ELLA KOCIBA
VisDev/Production Artist, Illustrator, and Storyteller
Hello, world! Welcome! Feel free to look around and stay awhile!email: [email protected]
ig: @wokki39art
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About Me
My name is Ella Kociba! I enjoy storytelling and creating artwork that brings people to both fantastical and familiar places! I'm a fast learner and a passionate, determined artist. I have a BFA in Illustration from the College for Creative Studies with a minor in Creative Writing.In my spare time, I enjoy learning obscure historical fun facts, reading manga, and pouring way too many hours into JRPGs and visual novels. Also, I have a soft spot for cats and bats.
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CHARACTER DESIGN
For more information and/or context on any specific piece, please see my "projects" tab!
PROP DESIGN
For more information and/or context on any specific piece, please see my "projects" tab!
COLOR DESIGN AND KEYFRAME PAINTING
for more contextual information on any specific piece, see the "projects" page!
SEQUENTIAL STORYTELLING AND COMICS
For detailed information (including plot and character info), on any piece included here, see my "Projects" tab!
"To Love a Banshee" (Fall 2024)
Red Reign Falling - Test Comic 2 (Spring 2024)
A short experiment in style development. I played around with feature simplification, solid value blocking, and texture. I like the overall aesthetics of the final product, but it doesn't quite match the story's tone. Oh well!
Red Reign Falling - Test Comic 1 (Fall 2023)
This was my first "proper" foray into comic-making on Clip Studio Paint. I experimented a lot with screentones and line effects. There's a lot I would change about this if I were to do it again, but it offers a good idea of the story's overall tone!
"Extras" Strips + Doodles
ILLUSTRATION
For more information on a specific piece, click on the thumbnail or check out the "projects" page!
PROJECTS
Original Project: Red Reign Falling
Nikoo, Mehri, Siamak, and Paiman are four heirs to the Kingdom of Lijioili, a once-mighty empire on the verge of implosion. On the morning a controversial betrothal with the power to reshape the Kingdom is announced, Princess Mehri is found brutally murdered within the castle walls– surprising no one more than Mehri herself, who’s feeling alright, all things considered. Separated and strangled by forces both political and personal, the four siblings must navigate an increasingly dangerous web of cover-ups and sabotage in order to uncover a hidden truth and salvage the lives they once knew.Red Reign Falling explores the extents of sacrifice and family ties, as well as grief, hope, loss of innocence, war, and the range of human response to catastrophe.Genre(s): Fantasy, Mystery, Action
Setting: Fictitious Kingdom of Lijioili, which is heavily inspired by Achaemenid Persia and its surrounding societiesThis story will hopefully be published someday as either a novel or graphic novel series. Stay tuned!
Pitch Presentation
Test Comic - Early 2024
A short experiment in style development. I played around with feature simplification, solid value blocking, and texture. I like the overall aesthetics of the final product, but it doesn't quite match the story's tone. Oh well!
Test Comic - Fall 2023
This was my first "proper" foray into comic-making on Clip Studio Paint. I experimented a lot with screentones and line effects. There's a lot I would change about this if I were to do it again, but it offers a good idea of the story's overall tone!
Development Gallery - Character Sheets and Concepts, Setting Development, Props, Illustration, Comics, and More!
note: character, environment, and prop names are subject to change, as well as plot points/summaries.
Original Project: "To Love a Banshee"
After 200 years of operating a fairy laundromat together, Niamh the banshee decides to take the plunge and propose to her fae girlfriend, Aoife, during their anniversary dinner. To do so, she’ll have to overcome her greatest adversary: herself."To Love a Banshee" is a short fantasy romcom inspired by Irish folklore. It examines the relation between romantic relationships and love of the self (or lack thereof) and many, many púca shenanigans.
Sample Pages (Beta)
Development Work
Evillious Chronicles: Daughter of Evil
"The Evillious Chronicles" is a fantasy saga written by Japanese author/musical producer Mothy. The central storyline is told through songs, novelizations, manga, and even two stageplay adaptations! This project explores the Pride Arc of the Evillious Chronicles as if it were being adapted for Western 2D Television Animation. These designs are largely based upon those utilized in the official manga/novelization and music video illustration work done by artists Ichika and Suzunosuke, respectively.
The Evillious Chronicles as a whole explores the ideas of sin, evil, love, and forgiveness through arcs centered around the Seven Deadly Sins. The Daughter of Evil arc, centered on the sin of Pride, is one of the most well known of the series. A brief story synopsis is available below the gallery!
5-second summary:
Riliane, a 14-year old ruling princess influenced by the Demon of Pride, starts a bloody war after her fiancé terminates their engagement to pursue a woman from another kingdom. She is ousted in a revolution that leads to the death of her brother and is forced to confront her sins. Major themes: forgiveness, hope, and love in the face of tragedy.For a key-by-key summary, look below the select piece gallery!
Development Process
Final Keys
Key-by-Key Story Breakdown
Row One
(1) It begins as Queen Prim of Marlon sends her daughter/trained assassin Ney to possess Princess Riliane of Lucifenia with the Demon of Pride.
(2) The plan is a success, and Ney works as a spy in the Lucifenian court.
(3) Lucifenia descends into chaos as Riliane, a 14-year old possessed tyrant, takes the throne, aided by her close servant (and secret twin brother) Allen Avadonia.
(4) Riliane is betrothed to Prince Kyle of Marlon and falls in love with him, though he does not love her in return due to their large age difference.
(5) One night, the Head Witch of Lucifenia, Elluka Clockworker, has a prophetic vision of Riliane's execution in a bloody revolution.
Row Two
(6) Elluka's vision leads her back to her old friend Held, Guardian of the Forest.
(7) Through no small amount of arguing, he agrees to give her two forest spirits as apprentices to prevent the downfall of Lucifenia: bluebird spirit Michaela and chipmunk spirit Gumillia.
(8) Soon after, Michaela meets a young, ostracized woman named Clarith - the two instantly become "close friends" and move in together in the Kingdom of Elphegort.
(9) However, upon Kyle's next visit to Elphegort, he meets and falls in love with Michaela, immediately professing his love for her and severing his betrothal to Riliane.
(10) Riliane does not take this rejection well, and immediately orders her armies to march upon Elphegort and kill every Elphe woman that matches Michaela's description.
Row Three
(11) In order to reach Elphegort, she burns down Held's Forest, destroying Held and the forest's inhabitants.
(12) When the armies draw near, Michaela must be hidden for her own safety; Clarith and Michaela admit their love for each other and promise to meet again before they separate.
(13) However, before Michaela's safety can be secured, Ney finds and murders her, framing Riliane and Elluka/Gumillia for her death.
(14) Clarith, Elluka, and Gumillia later find her body, surrounded by flowers and sprouts as she has become the next Guardian of the Forest.
(15) Meanwhile, angered by Riliane's actions, former Lucifenian General Germaine Avadonia joins forces with the grieving Kyle Marlon to launch a revolution.
Row Four
(16) The revolutionary forces bear down upon the castle, and to save Riliane's life, Allen swaps clothes with her and takes her place while she runs away.
(17, 18) Allen is executed in her place, and Elluka's vision is fulfilled. Through the combined forces of grief and guilt, Riliane is snapped out of her demonic possession.
(19) In the meantime, Ney begins to lose it for a variety of reasons (the foremost being a craving for maternal affection) and makes a demonic pact of her own: with the demon of Gluttony, Banica Conchita. This gives her the power to summon armies of corpses.
(20) Later, the evils of Prim Marlon come to light, and in a clash between Lucifenian Republic Forces and Prim's armies, Ney snaps and kills Prim before being arrested and dying in captivity.
Row Five
(21) Later, a world away, Riliane escapes Lucifenia and tries to make a new life for herself. She hides herself as a nun at a seaside church; coincidentally, following Michaela's death, Clarith had chosen to restart her life at the same convent. One night, Clarith overhears Riliane confessing her crimes in the confession booth, and is overcome with rage.
(22) Riliane, in her attempts to make right with the universe, sends her deceased brother an apologetic message through a bottle.
(23) While she does this, Clarith prepares to kill her and avenge Michaela; however, her plan is derailed by Allen's ghost that appears to protect Riliane. In that split second, Clarith realizes Michaela never would have wished for Riliane's death.
(24) Instead, Clarith works towards forgiving Riliane, and Riliane works towards righting the wrongs she committed. The two become friends in their shared goal of restoring Held's Forest under Michaela's name.("Was that really summarized? It was so long--" You have no idea how summarized it was, Oh my God.)
Original Project: Skull of the Wother
Note: This story is EXTREMELY tentatively referred to as "Skull of the Wother". Title is highly subject to change!Lio Vidales, an ex-apothecarist, and Wyatt, an orphan on the run, are two vagabonds fighting to survive in the hostile world of Osifferia, a land plagued by beasts and corruption. Their lives are turned upside down when Wyatt falls ill with a terminal disease, and they must travel cross-continent in a race against time to find a potential, mythical cure.Skull of the Wother explores the intertwined nature of life and death, human mortality, small-scale tragedy, and the value of companionship and compassion in a world of darkness and deceit.Genre(s): Adventure, Action, Dark FantasyThis story will hopefully be published as a novel someday. Stay tuned!
Digital Sketchbook
COMMISSIONS
My commissions are currently closed at this time! I will make an announcement on instagram when they are reopened. Thank you for your interest!