Could an enemy really become a friend? Or something… more?

Shadows and Starlight is one of the stories I’m currently writing (and hoping to publish someday!) It centers around two superhuman teens on opposite sides of the law, “Angie Luz” and “Max Mag.” As they become unlikely friends (and perhaps fall in love), they’re forced to reevaluate their lives in the face of their parents’ expectations and their own fears.

I created this piece for the Spring Art Show at Jessup in 2024. With the show's theme revolving around the idea of things that are "different" and "unexpected", I decided to try something different artistically by creating a three-dimensional piece. It ended up being a lot of fun to take the characters I'd designed and bring them into a 3D form.

The project began with sketches as I tried to decide what exactly I wanted to do with my characters. I knew I wanted it to involve their superhero outfits, a book, and possibly aesthetics relating to the current design I have for their book cover. I ended up deciding to try this idea of drawing the characters on a piece of paper (double-sided), then laminating that and attaching it to a book that has been sealed open.

Once I narrowed down the designs for the project, I worked on my detailed drawings of the two characters in both their super suits and normal clothing, using a lightboard to trace so that they lined up on both sides of the paper.

With the drawing done, I moved on to coloring with a variety of brush pens, then laminating and prepping the book to attach them. I ended up cutting a slit in the book and sliding them in, which turned out to be fairly secure. 

I finished things off by painting the designs onto the book with acrylic paint, then reattaching the characters and sealing everything with modge podge.