Kisetsu - Spread 2 by Qiu-Ling on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

A while back I submitted a short story called "Kisetsu and the Four Seasons Robe" Well, for my last visual narrative assignment before the break I got to illustrate it a bit. Here's the second of two spreads made for the story.

Personally, I like the first of the two better. I just think the layering, motifs, posing of the figure and general drawing worked better on the first. Even so, I think this one has better contrast.
Here's a link to first one: [link]

Text:
Returning to her father’s palace, Kisetsu found no welcome. After her disobedience, the moon god no longer wished to keep her in his home. And so she wandered the sky, her silver stained robe trailing behind her. From there she would watch the earth and moon forever more, and her many thousands of tears would shine for all to see.

Afterwards, the world was bitterly cold for a great length of time, but slowly, as Kisetsu’s sorrows healed she began to relive the joys of her life with the fisherman. As she did, her lovely kimono - though far below on the earth - again responded to her happiness. Once more it sprang to life. Even so, as she would relive her joys, she would also relive her sorrows. The robe would live and die and live again as Kisetsu watched from the sky. Though the pain of loss never truly left her, she could find comfort in the fact that she’d answered another of her fisherman’s prayers. Now the farmers always knew when to plant and when to harvest, and the fishers always knew when to catch certain fish and when to be wary of great storms over the ocean. No longer was the worry of starvation so constant in their minds.

Indeed Kisetsu still watches from the sky, reliving her life on earth, for her silver spotted kimono can still be seen when the sun sets beyond the sea.

You can view the full story here: [link]
Yes, I did edit out part of it for the illustration, but that's simply because I was limited to two spreads for the assignment.

Both the text and the image are under copyright! They are the property of Christina Stoppa and may not be used without permission!

Media: Gouache, india ink, technical pen, pencil crayon and chalk pastel on coloured cardstock

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