Inception

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I did this illustration for the movie "Inception" in the style of those old fairy tale books I used to read when I was a kid. Grimm's, Hans Christian Andersen, Perrault. Monochromatic line drawings with a passage from the story underneath. Love that stuff.

After I saw the movie I really wanted to create an illustration about it but I didn't want to do a straight narrative piece. There were so many interesting ideas in "Inception", it inspired me to go in a different direction with my thinking. Mal floating ashore on a giant brain a la Botticelli's Birth of Venus was something I finally came up with after kicking around the idea of Mal bursting out of Leo's skull like how Athena busted out of Zeus' noggin.

Because this iteration of Mal is a product of Leo's subconscious, I thought using the Venus figure emerging from the sea foam worked metaphorically. The sea has long symbolized the mind -- a seemingly fathomless, unknowable frontier.

Mythologically speaking I like having Mal represent Venus. It fits better! She's the love goddess, after all. And Leo standing in for the nymph with the cloth helps the concept. The visual reference of the water, shore, and buildings is also a shout-out to some of imagery in "Inception", too.

I was going to do a colour version but I really think it looks better this way.

"Inception" was a decent movie. One of the few original movie ideas I've seen lately, although I do wish Christopher Nolan was less drab with the colour palette. JunoGirl's suit was the illest-fitting suit in the history of clothing. Pete Postlethwaite is the man. JGL wears clothes like a fiend. 8/10!

Julia Minamata site / blog