I had the privilege of working with the talented artist, Mark Doherty, who created the new visual identity for this site; the Communications Officer.
My brief only stated to create a nomadic character from one of his worlds. The character is not intended to represent me, but more serve as an avatar for this site. There are some commonalities of course; male gender, traveller, laptop being the three most obvious.
![Communications Officer, a character created by Mark Doherty](/assets/communications-officer-scan.jpg)
“My work seeks to create alternate worlds in which to satirize our own, allowing us to look at our foibles exaggerated and thus challenge them by laughing at ourselves. Through this framework I build narratives which address such diverse issues as body image, our view of the ‘other’ in society, urban social isolation, and mans conflicted relationship with nature, and society’s newfound adoration of science, celebrity and material wealth, among other things.”
A glimpse into Mark’s Worlds
![Human Realm (Maitreya), Realm series, marker and watercolour on MDF, 21x43.5cm](/assets/human-realm-maitreya-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Human Realm (Maitreya), Realm series, marker and watercolour on MDF, 21x43.5cm](/assets/deva-realm-momiji-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Human Realm (Maitreya), Realm series, marker and watercolour on MDF, 21x43.5cm](/assets/naraka-realm-3j-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
Creative Process
Here is the journey from initial concept sketches, character development, underdrawing and colouring to finished drawing.
Character Concepts
![Character concept sketch, communications officer](/assets/radio-pirate-character-concept-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Character concept sketch, monk](/assets/monk-character-concept-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Character concept sketch, Maitreya](/assets/maitreya-character-concept-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Character concept sketch, lady](/assets/lady-character-concept-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Character concept sketch, communications officer](/assets/communications-officer-character-concept.jpg)
Communications Officer Character Development
![Character development sketch one, communications officer](/assets/character-development-1-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Character development sketch two, communications officer](/assets/character-development-2-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Character development sketch three, communications officer](/assets/character-development-3-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Communications Officer under-drawing](/assets/character-development-under-drawing-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Communications Officer colouring](/assets/character-development-colouring-by-mark-doherty.jpg)
![Communications Officer, a character created by Mark Doherty](/assets/communications-officer-scan.jpg)
Implementation
![Three screenshots of how the character has been implemented in this site's design](/assets/character-implementation.png)
- Check out more of Mark’s work at the Olivier Cornet Gallery site.
- You can commission or purchase work by contacting the gallery.