24 minute read
Chapter 3
My Sketch Ideas Came to Life!
Over the years, I created a lot of illustrations and sketches that were often personal to me. All my personal illustrations and sketches were inspired by artists such as Brad Holland and Topor. This became my style in my work, this feeling can be seen even in my other works such as the logo or advertising design.
Advertisement
Most of the works I want to provide in this book have a surrealistic meaning. In fact, I must say that the senior design project was an opportunity to present my works in book form. A book and editorial design about my works that I always wanted to do for a long time.
The visual images that I have presented here are my works that are related to illustration and editorial design, which I am personally proud of them. Each of these works conveys a concept to the viewer. I tried to encourage my audience to think about the subject, concept, and perception of my works through their observation. I believe a Visual artist, graphic designer and illustrator should be aware of the audience’ objectives. I would like to create visual concepts to communicate my ideas with the audience. One of the reasons I like the style and technique of artists like Rene Magritte, Topor, Holland, and the Surrealist style in general, is that they are conceptual and make the viewer think about the concept. Surreal style and black humor are BFFs and related to each other’s. However, works that have separate sections on comedy and tragedy are not considered black humor because, by definition, black humor is derived from comedy tragedy itself. In short, black humor deals with the negative aspects of life and tries to joke with them in a way that is unexpected and shocking.
Another application of black humor is to criticize issues or tell facts. Basically, to enjoy dark humor, the satirist himself should not go too far. The purpose of this satire is not only to be funny, but also to be annoying, and to a greater degree, to make the audience think about the ugliness around them. Something that is presented in the form of humor but is made only with the intention of being rude and annoying the audience, will not sit well. One of the attractions of this type of style, and it is interesting to me, is that the images in this style of illustration are usually not visible or do not exist in the real world, but in the opposite sense, they express a bitter reality in their meaning.
For instance, in one of my works called Little Fish’s Dream, I got the idea from a famous novel called The Little Black Fish by Persian author, Samad Behrangi. The story of the Little Black Fish is about a little fish who lives in a small lake and wants to see the ocean and explore more about the world.
Little Fish’s Dream, 2016
Axe at the Root, 2016
However, his family and friends don’t want him to leave the lake they believe there is no other world, ours is only here in this lake. One day he ran away from home, moved to the ocean and he faced with various adventures. The interesting theme about this book is although The Little Black Fish is a wellknown Persian language children’s book written by Samad Behrangi. The book was widely considered to be a political allegory. There is other example of my work called Forefinger, that it might not be irrelevant with the current world’s situation and might has a political meaning. In this illustration I refer forefinger as gun for order of war.
My idea and concept about this image is that the little fish thinks of freedom (which I used the bubble as a symbol of freedom to express the concept of freedom) and wants to go to the ocean where it belongs but is trapped in a fish tank. There is no such a thing like this image in this world, but it expresses a fact and reality. The point of this illustration is that we are as a human killing nature and trees, in fact, we are destroying ourselves. I refer to shadow as a reflection of human performance that how much we are hurting ourselves by destroying nature. This image while being interesting also can be satirical humor to the audience.
As mentioned earlier, I have a lot of illustrations, sketches, and illustrations in satirical humor style, which sometimes of personal to me. In this book based on the digital program’s technique I’ve learned at George Mason, I can do over and convert them into Adobe Creative Cloud Programs, such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator in computerized design and artistic forms. However, I am not going to apply too much effect, not to the extent that their vibe is taken away from them. I believe satirical humor in terms of concept is related to graphic design because they both make the connection with the audience to capture the eyes and make them think about the message and concept in a visual and satirical way. Nevertheless, whether in illustration or any art field most of the focus of dark humor is on the concept and message of the work.
Making art is takes a lot of work and is extremely challenging, especially with different types of tools and materials, but in my opinion, the idea of work is more important than the tool of work. For instance, In Woolen, I didn’t want to apply any digital effect because I thought this alone conveys its meaning to the viewer, and by introducing the
digital effect, did not want to distract the viewer from thinking about the meaning of the work.
Satire always brings a message to the viewer. In Axe at the Root, I tried to send the message to the audience about nature and sustainability. The point of this illustration is that we are as humans killing nature and trees. In fact, we are destroying ourselves. I refer to shadow as a reflection of human performance that how much we are hurting ourselves by destroying nature. This image while being interesting also can be satirical humor to the audience.
Also, in this book, by creating the relationship between the human and his shadow, I tried to represent the self-reflection, or somehow introduce self-portrait through the shadow. I have some shadow series illustrations about selfreflection, some of them, which I chose as my favorite ones for my book. In one of my series of shadows, I received the idea from a narrative poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, which is about a person who is at the crossroads of a forest. My goal is to portray some decisions in life that sometimes put a person at a dilemma or paths that a person as a passenger wants to go and achieve but encounters a dead end. In this work, I wanted to indicate how a person thinks when they their true self.
Woolen, 2016 If I want to be honest, I inspired the name of the book (Days with No Memories) inspired by this work. In this work, by using hatches and shading, I tried to bring my work’s vibe closer to Topor’s works. Most of my works and sketches in this book are in black and white. I tried to show the old and classic style, like the designs and illustrations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which makes them more cryptic and gives a historical sense to their fears.
These works, such as satire humor, instill fear, horror, nostalgia, and darkness in the language of humor to the audience, but no one laughs when they see them.
Self-Reflection, 2021
Self-Identity, 202I
The Traveler, 2021
Gun, 2014
My designs and sketches come from deep-rooted ideas that sometimes come as a painful cry. However, some of my concepts and comprehension are difficult and even for me, let alone to express their meaning to the viewer.
For instance, in Gun, I don’t really have any interpretation for this work. This is an imaginary that came to my mind, which I transferred on paper. The Root is one of those sketches that would be difficult for me if I want to explain its meaning to the viewer. Perhaps it shows in some way the captivity of a person with deep roots in the present circumstances of his life, which is likened to a trashcan and wants to get rid of this captivity.
In short, black humor deals with the negative aspects of life and tries to joke with them in a way that is unexpected and shocking. Another application of black humor is to criticize issues or tell facts. Basically, to enjoy black humor, the satirist himself should not go too far. The purpose of this satire is not only to be funny, but also to be annoying, and to a greater degree, to make the audience think about the ugliness around them. Something that is presented in the form of humor, but is made only with the intention of being rude and annoying the audience, will not sit well. One of the attractions of this type of style, and it is interesting to me, is that the images in this style of illustration are usually not visible or do not exist in the real world, but in the opposite sense, they express a bitter reality.
The Root, 2012
This is an imagination that came to my mind, which I transferred on paper. The Root is one of those sketches that would be difficult for me if I want to explain its meaning to the viewer. Perhaps it shows in some way the captivity of a person with deep roots in the present circumstances of his life, which is likened to a trashcan and he wants to get rid of this captivity.
In describing my designs in terms of technique, content, elements and components, colors, shapes, etc. Terms such as surreal and black humor can be used. My works openly and often with biting satire attack its critical positions. I free my mind, seize the opportunity of paper, and allow the most impossible to be drawn on white pages. This aberration, tradition-breaking, fantasy, and rebellion in my work has formed a wide range of surreal, imaginary, and unconventional paintings. My designs come from deep-rooted thoughts that sometimes come as a painful cry. Most of them imposes realism on the audience with a kind of riddle. Characters who are always confused and moving in a worrying direction.
In this book, the viewer witnesses images that do not exist in the reality, while expressing the real meaning in this world. Contrary to what is imagined and molded in the mind, there is no negative induction in my works, and they mostly reflect the sufferings of human beings, who sometimes find identity in the “symbol” and sometimes force people to surrender in an unequal struggle. We can mention The Climber as an example, who tries to light his cigarette at the top of a mountain, which is depicted as a candle. The illustration itself superficiality might be interesting and funny, but in fact, the melting of the candle is the expression of his life, which is destruction with smoke. Dark humorous cartoons often bring more than a smile to the face of their audience; Maybe a poison. However, cartoons with this theme often begin with a laugh and end with panic in the viewer. In fact, the need for dark humor behind its poison is to shock the viewer and impress them.
Satire expresses anything distorted, ugly, unusual, imaginary, or unbelievable express weird or strange. For example, if a cartoonist shows a person’s nose larger than normal, it is humorous, but if he draws a nose instead of a person’s face, it is black humor. In Tree Man, a person is likened to a tree trapped in a drought. Although there is no such picture in reality, it represents some people who are stagnant and trapped in their lives. In satire humor, the imaginary shapes of humans, animals, flowers, and plants are intertwined in a symmetrical pattern. A hesitation between laughing or panicking, uncertainty between farcical and dark content, this is the purpose of satire humor. In fact, dark humor can be considered the most important representative of visual humor. The task of humor is to discover the contradictions of life and to create harmony between them.
The Climber, 2018
Techniques in illustration, especially in the field of satire humor style such as perspective, anatomy, design, movement figure, etc, can be taught and theorized to some extent. However, having a deconstructive thinking, imagination, a philosophical view of life, curiosity about life, the fate and the critique of human behavior, the beauty of friendship along with bitterness, worldview, and the love of innovation and rethinking are factors that a cartoonist or comic artist should have. Satire transforms poetry into a special form in the form of caricature and gives it a color of criticism, and sometimes even goes to the depths of philosophy and introversion. Simply put, semantic dark humor is formed in the eyes of the audience and seems as important as literature. When a work enters the stage of social realism, it flows with depth. This depth and insight are basically called satire. Human nature, human loneliness, and spiritual eclipses are the main themes of this type of style.
Surrealism or humor can be defined as a kind of painted literature. In one of my works called Lifeguard, I tried to use a new technique. I produced two versions. One is in the form of a design that is an original sketch, and the other is in the form of a digital one, which I turned into the graphic program. I tried to give the effect that I give in a Cubism style atmosphere, like Girl with Mandolin by Picasso. Lifeguard is representing the satirical style, which portrays a person as a lifeguard who helps and throws tubes (swim rings) to people, who have money in their hands.
Lifeguard, 2018
Lifeguard, 2018 In fact, this image shows how the low-income class in this world is suffering and the capitalists are always at the forefront to help.
Satire can spread to graphic design as well. For example, in one of the PSA (Public Service Announcement) advertising posters, I designed for the prevention of mass shooting camps, I challenged the subject through the school sign. In this design, the viewer does not witness the hatching or drawing sketches but is confronted with a completely graphic design style. My idea was to use an iconic logo of a school sign as criticism and satire to communicate to the audience. In this image people inside the sign are crossing the street while they have guns in their hands.
The point of criticism in this design is that shootings have become so rampant in schools that school signs needs to be turned into a dangerous school zone sign. Although the image is completely graphic and comical, the message is satirical and dark.
One of the features of humor is that it does not capture the red lines and restrictions.
In fact, satire can represent a set of impossibilities in philosophical form. For example, one of my works indicates the human that the dual-mode pulls itself up with a zipper, or a person with two eyes on his hands, which is inspired by one of Rene Margit’s portraits. So all the characters in my works arr representing a state of confusion.
Danger Zone, 2021
Duality, 2022
In dark humor, the use of color is not the main criterion, and in fact, the direct expression of mental inflammation and inner movement depends on the rough lines and the meaning of the work. However, It has always been interesting to me that Van Gogh’s works, although most of his works are taken from a variety of cheerful colors, this would be the effect of expressionism and sharpness of his brushstrokes can be seen on the canvas. Of course, this is also related to his strange character, and it has always been interesting to me that a great painter such as Van Gogh, who managed to sell only one of his works in his whole life, while now the gun he shot at himself sold for nearly $ 200,000 in an auction. Even his death, like his character, is so mysterious that still, no one knows for sure whether he killed himself or was killed. The question that I myself curious to ask if I see him one day in the future!
Contrary to many people’s beliefs, that most painters and artists become famous after their death. I think Van Gogh was probably the only prominent painter who became famous after his death. Most outstanding and famous artists such as, da Vinci, Picasso or Dali were also prominent and famous during their lifetime. Even now, I know a lot of contemporary artists who are brands for themselves, so some of their works sell for millions or thousands of dollars.
Scream 2016
Aside from all this, the reason I mentioned Van Gogh and Picasso is that most of their concepts are satire, like Guernica by Picasso. In this image, I did do over one of Van Gogh’s portraits in expressionist style. Satire likes to contribute to cultural movements. That’s why it criticizes and challenges social problems. March indicate the suppression of demonstrators in some countries for expressing their point of view.
In Prisoner and Chain which are related together. I inspired these works by Journalists or those imprisoned for freedom of expression anywhere in the world. The technique that i used for Chain was pastel. I received the chain idea from one of Shepard Fairey style. However, I decided to not digital effect to not taken its vibe. In Prisoner image , a person prisoned by the microphones. For this technique i filled out the whole paper with black inks then engraved with knife.
Prisoner, 2014
March, 2014
Chain, 2012 Dark humor expresses social issues and problems in a way that makes the points bigger and clearer, at the same time presenting them to the audience with humor. In fact, it is a “pictorial protest” that can be funny or accompanied by shouting and bitterness. My goal has always been to indicate a humorous look in my work. In simpler terms, the message that is able to see something “funny” in a situation that is not funny in itself, or because it is sad, painful, or complicated. Part of the deal is that such conditions within the values accepted by society are not farcical. In this context, “humor” arises from the contradiction between the values of social discourse (which is presumed morally correct), in the face of imperfect or implicit thoughts in behavior.
Socially, dark humor can serve as a means of critically expressing the current social order or collective imagination, condemning silenced values, situations, and elements in the name of political correctness. This style usually exists in literature, comedy, cinema, comedy programs on television, and of course in cartoons and press releases. Also, satire is one of the subsets of humor and comedy, which has a mocking look at morbid, horrific social issues. Important features of dark humor in the illustration are contradiction, exaggeration, metamorphosis, and deviation from the subject. In dark comedy, topics are usually touched upon that are not normally pleasant to talk about or write about. Topics that are discussed in a serious way, will not appeal to the audience, and turn away from them.
Anonymous portrait, 2020 The element of humor and comedy helps to raise these serious issues with the public and make them reflect on them. Of course, if the purpose of implementing dark comedy and humor is purely entertainment, that’s another matter. The approach taken in dark comedy to these issues is not serious at all. Not only is it not serious but it makes the audience laugh. However, there are usually disturbing facts behind these laughs that will make the audience think.
The purpose of satire is a subgenre of comedy in which subjects and events that are normally taken seriously are farcical, while portraying the same tragedies as they are.
Dark humor deals with the negative aspects of life and tries to joke with them in a way that is unexpected and shocking. Another application of dark humor is to criticize issues or tell facts that are either dangerous or ineffective to pay serious attention to, including the main nature of political satire. Also, it’s a kind of joke in which a character, no matter how benevolent, cautious, and rational, always misbehaves or seems nonsensical to people. Regarding the execution in this style, illustration is one of the most important forms of visual communication. If we want to talk about Illustration, which is a part of the satire, I must say from the very first human-drawn images on cave walls, illustration has played a key role in telling a story and conveying information. We can very well help us to better understand the world around us.
My sketches are the style of hatched black and white work, and I sometimes use light and dark hatches to be able to express my critical thoughts as well as possible. I try to create imaginary and strange images. A kind of bitter and dark humor by distorting the facts in an exaggerated way with a biting background of comical, behaviors and ridiculous situations that are often accompanied by panic and worry. By paying attention to the rhythms of the hatches, you will find in them the passion for conveying concepts and the nervousness of the moment. In my works, the viewer can find traces of inverted white or black humor. Dark humor has no definite line or definite definition. Satire humor is an idea and a symbol of irrationality of life that has long existed in oral and written culture and in literature and poetry, which was later added to the visual culture. Many ancient literatures are examples of satire humor in the literary genre. Therefore, a specific history cannot be imagined for black humor. Perhaps its origin goes back to the beginning of human life ...
Today’s artists are characterized by a rich history of illustration and make the most of the exceptional innovations of recent decades. They create a wide variety of illustration styles and genres. My effort as a graphic designer and illustrator is to present a design that can use creativity to attract the audience’s attention and convey the message clearly. No specific structure can be considered for creativity. Hence, unique ideas arise from an unframed mindset. Designers or illustrators can use a variety of charms and creations, one of the most common of, which is the use of humor.
The growth of the media has led to the growth of humor in advertising. Humor as a method is closely related to advertising media. A hilarious ad that is effective in advertising can not necessarily be effective in other media. Whether the hilarious ad succeeds or fails depends on many variables, including the media. Using humor in advertisements for various reasons can be successful. Attracting attention is perhaps the first and most important effect of using humor. Humor also makes the message easier to remember, and people are more likely to talk to others about advertising. Of course, it should be borne in mind that the effect of humor can be different due to differences in the characteristics of the audience. Obviously, people like humor. However, what one person thinks is funny, another person may not find funny. Humor, on the other hand, may fail to communicate with the audience in a positive way.
Using humor that presents the viewer with an aggressive mood can make them hate it. But at the same time, what is offensive to one viewer may be humorous to another. In fact, humor is a phenomenon that is potentially dichotomy. For example, a funny ad can have very negative reactions in addition to very positive ones. One of the reasons I’m interested in satire and surrealism is that it always conveys a message to the viewer, something I like to present in my work, such as delivering a flip to the viewer. In producing my work, sometimes I use only what I have gained from experience, and sometimes in a moment, I gain a new experience that has always been interesting to me. Regarding my style and technique sometimes I think black and white are enough for me and can be expressed with a lot of words between these two colors.
Presenting these sketches and illustrations as a collection may be a new opportunity to get to know my audience better. I believe in Illustration and visual arts, a kind of creative visual illustration work that visualizes a concept or story with a visual form. This concept can be a story, a poem, a newspaper article, or a book, or even a commercial for entertainment and shapes and forms on goods and clothing.
Transition, 2012
The satire artist can convey many concepts and messages to the viewer with the help of the image. I believe knowing and understanding political and social issues is very important for a humor illustrator. A satire artist must be able to create a different effect on the audience. Also, must have the ability to get close to the viewer’s mind and imagination to be able to fly the imagination and the world by creating images.
My goal in my work besides execution is to take an in-depth look at the content. I believe that my illustration and work can be the forms of visual communication between me and my audience.
Expressing issues that are also related to the daily problems of human beings. Surrealists and satirists have common techniques, the most important of which is the fundamental emphasis on freedom of creativity. I believe the artist should be free to use their creativity and not be involved in any principles or rules. By distorting the facts in an exaggerated way with a biting background, dark humor reveals farcical behaviors and comic and unfortunate situations. There is no definitive and complete definition of black humor except in theory and on paper. There is no clear boundary between black and white humor, laughter, satire, comedy, and tragedy because our lives are a mixture of black and white humor and bittersweet events.
Our lives are full of contradictions and black humor. Sometimes tears flow from our eyes due to too much laughter, sometimes we cry a lot, our hearts open and we calm down. Laughter and crying are seemingly opposite emotional reactions, but both are soothing.
Index
A
Anonymous portrait 36
Axe at the Root 14
C
Confused, Brad Holland 7
Chain 35
D
Danger Zone 29
Duality 30
E
Executive Action, Brad Holland 6
F
Forefinger 16-17
G
Gun 22
L
Lifeguard 27-28
Lion and Lamb, Brad Holland 9
M
March 35
O
Ohne Titel, Roland Topor 3
P
Panic, Roland Topor 2
Panoptikum, Roland Topor 1
S
Scream 32
Self-Identity 19
T
The Climber 25
The Pelican, Brad Holland 11
The Root 23
The Traveler 21
(T) AX Man, Brad Holland 10
V
Vincent van Gogh 31
W
Woolen 18
Note to the Reader
The senior project was a very good opportunity to present my sketches and illustrations as a book. Days with No Memories is a selection of my cartoons and caricatures that have been compiled as a collection. There are many underrated talented illustrators, including Topor and Holland who are influential in learning to draw.
