White Cloud Artwork

I took a summer screenwriting workshop a few years back. I'd never written a sci-fi or fantasy script before and I wanted to try. When doing something new and unknown to me, I like to put all of myself into it so I know I'm scraping the edges. With White Cloud, rather than just writing the script I explored the story through other creative means. While writing, I illustrated characters and wrote a soundtrack to the movie.

My first semester of college, before leaving to pursue more self-appropriate interests, I studied illustration. Pursuing an education in new media didn't allow me many chances to draw, so I created those opportunities whenever I saw the option. When writing a script, I like to imagine the characters in my head. It often helps to sketch them out. As I became more aware of who they were, I was able to put together more detailed sketches. I tried to think of the scenes that best described their personality and illustrated those scenes, or at least elements of them, to get a better idea of whose words I was writing.

I found that some characters had a visual consistency. Others I didn't know as well as I thought. Some had differenty looks in different pictures when I felt they were duplicitous. Through these drawings, I was able to more clearly sort out the plot, see the elements of characters that meant the most to the story so I could leave out those that didn't, and put a face with the name. It also lead one man, also in my workshop, to suggest that I pursue trading card illustration. That made me feel like I was, at least, doing this part right :).