Artist Spotlight: Rae Larson

There is nothing more spellbinding then viewing the work of an artist whose imagination was set free.

Our second artist spotlight is with Rae Larson, the concept and storyboard artist for Effacement. Rae was able to bring life to words, designing a fantasy world that brings warmth, wonder, and fear to the viewer. Without her, this world simply wouldn't exist.

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“Becoming involved with Effacement was nothing short of serendipitous for me! I had finally made the big move from my hometown to Los Angeles a few months back and all of a sudden the contract I was working on wasn't renewed. I was left completely scrambling and trying to figure out what I wanted to do next and where I wanted to go creatively.

That was when I heard from Taylor and Caitlin, they had a passion project they were developing and were looking for other industry women to bring on. We got brunch and they showed me some character concept art and models, and laid out their overall vision. I was in love!

I don’t know if I have ever really seen pregnancy and fantasy combined like this before and it was immediately compelling. The intimacy of exploring Ciara’s journey through visual, fantastical, metaphor felt like a great way to really explore the tumultuous emotional experience of birth from the perspective of the mother; the fear, the joy, the exhaustion, and perseverance. It really felt nothing like the screaming ER delivery scenes, but instead an honest portrayal of all our hopes and fears as women and creatives.

I feel like this film really captures something I have talked about with my peers a lot in recent years. And that is all the emotions, good and bad, that surround our capacity to get pregnant and give birth. There is a very real and sometimes unspoken danger that comes with pregnancy for a lot of women and I often feel like we are discouraged from exploring in media. I was born as an emergency cesarean and I’ve heard countless similar stories from friends and family retold with an eerie levity and sometimes even humor that I think can make it hard to truly realize how much of a physical toll this can take on the body.

Artistically, I was given a great amount of creative freedom and support when developing the overall look for the environment. We already knew the characters, a general idea of style, and that the colors would dramatically shift from orange to blue as the chase progressed, but in terms of shape language and all those little immersive details that set this world apart and bring it into fantasy I was let loose.

I figured since we were already building on this metaphor of a dangerous birth through a chase scene, I wanted to lean into that with the environment as well. I mirrored shapes of uteri and embryos in the plants and important environment structures and strung vines along through the trees that slowly constricted and squeezed as the delivery advanced. I wanted the viewer to be fully immersed in this pregnancy.

Rae's creativity and ability to discover the shapes that connect us all is impeccable. I remember seeing her Waterfall designs and gasping with delight as the thoughts; "Oh my goodness, this imagery is what was missing!" flooded my brain.

In addition to the concept art, I have also been given the opportunity to work on the boards for this project. I’m a self taught storyboard artist and Taylor and Caitlin have been amazing mentors, bringing their talent and experience to the table and really walking me through the process and giving great feedback.

With all the help and support, I know I have already grown tremendously as an artist and the work itself has really taken on a life of its own. I am very grateful to be a part of Shattered Glass Film’s maiden voyage and to meet so many extremely talented and passionate women along the way. I truly can’t wait to see this project develop further!”

To see more of Rae's stunning work please visit here: https://www.artstation.com/raelarson Below is a speed drawing video done and recorded by Rae to share their process behind making a single board from Effacement.