Take Two

In 2007, my sister and I began to drift apart. Hounded by my personal struggles, I became fascinated with the End of the World theme that had permeated the anime industry. My goal was to capture the irony and morbidity that has defined CLAMP series, X/1999, as vehicles of expressing my own emotions.

It also proved to be a good opportunity to improve my vectoring technique from the ground up. By focusing on monochrome, I was able to dissect vectoring into fundamental elements and define my own style, without the complication of color.

Because CLAMP's works often lack cohesive storylines, I found the various themes confusing. However, further contemplation led me to a realization: Kamui was constantly controlled by the many supernatural forces that surrounded him. Although he wished to choose the correct path, he ultimately was unable to escape his destiny.

The gears in the backdrop directly expressed Kamui's inability to control his situation. To signify the need for peace, I added doves; to mark Kamui's ultimate sacrifice, I branded his shoulder with a bloody "X." Finally, to further dramatize the mostly black and white wall, I splattered red stains across the canvas.

While I certainly learned a lot about vectoring, the line quality in the doves and character leaves much to be desired. Bold and black fails to reflect the finesse for which CLAMP has become known. In the same vein, the black shape, used purely as a space filler, should be converted into a cloak. In addition to adding more detail, this change would also tie the composition together in a more balanced manner.

This venture into explorations of blood and gore marked the beginning of my BW phase. Visually, the wall is pleasing, while clearly portraying a powerful message. I underwent tremendous technical growth with the realization that vectoring is not constrained to flat 2D shapes. Gradients, blurring, painting, lighting--the list of techniques that can be used to breathe life into a vector goes on. By constraining myself to black and white, I was able to understand the power of these techniques. Morbidity, simply put, was my enlightenment.