Character Design
Comics
Concept Art
Illustration
I always visit the Brooklyn Botanical Garden whenever I have artist’s block. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden is one of the most beautiful places that I have been in New York City. The peaceful view makes me feel relaxed and energized. I’ve noticed that each pavilion house has a different ecosystem which made me think about the different types of habitats that exist around the world. I would like to take this observation and expand on it through conceptual world-building. The thought that these environments within the pavilions are somewhat artificial made me interested in the idea of having a small community living inside the pavilion. This led me to develop a story that takes place in a dystopian future that having different types of communities and cultures living within these pavilions. I went to the Botanical Garden to gain some research material as well as research environmental and dystopian visual development to create my world.
The Story
The story takes place in the far future, where the Brooklyn Botanical has become the only place for safety. Humans have participated in the ‘Minimize Project’, a biological alteration where humans have shrunk in size to elongate food supply. These mini-humans make the pavilions their home because it’s the best location to provide the best air because the big bonsai helps clean the polluted air. Issues begin to surface because the big bonsai is slowly dying. People are starting to worry about the conditions of their fruits and crops. One day, a group of Sami birds start stealing fruit from the bonsai tree, causing havoc amongst the community. The mini-humans manage to capture one Sami and lock them in the dungeon. The main character, Maru, visits the dungeon and sees the Sami bird chained up. Seeing such a beautiful creature in that state makes Maru sad, so she secretly releases her. As she helps release Sami, Maru discovers a shining dandelion puff stuck in Sami’s feathers. As Maru secretly releases Sami from the pavilion, she keeps the shining dandelion puff to herself and realizes the magical dandelion puff has special power to purtfy polluted things such as dirty water, soil and air. She tries to find the origin of the magical flower and wants to find the place to get it.