My project for this semester went through a few phases. It was going to be a minecraft build, then a detailed color drawing, then multiple sketches, and finally two coloring pages accessible to the class. I got the idea from my classmates Tabby and Alexa. They told me that I should make a coloring book and that put my project in full swing. Although it’s not a full coloring book because that would put me way past my mental and physical limit. For the coloring pages I was inspired by Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s ‘Mexican Gothic’. I was really inspired by the gothic horror, strange themes and imagery.
For my first coloring page I drew my three favorite characters from ‘Mexican Gothic’. I drew Noemi, with her vintage glamor. I drew Francis and his couture. I also drew Catalina who is, and will always be an icon. I drew them in a cavern surrounded by mushrooms. One feature I added to Noemi was that the family crest of a snake eating its own tail circled around her. I drew this coloring page for the people that like taking more time to color in detail, in which there are a lot of them. A lot of creative liberty in which people can explore different color pallets.
For the second coloring Page I decided to make it a little more simple for the people who are not as patient. I understand wanting to color but not having the energy to do it. I drew the family crest in the back of the book with more psychedelic mushrooms holding it up. I made the mushrooms look psychedelic by adding eyes to them, as a reference to ‘opening the third eye’. I still wanted this drawing to be somewhat detailed to show my skill set as an artist.
I got a lot of inspiration from the book itself. The mushrooms, the Family crest, The traumatized look in their eyes. I also took the cover art and the inside cover art of how Noemi would look and dress. I also added my artstyle while drawing her and the others. The problem was finding inspiration for the other characters. I searched on google and found a tumblr post from a user named Alondra. She made amazing art on all of the characters, but I mostly took inspiration from Francis and Catalinas outfits. I thought the sweater vest on Francis was so accurate and I loved the way Catalinas dress was done. I also found a Pinterest post from Ender. The only thing I took from the Drawing was Francis’ hair. I loved the messy side swoop and incorporated a similar style into my art piece.
For my process I drew the images on a sketch pad, then took a picture of them and uploaded it to my Ipad. From there I took the time to outline every detail, making sure the lines were clean just like a coloring page. I’m not very good at drawing on the Ipad, and probably never will be. As soon as I have paper and a pencil my hands just know the right proportions and can actually create an image. After everything was outlined I added a signature to each piece and then emailed them to my laptop so I could print them out for my classmates.
I think my interpretation of ‘Mexican Gothic’ is important because Visualizing what happens is one of the most important parts of the book. When you can’t imagine the storyline and get lost in it, it becomes a burden rather than an experience. Being able to put others’ thoughts and ideas into an art piece can lead others to have a conversation about the literature itself. With AI on the horizon it’s important now more than ever to create ideas, and express them through art. Representation will always be important when it comes to literature because it helps further explore stories beyond the words we read.
Mckenzie Ball
Sources
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia. Mexican Gothic. Del Rey, 2021.
Links to artists
Ender-
Sprockets and Springes 