Soul Searching

Year

2021-2022

Artist

Caillyn Jeffery

University

Virgina Tech

Major

Creative Technologies

Title

Soul Searching

Tags

Goddess

Spacecraft

Genre/Medium

Digital Illustration

Category

digital still

Current Location

Digital Only

Description

Do you want to see inside yourself?” Psyche, both as the Goddess of the soul and the asteroid, asks Earth. Psyche stands before the Psyche asteroid wearing metallic jewelry and clothing. She presents the Psyche spacecraft between her hands as the key to Earth learning more about herself. My artwork interprets Psyche as both the asteroid and the goddess it is named after. I chose to explore the idea of “soul-searching”, both metaphorically through these characters discovering themselves, and literally through the Psyche mission potentially allowing us to learn more about Earth’s core.

From beginning to end, my piece was drawn and composited digitally using Photoshop. Although I originally intended to composite hand-painted elements, I instead used effects within Photoshop to add lighting and texture around the spacecraft and the entire piece. Color choices within the two figures were intended to mimic the asteroid and Earth and to show these characters as not just individuals, but embodiments of the celestial bodies they represent. Additionally, colors for the lighting effects were pulled from the Psyche mission logo.

Artwork Link

https://psyche.asu.edu/gallery/soul-searching/