Murray State's Digital Commons

Collection Title

Walton Kromer: Narratives

Author/Artist Name

Walton KromerFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Junior

Date of Creation

Winter 12-6-2017

Artist Statement

11/1/17

Walton Kromer

Mid Degree Review

. I’ve always been driven by good stories with the hope to create my own someday. Whether it be from a movie, book, or video game, if it has the ability to captivate me, and my creativity, I’ll try to incorporate it in my work. My main focus is Illustration, mostly in either an ink or graphite medium, with the aim to create a narrative image with some semblance of storytelling. I have more than a soft spot for the realm of science fiction. Practically everything from the entire genre has inspired me one way or another, and through that influence I honestly believe that my own work grows as a result. I take narrative inspiration from the grand stakes and unique world-building of George Lucas’ Star Wars, I seek to incorporate the deep philosophies of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek or the diversity of ideas and concepts in Bioware’s Mass Effect series. Create my own settings that can match the beauty and vastness of the Halo universe or desolate yet immersive art styles found in both the Metro and Fallout series. Reflect on the dark concepts of the unknown from the mind of H.P Lovecraft, and incorporate sublime elements similar to the works H.R Giger contributed to both Dune and the Alien franchise.

I’ll often draw scene pieces, playing out either the most pivotal or calm of moments. The main goal I hope to achieve with the intended composition is to create a moment in time for these settings, ones that can captivate both reflect and indulge my imagination and those of others. I tend to use values and line weight to convey the various distances in my pieces which in turn creates a believable sense of space. This plays into the proportions of my work, which has both the characters and the objects I’ve put into the environment correlate on balanced and believable scale. Characters I portray tend to be at the forefront, if not the center, of the piece, as my work for the most part focuses on them and their interactions with the environment and other characters. I tend to use empty and white space very sparingly. I tend to fill up the scenes with as many elements and as much detail as possible, refining the visuals to the best of my abilities.

When it comes to deeper meanings or an overall end message that my pieces try to convey, I didn’t think there was one, at least in regards to the audience. For a long time I saw art as the way I could accomplish my goal of becoming either and animator or comic book artist so I could create my own stories. But after a bit of reflection, I began to notice a recurring theme in my work. When I dug deep enough, I found that my work had deep found respect for humanity, both its good and bad elements. The way we can be civilized and strong for ourselves and others, yet still be capable of ruthlessness if pushed to our limits. Science fiction usually depicts humans in a pivotal role, and in a way I guess my work does to. I see my art my art as a testament to how strong we are as a species, and how that strength can be used for both good and bad purposes alike.

Advisor/Mentor

James Bryant; Zbynek Smetana

Description

Advance into Winter, Digital, 8”x11”, 04/01/17, KGBguy_2

Godzilla Map, Digital, 6.75”x10.75”, 11/13/16, godzilla_map

Soldier in the Rain, Digital, 11”x8”, 01/20/17, rainsoldier

Arch Deacon of Light, Illustration, 11”x8.5”, 10/02/16, demonica

War Panel, Digital, 11”x8”, 05/01/17, warpanel

Death on Six Legs, Illustration, 2804x1669 pixels, 08/25/16, spider

Demonic Aspect of Flame, Illustration, 3192 x 2354 pixels, demonfire

Comic Panel 1, Digital, 982 x 736 pixels, panel1

Obelisk, Illustration, 1834 x 2265 pixels, obelisk

Stone Goliath, Illustration, 2274 x 1649 pixels, stonegoliath

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Kromer, Walton, "Walton Kromer: Narratives" (2017). Professional Practices (ART 399). 26.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/26