Firewatchin'

Firewatch is a 2016 adventure video game developed by Campo Santo. It is also a cherished memory shared by my friend Katie and myself. To commemorate completing the game, I illustrated the two of us within one the game's titular firewatch towers. As Katie managed the controls and investigated the environment, I offered suggestions on how to answer the questions incoming on the game's walkie-talkie, hence our positions within this illustration: Katie surveying with binoculars and me accidentally knocking the walkie-talkie from the tower. The aesthetic used in this piece is a combination of my typical vector illustration style and the atmospheric approach to color and form of the game's artists, Olly Moss and Jane Ng.

As with all my illustrations, I am working with light and perspective in unexpected ways. For example, the shadow over Katie does not match what would be cast by the firewatch tower given the position of the sun. This was done to illustrate the dynamic between us, that Katie is "in the dark" regarding my loss of the walkie-talkie, showcasing that we were both captivated by the game in our different roles.