Rookie Awards 2023: Teresa Vu

Long:

Long is my in-progress personal IP project based off of the Vietnamese origin myth that I grew up with; the story revolves around Lac Long Quan, dragon prince of the Southern Seas, as he is betrothed to Au Co, fairy princess of the Northern Mountains. The story was a love letter to both my parents and my culture; I wanted to implement both aspects into my art and story throughout the characters, creatures, and concepts.

The story is about a girl named Au Co who believes in fate yet is never prepared for what it has in store for her. Her whole life has always been to play the role of the fairy princess and put her people's needs before her own. She's been the perfect daughter: always listened to her teachers and never broke the plentiful rules that dictated her life. However, as the fates would decide, a mysterious figure comes one day to give the prophecy that would change her life and force her to leave home, engaged to an unfamiliar man in a foreign territory. All her life playing the faultless princess only to be rewarded with an arranged marriage. Reluctantly, she leaves to fulfill her last duty to her people to face the destiny that awaits her.

Long, the prince of the Southern Seas, couldn't be bothered with the talks of marriage or love; he has dedicated his entire life to becoming the next Guardian Dragon. When he finds out he's betrothed to the princess from the North, the only thing to do in his mind is to find a way to break the engagement. Yet unbeknownst to Long and Au Co, their destinies are more intertwined than they would appear and they'll have to work together to discover the secrets of their fate.

Characters:

Style Frames:

Within the story, I also illustrated style frames that depict the three prominent stages of the plot starting with the call to action, then climax, and lastly, the conclusion. The call to action is where the hero, Lac Long Quan, is forced into action to save Au Co from the chaotic creature of the forest, Than Trung. After the call to action, Long and Au Co meet and fall in love leading the climax of the story which depicts their wedding. Yet, after being married, both of them long for their passions in life which conflict with their love for each other: Long, wanting to return to the seas as the Guardian Dragon, and Au Co, longing to return to her home in the mountains among the fairies. They end up on separate paths yet knowing they will always love each other though they are destined to never truly be together forever. The last style frame depicts Au Co returning home and concludes the story of the two lovers.

Creatures:

Within the world of Long, I illustrated and created a bestiary of the creatures that would exist within the Vietnamese mythological world of the story. This would theoretically be composed in a textbook within the story's world to describe the animals for readers to learn about. Some of the creatures are based off of existing fauna native to Vietnam (ex: royal naila) while others are inspired by mythological creatures or Gods within Vietnamese myths (ex: Ky Lan). Each creature has a bestiary page that imitates a double page spread of the textbook entry and a concept exploration page that explores the creature's design and ideation.

Theia:

Outside of that project, there have been other personal pieces that I have developed such as Theia. The story takes place in a fantasy dystopia in a world called Theia where magic is held by the powerful and corrupt. The protagonist, Vaeya, is forced to maneuver through the convoluted politics of the Imperial Council to unmask the secrets behind the Empire while making decisions that will determine the fate of Theia.

Characters:

Miscellaneous:

Some other concept work I did for a fantasy tabletop rulebook to visualize one of the races within the game.

Closing Note:

Thank you for taking time to look through my projects from over the course of the last year! This past year has been my first year actually working on concept art so it's my first year entering the Rookie awards. I want to continue to build my skills in character design so while I'm proud of what I've done, I'm excited to hone my craft and become a better concept artist in the next years. 

If you are interested in my work, my socials are linked here!

ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/teresavu

Instagram: @peachie.mochi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresa-vu-1625651a6/