Shadowville is a illustration/photography series about the viewer entering into a world of shadows and spending time among its denizens, before returning home.

I am often afraid of the unknown and will sometimes create fake situations to brace myself in case something awful happens. Unfortunately, those fake situations only end up making me more stressed and afraid in the long run.
Shadowville was an attempt to fight that, by taking something normally terrifying (entering into dark/shadowy places) and presenting a more positive narrative instead. Rather than being transported to a place filled with darkness and uncertainty, you find a world filled with kind strangers and fun experiences instead.
I'm slowly getting out of the habit of assuming the worst, but I still cannot deny the awfulness of the world sometimes. However, this series gives me a little hope that maybe I can have some good experiences, even in the face of uncertainty and fear. And maybe, that what I fear ultimately isn't that scary after all.
For this project, I started with taking pictures. When shooting, I made sure to take photos that had great amounts of contrast and interesting lighting. I kept my photos mostly shadowy because the darker zones allow for easier illustration. After shooting my photos, I edited them to fix the color, shadows, and image noise. Depending on the image, I may have edited them further, making the pictures have otherworldly qualities. After that, I digitally drew over the photo, making a sketch before committing to linework. When drawing, I made sure to keep the right balance between illustration and photo; drawing  just enough to enhance the narrative of the image, but not overpower it. After I finished my drawing, I did a final round of edits, altering the hue, contrast, and lighting so I can have high contrast, colorful photos.