'Done for the book Science of Weird Sh*t by Prof Christofer French'
Sleep Paralysis
The Illustration:
will cover 2 main points:
- How an experiencer views the phenomena,
- What is the current scientific Explanation?
What is it:
Sleep Paralysis is the phenomenon that happens when a person is waking up from sleep and feels paralyzed by 'demons' restricting their movement, choking them, or even raping them. in other words, being conscious yet unable to move.
The Theory:
Certain regions of the brain are linked to certain aspects of the phenomena:
- The Brainstem that usually controls the subconscious functions of the body, causes the paralysis in SP ( carried over from the paralysis during sleep to prevent the body from enacting dreams,)
- The Limbic System, which is usually responsible for emotions, causes and intensifies Fear
- The Dorsolateral Anterior part of the brain, responsible for logic, is depressed. therefore, causing illogical conclusions such as "that shadow is a demon, and my immobility is caused by it stepping over me."
All in all the fear feeds into the loop, and the more scared the longer it takes for a person to get break out and be able to move.
- "Ryan Hurd (2010) The Sleep Paralysis Report"
The Process of the Illustration:
Black is the predominating factor to give a chance for a play on contrast using the white on ghosts when feasible and possible.
The challenge was how to have the ghost engaged with the viewer and the sleeper. It was solved by prioritising the viewer’s engagement and then working with extending the canvas in order to position the sleeper’s head in the most approximate spot to stare the ghost in the eye. The ghost and sleeper were placed along with the application of the Fibonacci sequence, by using the golden ratio to position the key elements of the illustration.
To add the element of paralysis, the chain was created, while the imp visualises the sensation of being unable to breathe
The whole illustration was made on Procreate by utilising variable brushes that take inspiration from an ink drawing with screen toning.
The Brain (done by adobe illustrator and with the help of sketch fab models ) is there to easily highlight and briefly pinpoint which region is responsible. Colour coding the regions was a bit tricky as to not break from the darkened room and take focus away from the ghosts.
