Rachel Allen Everett
13 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY
Welcome to the digital exhibition for my Illustration BFA capstone project, which was on display in the BYU Harris Fine Arts Center from March 12th-25th, 2021. If you were unable to make it in person, this page was made just for you! Enjoy a video tour of the exhibition as it was originally displayed, flip through a slideshow of the artwork, and sign the digital guestbook.
Artist Statement
As the sole survivor on Earth, young Felix has lost all hope of human connection...until he finds a way to communicate with a scrappy girl and her ancient human society on a planet 13 light-years away.
My mother once told me that as a young child, I would get frustrated while drawing because I couldn’t capture the image on paper as well as it showed up in my head. Several years, many art classes, and thousands of hours drawing later, not much has changed—I still struggle to capture my vision as I see it in my mind, and I still get frustrated when I can’t properly share it with the world.
13 Light-Years Away is a vision I’ve had since early high school. I’ve had high ambitions for the project since the
beginning: I hope to write, draw, color, letter and publish the story as a comic book trade series (also known as a graphic novel). Beyond simply publishing the work, I want to produce a quality story, with content that is enduring, uplifting, and inspiring. I want to touch the hearts of those who view my work. This requires a high level of skill both as an artist and as a writer, because not only do I need to know how to draw people, animals, architecture, technology—all that is required to build an appealing, novel, and believable world—I also had to learn how to tell stories of enduring value.
This was a grand undertaking, especially as it began while I was still very much an amateur high-school artist, but I was determined to succeed. That determination, combined with my desire to capture my vision on paper, is what pushed me not only to learn how to draw better, but to research and gain inspiration from history, science, and the world around me, and, most
importantly, to dive more deeply into the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the ultimate source of all things that are of enduring and eternal worth.
13 Light-Years Away has helped me to grow exponentially as an artist, storyteller, and in my faith as a Latter-Day Saint.
This show is the culmination of what I have learned during my time studying at BYU, and how I have applied that knowledge to 13 Light-Years Away. It is a small glimpse into the world I’ve built for the story and its main protagonists, Shrift and Felix. Shortly after I graduate, I will use these designs, and draw a few comic pages. Then I will pitch the project to Image Comics. Hopefully, by that time, I will have learned to communicate my vision well enough for it to be published.
View the artwork in the slideshow below by clicking the arrows. Enter full screen by clicking on an image.
