Martina Scafa

Making "Beyond the Edge": a Narrative Illustration Project

What makes for good trope subversion? How can we as storytellers represent characters who belong to minorities appropriately? With my project, I tried answering these questions while specifically targeting age-old fantasy tropes like the Chosen Hero and lycanthropy.

In the war-torn land of Aesterra, two twins separated as children will find each other again and together, uncover the truth about their family's bloody legacy. Prophesied to end the world, Maeneva and Evaris will find allies only in those who are not fooled by the Fates. Will they be the land's ultimate demise, or will the rest of the world close around them first?

Project info

  • Developer Martina Scafa
  • Showcase year 2021
  • Programme Computer Arts

Making "Beyond the Edge": a Narrative Illustration Project

A closer look at progressive character portrayal and trope subversion in the fantasy genre through concept and illustration practice.

“Making "Beyond the Edge": a Narrative Illustration Project” is a 2021 Digital Graduate Show project by Martina Scafa, a Computer Arts student at Abertay University.

Motivation

I've wanted to create my own fantasy world for a very long time. Suzanne Helmigh's work on her illustrated novel Caldyra has been a huge inspiration.

With the still ongoing BLM protests in America, a lot of people on social media have become more open about unfairness and bias in the social system. I thought that I could try to gain more knowledge about representation, as fictional representation has a lot of lasting effects on society, while still being able to create my own story. I don't know if I've succeeded in creating the perfect story towards that goal, but I did my very best and learnt a lot of things that I will apply in future projects as well.

Credits

“Making "Beyond the Edge": a Narrative Illustration Project” is a 2021 Digital Graduate Show project by Martina Scafa, a Computer Arts student at Abertay University.

Find out more      

Martina's Website

Twitter

Full Project Here!

Martina Scafa

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