PROCESS BOOK:
THE SECOND Te s s D u n n
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Process Book: The Second
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The First Part 6 The Stories That Never Became Anything 12 Collaging As A Process 16 Things That Interested Me 54 The Stories That Became Something 62 The End Is Nigh 68
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The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The 8 first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first part. The first
The First Part
I started this semester with a need to make sure I stayed productive. While first semester I had a slow start as I was still figuring things out, this semester I had a goal and knew what had to be done. I decided I would be creating three books, Little Red that I created in the previous semester, being the first one. The first week of January I wrote many different beginnings to stories and almost created a book just of beginnings. But I ended up on a short story about a young girl who fell from the sky in modern times. I needed a change as my first story was on the darker side, dealing with issues of sexual abuse and using a darker colour palette. I wanted to see if I could create a story that was the polar opposite. 9
As well as dealing with a more modern context. This story felt almost too happy to me, as I am used to writing things on the darker side. Finishing this story took about a week of writing, then I went into illustrating. I created five illustrations for this story with the theme of sunshine. The colour palette I used was red, yellow, green, and blue. As there was farm imagery in the story I incorperated it as much as I could in the illustrations. Everything included had to be a hint to what was going on in the story. The viewer would still be able to connect me as the artist to both stories because of this style of collage. Besides this everything else is different. For the second story I was still using images 10
from around the internet. I had the intent to source these images well and only use them for this project. After finishing these I realized stupidly late that what if I wanted to sell them after school? Or at the Grad-Ex shop? From this point on I only used public domain images, which helped me find better quality of images as well. Thank you to the MOMA and The Library of Congress.
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The stories that never became anything. A sample of the beginnings, middles and sometimes ending of stories i never used. 14
I enjoy starting to write. I never have an issue starting to write. I can come up with an idea in seconds. That does not mean they are accurate or incredibly interesting, but I never run short of ideas. When I get the chance to sit down and think I usually wonder about perilous situations and how someone would feel in them. I think that is where most of my ideas emerge. Or looking at existing tropes and combining them into something new. The only answer I can give as to why the stories that survived, survived, is because of how I was feeling at the time of writing them. The stories I created in times of frustration stayed in the past. Some stories just did not fit into my thesis and that is why they are
here. I do not hate any of these. They just never got the chance to grow past where they are. One or two of these short stories I will take a second look into. Wether that is to illustrate them or continue the story I am unsure. Since these stories are in states of incompletion I thought of how to display them. I enjoy creating art so I thought to make them into art. I value aesthetic highly. So I decided to dive into my folders upon folders of images and create some typographical art pieces. Almost like the collages, but with text instead of illustration. You may read them if you would like, otherwise I hope you enjoy them visually.
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mysterious girl
small girl
past hundred years
seen falling nees gnillaf 16
As the largest storm in the past hundred years was brewing. . .A small girl was seen falling through the clouds. Her journey to the ground was reported all around the world. Who was this mysterious girl who seemed to fall from heaven? 17
A group of archaeologists break open the tomb of a thousand year old king in the middle of the woods. The group finds riches beyond their wildest dreams. But it all changes when he opens his eyes.
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ONE MORNING A MAN WOKE UP ALONE AND DRENCHED. HE HAD BEEN CAPTURED DEEP UNDER THE SEA IN A GROUNDED SUBMARINE. ALL HE HAD WAS HIS WITS AND A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF CIRCUITRY. WOULD HE FIND A WAY TO CONTACT THOSE ABOVE THE SEA? 19
The vain princess is mean to the sly salesman. he has sent her away and curses her to slowly turn into a goat from using the mysterious cream. the illness will pass
.nos tsrif reh ot no fo ydob eht mih gnivig taog a a sworg tsrif ehs draeb elttil sgniht erofeb neht ehs esrow teg seirram si dnabsuh reh yad eno txen ekaw ot dekcohs 20
The vain princess is mean to the sly salesman. he is sent away and he curses her to slowly turn into a goat from using the cream. the illness will pass on to her first son, giving him the body of a goat. she first grows a little beard. then before things get worse she marries. one day her husband is shocked to wake next to her as her eyes have turned to coin slots. After she is known to be pregnant, she grows small horns atop her temples. after his birth she has transformed, her head fully that of a goat. her baby born with her same beautiful golden hair and grey eyes and pink skin, but the mud coat of a baby goat and hooves. frantic as for what to do she wears a veil to cover her face, and carries her baby wrapped tightly in a blanket. her husband questions the veil and she lies that a far away family member has died. she searches the castle to find someone to track down the snake oil salesman. once they find him he demands three things. first he is to be given enough riches to fill his humble home. second he wishes to dine at the table with the king. And third, the vain princess must take off her veil and reveal her true face to the whole kingdom. The princess becomes aghast and refuses him at first, finding nothing more revolting then the idea of showing them her horrific appearance. She tries to talk to a nearby witch, but she cannot do anything, as her descicions landed her at this point, only her actions can reverse it. now responsible for her child she agrees and goes through the three stages. When she reveals her face nothing happens. The crowd gasps, her husband turns his back on her and the king banishes her from the kingdom. The snakeoils man laughs as she leaves. Before she gets out of the city the witch comes for her. She tells her she passes the test of humility and learned her lesson, so the witch can now reverse the spell. The princess is confused as to what she should do. She had found out the true nature of her family and wishes not to return to them. So the witch reverses the spell and the princess and her child live with the witch, helping her brew potions and lift spells. Though the spell will never truly be gone the witch warned, any time that your vanity comes before your child, you will turn back into a goat.
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Collaging as a Process
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I think the farthest I can trace back my interest in collaging is to 7 or 8 years old. I took a week-long summer day camp at the local art gallery, the TOM. Heather Murray was teaching the class and her amazing use of traditional painting with antique photos left an impact on me.
illustrations and found papers. This is the route I went with for these collages. Photography, especially film photography has an aesthetic that cannot be replicated. The grain of film mixed with heavy use of texture and thin line work creates a unique way of collage that I loved to do.
I took a few classes with her throughout my childhood and teenage years. I used to collect different types of paper and interesting images from magazines in an old shoe box because of this. I created few collages in high school but the ones I did create I still love. Only recently did I try to create collages out of old photographs, not just my
I am always trying to find the perfect balance between what is mine and what is not. I try not to only use photography without much alteration as it feels like someone else did the work for me. Even if I secretly do not think it needs another brushstroke, I will add it. In this next section I will talk a bit about my chosen aesthetic. I have been drawn to 25
Eyvind Earle, Sleeping Beauty, 1959
the occult and the Gothic, since my three-yearold self’s fascination with the story of Sleeping Beauty. The crumbling castle, curses placed upon the innocent, monstrous beings created from evil. And all wrapped up in the bow of Eyvind Earle’s irreplaceable art and animation. This interest birthed my artstyle. When looking at my collages I want you to feel as if they could crumble at the slightest touch, especially my final ones. They are purposely befuddling and odd. What is fun about knowing what is going on? The pristine rarely has a place in my art, any beautiful creature is put through the wringer. I 26
start with placing all the images I think would work onto the canvas. I then arrange and edit them into an interesting composition. I look for illustrations I already have and if none of those work I create new ones. I edit the colours and levels, either working in a monochrome palette or with one highlight colour. Besides when I make ones full colour. I distress the images using various Photoshop brushes and textures I create. My favourite part is the final touches. Especially drawing on top of the images or going crazy with the contrast.
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The Girl From The Sky
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This was a jump into the deep end. I had only been working with a monochrome palette before this story and now here was this story I created that I felt deserved brightness. I looked for images that ranged from 1910-1950. I was not ready to step into modern society yet. But I felt the imagery needed to be more mechanical, with organic elements, and have references to contemporary farming practices.
much easier to gauge in black and white. I created a whole new set of spot illustrations for this book. Including a truck, a plane, a cob of corn, a mouse, and various flowers. My Little Red illustrations did not match the mood, so it had to be done. After creating these four and another larger illustration in this style, I was not afraid to explore colour. Though I decided not this much and this vibrant again. I think that the process of Little Red and this story helped me create a style of my own.
The colour palette is mainly red, blue, yellow, and some green. I wanted the collages to vibrate with energy. These were harder to create as contrast is 29
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DARK TALES 36
I had created a process, a step by step plan of action for how to create these illustrations. I grew tired of this and strayed from my past path. I decided instead to make collages that had strong spacial elements and aesthetics specific to each story. So rather than one style for everything, I played more with the feeling a story gave me as an artist, and went with that. The illustration for my first story was actually done later and is the closest to the “Little Red” format. In “The Lady of The House” and “Reaching Hands” I played with pop-art, and making the fact that they were separate elements more obvious rather
than blending them together. I do wish I played more with this in the last two stories as they ended up being similar. I subconciously decided to use greyscale. These illustrations have high contrast, probably higher than the others. The final stories are the closest to horror as well, though that is more true of the last story. The last story shows this with its use of distorted photographs and children, as well as blocks of black and white. I actually created too many illustrations for this book as I found them so enjoyable and easy to create. This was my favourite book of the three.
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THINGS THAT INTERESTED ME. 56
Illustration by Edmund Garrett, 1897 Edition of Jane Eyre , by Charlotte Bronte.
Where to start? I decided this semester to brush up on my Gothic literature. It could be said, and rightly so, that I enjoy buying books more than reading them, but I planned on reading all that I bought. Life got in the way, and other excuses. I did read The Turn of The Screw by Henry James. This was the story that re-invigorated my interest. I am happy I read it, even when sometimes it felt like deciphering a code. Though now I have about seven other books to get through. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is one of my all-time favourite stories and I found a beautifully designed one with illustrations by Ruben Toledo, this is next on my list.
There is something about the Gothic that lulls me into calmness. It is strange but if I ever want to stop feeling anxious or bad about something, I will read a horror story, listen to Dateline, or play Resident Evil. It will distract me completely. You cannot be scared of a test or something stupid you said, when you think a shadow man could be sitting on your chest in your sleep. Fear is an interesting emotion and I am thankful for it’s existance. I have also been re-reading A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Though the man himself is controversial I cannot deny the impact of his books on me as a person. As well as Brett Helquist’s 57
OMD, Orchestral Movements in the Dark.
expressive illustrations, those colour palettes blow me away. Lately I have been listening to a lot of Morrissey and the Cocteau Twins. I think with my interest in the Gothic, and life right now that makes sense. I am known to be caught listening to Irish folk music to liven my mood on occasion, so not all dark and death. My favourite band is OMD (Orchestral Movements in The Dark) lead by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, with their other bandmates. Weirdly they were my mom’s favourite band at my age, she found them in Germany oddly, and she never told me about them or played their music. 58
One day in the car I asked if I could play this one song I really liked and she knew all the words, we were both surprised. Since then we usually end up watching their music videos and concerts when I visit. I also love Interpol lead by Paul Banks. I have been listening to them for three years, though not as often as I used to, they are a still a comfort for me. Paul is such a cool guy, I would love to do some art for them. I have been collecting objects for my Gradex display‌that will now be repurposed. I love keys, especially big old bronze and iron ones. My dream is to have a wooden board with 20 little hooks, all
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filled with unique keys in the front entrance of my house. I have only one skeleton key, but I am always hunting for more. I have two smaller keys used at one time for a desk, and one for a lamp. I also collect old photographs for my collages. I recently acquired a dormouse in a jar. Her name is Harriet and she froze to death, she was also an invasive species. I have a lock from 1885 that does not have a key. As well as about 5 different silver lockets.
on occasion. I even sometimes collect bugs. But mainly I play video games. Not very romantic. I was introduced to video games at three. I would watch my babysitter play Mario Brothers on NES for as long as I was allowed. I did not actually play anything until around six when my baby sitter trusted me not to break her gameboy. My best friend also had all the consoles and I would sit with her as she played.
I wish that I could say outside of reading, writing and listening to music, I crocheted. Or maybe oil painted. Or pressed flowers. Or sewed, that would be so cool. I do dabble in perfume making. I bake
Some of my strongest memories are sitting beside her and her brothers watching them play Fable, Harvest Moon, Legend of Zelda, and Guitar Hero. These fantasy worls and unique artstyles had me
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hooked. I would say as a kid I was at other’s houses more than my own. We were outdoors a lot as well. Running in the park. Nailing wooden boards to trees and calling them “forts”. Going to the beach and catching crawfish. I remeber a lot of it luckily. This section has been long. Everything I surround myself with affects my work. I also do not talk much about what I do outside of work and school. So here are a few last things. I drink a lot of ice tea and have three quilts on my bed. I have two red controllers and now want a red controller for every console I own. I have Christmas lights that I never turn on, even at Christmas, up year-round.
I hate doing dishes. I buy expensive shampoo and hair products even though all I do is brush my hair. I do not stay up late as it seriously ruins my day. I love butterflies and moths. Mess upsets me but I have so many things that there is no stopping it. I text when that is the only way someone wants to talk, I prefer calling. I go between wanting to be goth to punk to looking like a kid. I am thankful to just write about what I have been interested in lately. So thanks if you even just skimmed it.
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The Stories That Did Become Something.
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The second book was born from a talk with Lewis on his imagining of a futuristic version of Rapunzel. This intrigued me, but as I had no passion for sci-fi I thought of how I could create something similar without straying too far from my grounding. I was reminded of The X-Files.
came into being. It is a simple story. As the reader you are dropped into the world the same way the girl is. I often think about what I would do if I found a wounded bird or stray cat. Last Summer I had a kind-of traumatic event happen. On the way to the dentist I found a baby bird under a telephone pole.
A world where everyday life was interrupted by the surreal and odd, without much of a true understanding of how or why. I feel that to enjoy a story you do not need all the facts, you do not need to know why a character exists or what their name is. So with this intention I started writing blurbs, out of context, just about characters acclimating to new situations. That is where “The Girl From The Sky”
It was bloodied and shaking. I got a tissue from my dad and hid the baby in the bushes. This was an important dentist appointment I could not miss. I was thinking about the bird the entire time. When it was over I speed walked my way back to the baby and it had died. I did not want it to become an animal’s play thing so I took it home and my dad dug a hole in the garden for it. I held the bird in 65
my hands the car ride home. I could feel its bones protruding through the skin, I could smell death on the poor thing. As we went to the backyard we found two blue jay feathers, I had never seen their feathers on the ground before. I took that as a sign I was doing the right thing and my dad buried the bird.
why no one felt the same as I did. It was a baby that had died. I feel that this was a driving force behind the story I created. I wanted the girl’s rescue to be happy and end happily. This story is my least favourite out of the three, but it needed to happen so I could grow as an artist and writer. I tend to connect more with the darker and grittier stories.
I framed the feathers in my room and I thought that was that. But days went on and it still bothered me. I should have not gone to the dentist. Maybe I could have saved the bird. And after one especially stressful day one of my parents said I did all I could and it caused me to break down. That loss of life felt so unfair and preventable. I could not understand
This third book is where I hit my stride. I do think I needed to create the second book, as it was definitely out of my comfort zone. Delving back into the eerie and isolating was so nice. I did not have the energy to create one long tale again, so I started writing beginnings, or small self-contained scenarios. All of these I wrote within a week. I honestly could have
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kept going, but writing is not the only element for these books. When I was in high school I wrote quite a few gothic stories. Usualy when I was sitting alone in the grocery store parking lot, or waiting at the library for a parent or even on the way to do something I did not want to do. I tapped into that creativity again and found an enjoyable flow to writing whatever came to mind.
an amazing Holmes. In a weird way I connected with these characters. My sister used to say I was like Mr.Darcy from Pride and Predjudice. Not to get into emotions, but I have never been good at expressing mine. I enjoy a story that looks at a situation and describes it in meticulous detail, but allows the viewer to feel whatever emotions they feel while absorbing it.
I cannot say exactly what thoughts were behind each story. A line would appear in my head and I would work my way through it. I am sure that having read many a short horror story helped out. As well watching a lot of the 80’s Sherlock Holmes series, I thought Jeremy Brett was so interesting and
That may give an understanding of my thoughtprocess behind the final stories. “Dark Tales” has no motives, no underlying meaning, besides being dark. So I hope you enjoy a little darkness.
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The End Is Nigh. 70
Gradex was cancelled. School was closed. My job gone (kind of). I am even packing right now to leave Toronto until this all blows over. I cannot say this is how I expected to end my semester, my fifth year of university. I cannot say I really knew how it would end anyways. This has been a strange school year. Last year I experienced my friends thesis and graduation and loved it. In a way I at least lived vicariously through them. I kind of think of this as Grade 13. I did my final year last year and this was just the “victory lap”. My mind goes blank when I try and think about the repercussions of this pandemic. It is so hard to focus on the big picture when so many things
are changing in your personal life. But it always could have been worse, always. You could say, well everyone’s emotions are valid and your problems matter just as much as someone else’s. Yes you can think that way but will that help you? The day I learned Gradex was cancelled a very good friend of mine was getting top surgery. There is no way I could even begin to imagine the immense pyschological pain, the dysmorphia, and constant identity crisis that someone must have been in to do such a life-altering surgery. I respect him immensely for this and seeing him go through with that surgery put things into perspective. Why was I whining. Nothing in life is just given to you. 71
Many amazing designers did not have a Gradex. I have friends tell me I am surpressing my emotions. Well that is not how I feel. Sure I get upset once and awhile about it but I did not have to get major surgery. And my friend is so positive it is crazy, and he is in recovery. My family is alive and healthy. All my friends are a little anxious but ok. That is the message I want to hold on to. We are all ok. It reminded me of my math exam in grade 12, which kept getting postponed because of the snow. Each day I would study so hard, as I was not the best at math. Then I would wake up and see that it was postponed again. And the cycle repeated. That was one of the mot stressful weeks of my life. 72
And when it was finally over I felt nothing. No immense relief. Just life back to normal, and that is what I was thankful for. So yes this semester ended in a way no one expected a few months back. But I created a style of art that I enjoy and am moderately proud of. This year also got me back into writing, a skill I once prided myself on that had started to rust. I met some cool people and matured a lot. For a group of 22-year-old’s I feel like we have lived a lot of life. It is just another drop in the bucket. Thanks Lewis for this year. I know right now you are still unsure of how things will go. No one will ever be happy so there is no reason to feel like you must please
everyone. Just staying open and willing to help like you have been is most important. I am thankful I went with my gut and chose you for my workshop prof. A stranger I had not known existed before last May’s introduction email. You triggered me to grow and I enjoyed our oneon-ones and weird sometimes too personal class discussions. I hope that once I am established and stable I can create some art for you, let us hope that day comes soon! This was a long one, I appreciate all your efforts, Tess
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SOURCES: The Brittish Library: https://www.bl.uk/ Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/ Brittish Library Flickr Page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ britishlibrary/albums
INSPIRATIONS: Emma Florence Harrison James Jebusa Shannon Jiri Trnka Lane Smith Dave McKean Neil Gaiman Resident Evi & Silent Hill 74
BOOKS: Jane Eyre The Turn of The Screw Norse Mythology Coraline The Yellow Wallpaper Dracula
OBJECTS: Silver heart locket Difuser Dormouse in a jar Quilts Claddagh ring Old volumes of fairytales Nintendo Switch 75
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