexy" part of Isla's revamped dress would be the slit up the dress which would be a way to make others think it's for "sexy purposes," but it would allow Isla to move more quickly. Then I added a cape because I like capes and drapery.

 

    I then changed Isla's crown (heh) to be more elaborate and be more obvious in its nature connection by making the crown look far more tree-like and alive (they live in a magic world so a living crown should be a thing for the nature people). I also gave Isla more inhuman plant like features like ears that resemble leaves and roots fused to her face. This was mostly a personal preference that for me elemental beings should show some kind of physical traits representing those elements. Lastly I changed Isla's facial expression to be more unwavering, focused, and secretive. I also added some darker shadows on her body and face to add to the mystery and danger element.

    I gave Isla a dagger to hold to show her as both dangerous and to symbolize her willingness to deceive since the dagger is often used (and seen) as a stealth weapon. However I positioned the dagger near her heart to create to show her desire to prevent herself from feeling romantic love and to keep others from getting close. The potion Isla is holding is far more simpler and makes more sense if ya know that Isla compensates and hides her lack of magical abilities through the use of magical potions. I wanted that usage of potions to be more forefront, but also play into the idea of us not knowing if the potion is for her or her target. All in all I say I accidentally made a Disney Villainess.

    For the Muscle Queen Isla version kept all of the same changes but I added more muscles and beefiness onto her and zoomed out so I could fully draw and color the dress. I think I could've made her more buff so that our dark lord and savior Grim (and Oro) could have the best hugs from Muscle Queen Isla. I also redid the character card into a prototype that matches better towards what I think it should've looked like (ya know green and leaves).

 

 

 

    There you all have it. My strange journey into the official art of Lightlark that for what should've been a quick and easy joke, but became something far more serious along the way. Anyways, I hoped we all learned a valuable lesson on the dangers of wearing razor blades on our shoulders. Thank you for your time and have a good day.