Kyoto Afloat
Personal Work
What if we had futuristic cities that could float but still retained a lot of its cultural heritage?
In the personal piece, I explored just that and gave myself a challenge of creating it in isometric perspective. The result is a game-like environment enveloped in a warm sunset light, where iconic architecture and details from the streets of Kyoto serenely float above the busy city below.
Prints of this piece are available in my shop ☺
Process
A huge part of my process for this piece involved a lot of visual research. I collected reference photos to better understand the iconic landmarks of Kyoto, as well as the small details of the city that give it its unique personality.
Reference photos: Five story pagod of Toji Temple, Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), Dry zen garden of Ryoanji Temple, Tojii gates and fox statues from the Fushimi Inari shrine, streets of Gion district
I worked on a rough sketch to get the ideas in my head down onto paper and then cleaned up the sketch with the use of an isometric grid to get everything right in terms of perspective.
I moved in to color, starting off with a rough color study to plan out my colors. I created the shapes of the illustration on Adobe Illustrator and then later brought it into Adobe Photoshop for textures and lighting adjustments.
