Frankenstein's Monster

I love a theme, especially when it’s about books

When I heard that the April Mistigris artpack was going to be literary themed, I instantly thought of Frankenstein. I could write so much about my love for that story, and how it has woven in and out of my life since I first watched Boris Karloff on TV at Halloween with my Mom.

Last year, I made this illustration of Frankenstein’s monster for my project Séance Engine, when I was learning about artificial intelligence, and exploring themes related to it.

Written by a teenage Mary Shelley in 1816, Frankenstein so clearly illustrated the fear of what happens when human hands create life, but fail to take responsibility for it. 1816 is called the Year Without a Summer, because the skies were choked with volcanic ash and the world felt apocalyptic. A time of uncertainty, rapid scientific change, and deep existential questioning. Not unlike today.

Ink and coloured pencil illustration of Frankestein’s monster.

For the MIST0426 artpack, I gave myself a challenge. Take my monster illustration, reduce the palette to suit 16 colors (approximately), and try out the timeline animation feature in Photoshop.

Frankenstein’s monster as gif with animated lightning bolts.

It’s not perfect, but I had fun making it, and I plan to do more animations, and write more about… well, everything.