Midnight Rendezvous
Reminiscent of the noir films from the early-to-mid 20th century, Midnight Rendezvous captures the scene in The Matrix (1999) where Neo has been waiting under a bridge and is about to meet Morpheus.
When composing this artwork, I looked at examples of old Hollywood films to try and understand the techniques used in creating a noir film. Low angles, dutch tilt and contrast with a emphasis on shadows were my main focus points.
The initial sketch was completed in Krita (which has an excellent 2 Point Perspective tool) and was then redrawn in Illustrator before finishing with the shading and textures in Photoshop. The brushes used for the shading are the "Gouache Shader" brush pack, which is available from Retro Supply.
Two colour variations were created: a blue-tinted "Film" version (for the film noir look), and a green-tinted "Console" version (I'm sure you know why đŸ˜‰ )
The logo for the artwork was inspired by the film title cards of that era. Drop shadows, quotation marks and warped text is seen on many of those classic films.
Midnight Rendezvous was created with the intention of releasing it to the public on March 31 - also known as Transgender Day of Visibility. The Matrix is a franchise that I hold dear to my heart. The first film had such a profound effect on me as a trans individual and it's a film I love returning to.
Following on from the release of Rise last year, I wanted to create automotive artwork to coincide with TDoV that wouldn't be obviously trans. While there are no trans flags/colours visible in this artwork, it's the symbolism of the scene itself and Trinity's quote a few moments later, "... you have been down there Neo, you know that road, you know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be," which inspired me to create this piece.