His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
fantasy play with designs inspired by Russian folktales
Finalist Design at KCACTF Region 3 Competition
Artist Statement
Hot air balloons, armored polar bears, and witches exist in this world in uncannily close proximity to one another. The world of His Dark Materials is too vibrant and full of energy to confine to an ultra-specific period or place; the world defies the very rules it imposes on itself. The dark and whimsical story of Lyra couldn’t help but remind me of the many fairy tales I read. Not fluffy Disney fairy tales, but the dark, grim, and confusing landscape of classic folktales. I have always enjoyed fairytale illustration because the illustrators have to balance the task of representing an otherworldly place with keeping it grounded in a common reality that a reader can identify and connect with.
My main concept for His Dark Materials is this: In this world, Great Britain has been relocated to the Baltic Sea, and connected via land bridge to St. Petersburg. This change in geography places an outsized influence of Russian culture onto England, and therefore the stories and visual culture of one has influenced the other. For my time period, I chose a comfortably wide range of 1928 to 1945 for Lyra’s world, and the late 80s for Will’s. The few clues in the script about time period were incongruous and ill-defined, which allowed me greater freedom in deciding when and where Lyra’s world existed. However, keeping a slight range on period helped my designs remain cohesive.
Research
