Kit Seaton, Illustration

From the play “Nine Dragons” by George Herman.
Photoshop.

I originally designed and built this set of costumes back in 2005 for the play “Nine Dragons” by George Herman. However I have yet to have a series of plates that I was satisfied with. The designs are based (very loosely) on several types of theatrical styles from Asia and Polynesia. The play was staged and costumed by myself with the cooperation of my mother’s high school theatre program. The play was performed at the school and toured twice to the Portland Chinese Gardens to celebrate Chinese New Year. Last year my mother staged her own version of the show with her students, using the same costumes and make-up designs that I created for the other two performances.

This is the final drawings of a set that I feel best represents the sort of illustrative style that I am pursuing. They will be colored digitally and the progress will be updated on this blog. Hooray!

Chao Feng: The Dragon of Adventure

Chi'ih Wen: The Dragon of Water

Chiu Niu: The Dragon of Music

Pa Hsia: The Dragon of Strength

Pi Hai: The Dragon of Oratory

Pu Lao: The Watcher

Pi Hsi: The Dragon of Poetry

Suan Ni: The Elder

The Wind: The Narrator

Yai Tzu: The Warrior

These series of illustrations were done for my Illustration Grad Portfolio class. The objective was to render a series of character concepts and costume designs for a ‘high concept’ production of Carlo Goldoni’s play, A Servant of Two Masters. The concept was inspired mostly by the painting ‘Soir Bleu’ by Edward Hopper, and is a little bit of an homage to the works of Fellini. I’m still not sure if portraying Silvio as a Pierrot was my best choice, it’s probably more of a nod to the Hopper painting. In the end it’s a hodgepodge of the Italian and French aspects of Commedia dell’ Arte. I had a lot of fun with this project, but I do not know if I will continue any further works in this particular style.

Just a couple of new things I’ve been working on for the ol’ portfolio.