"Ernesto" Interview with the Vampire (2022) excerpt
Self-initiated WIP, 2023
Style Frames, Storyboard (more to come!)
I was inspired by Interview with the Vampire's theme of a monster's redemption through his connection to art, and art's absolute power to reflect and redeem our shared emotional experiences. The vampire Lestat has contempt for mortals and views humans as food, and recently sired Louis is the tortured, soulful narrator of the scene. Through an opera performance of Don Pasquale, they let themselves become engrossed, and allow the opera to express what they themselves have trouble expressing.
In addition to the beautiful prose of the narration, I was attracted to visually researching stage design and opera theatre architecture. The story-in-a-story structure of the scene also allows for surrealist interplays between shapes and shadows within a spookily lit opera theatre stage. I am excited to bring more of expressionist film's visual language into my illustration style - elements such as thorny oblique shapes, dramatic cinematic shadows, a well designed title card...
