Gallery: Tron Meets Dalí in the Ethereal Yet Familiar World of Object 10
01Parts II
*[Object 10](http://www.floatingworldcomics.com/main/2013/06/18/object-10-by-kilian-eng/)*, the new monograph of illustration and graphic design by Swedish artist [Kilian Eng](http://www.behance.net/kilianeng), is a stylish collection of images that are at once nostalgic and looking towards the future, imagining worlds that have never existed, yet seem strangely familiar all at once. The collection, which was released last week by [Floating World Comics](http://floatingworldcomics.com), brings together all those worlds into one universe of illustrations, many of which fuse a *Tron*-like aesthetic with environments reminiscent of Salvador Dalí. Eng, a Swedish artist who goes by the name [DW Design](http://dwdesign.tumblr.com/), has also created illustrations for Mondo and musicians like M83, the Gaslamp Killer, Oliver, and Boerd. The book is his second collaboration with the Portland-based Floating World after last year's similarly-titled *[Object 5](http://www.floatingworldcomics.com/main/2011/11/27/kilian-eng-object-5/)*. "Even though most of the art \[works\] in the book are not connected in any longer narrative, we thought it would be interesting to arrange them so you could see some connections that went further than just the drawing style," Eng told Wired. "I think it's interesting to see how the images can relate to each other even though they were not meant to be seen in sequences from the beginning." Although his art was originally created digitally, Eng told Wired he was pleasantly surprised at the impact of translating them to print for the *Object 10* collection. "Since most of the work in the book has been drawn in the computer environment I was glad and surprised how the images opened up in a new way when I saw them in the printed form," said Eng. "There is definitely something happening when you can see the work on paper instead of on the screen. It is really the ultimate way to look and get to know the artwork." Click through the gallery above for more of Eng's work in *Object 10*--and the artist's explanation of the process and inspiration for each ethereal work. __Above:__ "Parts II" ---------- __Eng:__ "A good example of an image where there was no idea of specific goal for the end result. I started to draw a big female stone head like a statue and then it just developed with more and more details added. I did four versions of this image where the first one was just the head and then it opened up a little bit more in each image and revealed all the technical details inside, making the head to look more and more like a robot. When all the images were finished I did a small sequence with them so it became a very short animation loop where the head opened up and closed again. [You can have a look at it here](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzcm41UMLj1qbluruo1_400.gif)."
02Outpost II
"Outpost II" ------------ __Eng:__ "I started to work on an idea for longer story where this image was part of an introduction sequence. Unfortunately, I never finished the whole story but the initial idea was that this spaceship landed on some kind of scrap yard to search for replacement parts for its engine. The story would take off from that place and lead into further explorations of the surroundings. The idea was that one crew member was forgotten and left behind when the spaceship lifted off again, stranded on this unknown place."
03Window
"Window" -------- __Eng:__ "Playing around with perspectives and depth is something I really enjoy and this is a good example of that. In the center background, we look into the window of someone's living room and, in the foreground, we see the street life. I included a couple of things from my own home in the interior and if you look closely you can even see some pens and drawings on the table closest to the window, suggesting that the person living there is some kind of graphic artist. The image changed quite a lot during the process, it expanded from the person reading the comic in the sofa to the interior and finally the exterior. At one point there was a forest outside the window but in this final version there is just some small hints of nature to break up all the straight lines on the buildings."
04Smoke Portal
"Smoke Portal" -------------- __Eng:__ "The idea here was to draw a spaceship traveling from one dimension into another. As you can see the black space opens up in the middle of the image where the rest of the city that it flies over should be. The ship is heading into the hole and afterwards the smoke or clouds disappears and everything gets back to normal. It's like someone on the ship is using magic, a spell that creates a portal to another world in the smoke."
05Sleepwalk
"Sleepwalk" ----------- __Eng:__ "As the title suggest the small character is walking in his sleep. You can see the rest of the image as what he experiences in the dream; it definitely does have a dark atmosphere. Perhaps a nightmare or just a weird one. I remember that around the time I did this image I was doing research on theme parks and tried to find interesting photos of ghost trains, the kind where you sit in a little wagon going on rails trough a haunted house. I don't know how obvious it is in the image but i tried to take in a bit of those environments or at least the feel of them into the art."
06Plant School
"Plant School" -------------- __Eng:__ "If you have seen the sci-fi film *Silent Running* this image might seem a bit familiar. I got inspired by the giant greenhouse globes on the film's spaceship, and also a great extent of the main plot. Just as in the movie, this image could lead the thought to protecting life from pollution. I wanted to draw it so the image presented a bit of history as well. The main building's architecture varies a lot from the style inside the globe, perhaps describing technical development and traces of an older era. It's quite obvious that the globe was built at a later stage. The house on the front cover of *Object 10* is actually an alternative version of this image but there nature grows around the building instead of inside it."
07Mystery Prayer IV
"Mystery Prayer IV" ------------------- __Eng:__ "'Mystery Prayer IV' is a part of an image series consisting of four pieces. The body with the praying character is the same on all of them, but the things that comes out from the hood varies. The idea on this was to show someone praying for wealth, diamonds and gold, in a way its a representation of materialistic greediness. The outline based drawing and the flat colors in it is a technique I really like to work in. I'm influenced by the style of *Ligne Claire* which has often been used by artists like \[Jean Giraud\] Moebius, Hérge and many others in French and Belgian comic book tradition. Geof Darrow is another good example of an artist who is a master of the outline."
08Keytar
"Keytar" -------- __Eng:__ "This image is quite inspired by '80s aesthetics and could perhaps be seen as a bit cliché with the laser grid, skyscrapers, and the stars. The artwork is created as a personal drawing and is not connected to any real musician but of course groups like Daft Punk and also the movie *Tron* come to mind. I'm not a big fan of the new *Tron* movie, but the first one is fantastic. I really liked that they took in so much color into the environments. It made that advanced technical world feel alive and warm. Trough the years I have sold licenses for quite a lot of my images for different music releases. I'm actually a bit surprised that this one has not been used; it would make a pretty nice cover on a vinyl record."
09Guarding The Black Cat Temple
"Guarding the Black Cat Temple" ------------------------------- __Eng:__ "I think this image is a great representation of a theme that I often like to work with where I combine architecture, environment and the human as tiny part of the image. Basically, the person on the left balcony works to give the viewer an idea on the size of the temple. It's not so much part of any narrative here. I think the cat on the wall is more important and least for me gets the imagination going. Is it some kind of holy cat connected to the temple? The title hints something about the black cat, perhaps as a god in some religion that the temple is build for? The foreground surface and the trees has all these small dots drawn on them. I think this was one of the first images where I stared to use this technique to create volume and lights on black flat surfaces."
10Cerebrum
"Cerebrum" ---------- __Eng:__ "This image was a commissioned for the Swedish music producer Boerd. Basically, I got free hands to create whatever I wanted. When I listened to the album, I came into this peaceful mood and many of the sounds felt very organic and nature like which lead me into working with the forest theme for it. The shape on the top of the head could remind a bit of a brain hidden in the shapes of the trees but its not done to be to obvious either."
