master portfolio
DESCRIPTION
Portfolio presentation of my illustration work during the years 2009-2012.TRANSCRIPT
p ortf ol i oDiana Rute Costa
2012
I ntr oduct i on
The present portfolio displays a great diversity of
illustrations performed during my graduation in
Graphic Design at the Fine Arts College from the
Univesity of Porto, for the period of 2009-2012.
Additionally, this portfolio shows other illustrations
freely created outside the course context during this
time.
The work selection here exhibited demonstrates my
preference for traditional illustration, though I am
also able to digitally illustrate. The technical skills
employed to perform the marjority of illustrations
encompass watercolour or pencil colour painting
and vector drawing.
A common theme in my work is the representation of
the female body and costumes, deeply influenced by
the Medieval fantasy aesthetics. I am also inspired by
the paintings of the Pre-Rhaphaelite artists Edward
Burne-Jones and John William Waterhouse, which
portray females from ancient mythology, legends
and tales. In this connection, the beauty and fashion
illustration field is another of my interests.
I ndex
2009
Contrasts
Makeup
2010
Dog Fashion Generator
Eyjafjallajokull
Fairy Tale Witch
Nations
The Mists of Avalon
2011
Greenpeace
Hansel & Gretel
Moon & Sun
Orbis Color
Summer Flower
Spring Fashion
The Curse
Xeque-Mate
2012
70’s Rock
Medieval Anthology
Space Fantasy
Romantic Vampires
Medieval Collection
Elves & Fairies
Flowery Ornaments
2 0 0 9
C ontrast s
The intention was to create high contrast images
by using the watercolour technique. Beauty and
fashion illustration were the main inspiration.
Watercolour on Paper
free work
Watercolour on Paper Watercolour on Paper
Makeup
Makeup trials by using pencil colour. I explored
bright and strong colours. mostly in the eye area.
Pencil Colour on Paper
free work
Pencil Colour on Paper
2 0 10
Slumdog G enerator
In this project, I used the Nodebox software to
create an image generator that continuously
changes the picture of a slumdog wearing different
outfits and accessories.
The purpose was to hypothetically insert this
generator in a website that advertises clothes for
dogs.
Vector Illustration
college work
Vector Illustration
Vector Illustration
Eyjafjallaj okull
This 3D piece was exhibited in an exposition
organized by the Fine Arts College from the
University of Porto, whose theme was the eruption
of the Icelandic volcano “Eyjafjallajokull” in 2010.
I pictured the moment before “Eyjafjallajokull”
eruption as an asleep boy dressed with traditional
Icelandic clothes, laying on wood branches.
college work
Colour Pencil on Paperboard
F a i ry Tal e S or c er er
This project aimed to create a profile image of
a facebook group entitled “Old people that look
younger than what they really are”.
I represented a very old sorcerer whose
appearence is still young and somehow seductive.
I was inspired by the classical tale illustrations of
Eric Kincaid.
Colour Pencil on Paper
college work
Culture s C o stumes
The three following images depict maidens wearing
typical costumes of spatially and temporally
unrelated cultures: Portuguese, Persian and Aztec.
Pencil Colour on Paper
college work
Pencil Colour on Paper Pencil Colour on Paper
The M is t s of Avalon
I redesigned the cover of “Mists of Avalon” by
Marion Zimmer Bradley. Due to all the female
esoterism and mystical symbolism present in the
book’s story, I turned its cover into an inverted
triangle, a well known symbol of women.
college work
Collage on Paperboard
Pencil Colour on Paper Pencil Colour on PaperDemonstrative Photography
Pencil Colour on Paper
2 0 1 1
Gre enpeac e part I
The top poster criticizes the waste resulting
from bad packing, whereas the bottom poster
criticizes the fact that most people ignore the risks
associated with nuclear energy. Such posters were
hypothetically meant to be part of a GreenPeace
environment campaign.
Vector Illustration
BRAND
BRAND
BRAND
BRAND
BRAND
I am sorryGreenpeace folks,bad packaging issuch a waste...how I wish I had been moreresponsible
I am sorryGreenpeace folks,I always thought you were a bunch of hippies trying to do your thing...how I wish I had faced the facts
college work
Gre enpeac e part I I
I created a one minute video for Greenpeace
concerning the consequences of forest destruction
by fires, which has been a major problem in
Portugal during the summer seasons.
The characters and scenerios were made with
paperboard and colour pencil and were manually
animated. The following images depict captures of
the video’s narrative.
Color Pencil on Paperboard
college work
Some screencaps of the video sequence
Hansel & Gr et el
In this project, I illustrated the pages of the famous
tale “Hansel and Gretel”. I drew the characters
in a very classical way keeping the background
minimalistic, so that the story course could be
understood based on the charaters’s expressions
and features.
Colour Pencil on Paper
college work
Colour Pencil on Paper
Mo on & Sun
The antagonistic concepts of moon/night versus
sun/day were personified as human characters,
with influences of arabian culture.
Watercolour on Paperboard
free work
Watercolour on Paperboard
Orbis c olor
The diversity of characters here represented
belong to an imaginary world populated by many
different fantasy cultures.
Colour Pencil and Collage on Paper
24
free work
Colour Pencil and Collage on Paper
Spring Print
Through the use of wood stamps, I printed flowery
patterns on the character’s clothings.
Colour Pencil and Wood Stamps on Paper
free work
Colour Pencil and Wood Stamps on Paper
The Curs e
In this project, I created 3 villains cursed to be
depressed, broken hearted and crow shaped. In
opposition, I invented an optimistic and laughable
hero resembling Charlie Chaplin, that possesses a
very intellectual bulldog as a sidekick.
Colour Pencil and Collage on Paper
college work
Colour Pencil and Collage on Paper
Colour Pencil and Collage on Paper
Xeque -mate
The following sequence of illustrations represents
the clash of the white and the black chess kings, in
which the black chess king decides to interrupt the
marriage between the white king and queen...
Watercolour on Paper
free work
Watercolour on Paper
2 0 1 2
70 ’ s R o ck
This set of images were meant to illustrate a
magazine about rock and pop music of the 70’s.
The idea was to correlate each person’s favourite
kind of music with its respective fashion style.
Colour pencil on paper
college work
Colour pencil on paper
Med i eval Anthology
This set of illustrations was created for a small
sized book, which gathers several texts about the
Portuguese medieval literature and its authors.
Watercolour on Paper
free work
Watercolour on Paper Watercolour on Paper
Spac e Fantasy
The following illustrations depict various characters
with a fantasy futuristic look.
free work
Watercolour on Paper
Watercolour, Graphic Pencil and Ink on Paper
Romant i c Vamp i r e s
A collection of Romantic vampire characters,
inspired by the 19th century costumes.
free work
Watercolour on Paper
Graphic Pencil on Paper
Graphic Pencil on Paper
Zen
This work was inspired by the Buddist symbolism
and I tried to represent characters that would
express a certain meditation pose.
free work
Ink on Paper
Ink on Paper Ink on Paper
Med i eval c oll e ct i on
Image collection of female characters and outfits
inspired by medieval fantasy.
free work
Ink on Paper
Graphic Pencil on Paper
Ink, Colour Pencil and Watercolour on Paper
Elve s and Fa i ri e s
Image collection of female characters and outfits
inspired by fairies and elves from the celtic
imaginarium.
free work
Ink on Paper
Watercolour, Pencil Colour and Graphic Pencil on Paper
F lowery Ornamentsand headp i e c e s
The following set of illustrations focuses on female
decoration by using flowery ornaments.
free work
Pastels on Paper
Ink on Paper
Ink on Paper
p ortf ol i oDiana Rute Costa
2012