Blue suits Asterios well, as people tend to think of blue as a cold, calm and logical color, whereas red suits Hana the sculptor because of its bold, rash and passionate connotations. The purple outlines I find particularly interesting because, as many people know, purple is a combination of red and blue, so when the two characters fight, they are separately the two colors that make up purple. However, when both are interacting harmoniously together, they are drawn in purple outlines with blue shadows. This sketchy look is very descriptive in that it implies the looseness and passion of Hana’s character, and like Asterios, makes sense with her being an artist. Hana, on the other hand, becomes sketchy-looking and the artist uses a gestural style of drawing, and her color turns red.

The very carefully constructed look of Asterios in conflict meshes with his carefully constructed personality, especially considering he is an architect. Asterios is a very clinical and withdrawn kind of person, and when his views or personality come into conflict with Hana’s, he is drawn to look very architectural, using an underlying shape drawing style and he turns blue. It is a very high-concept graphic novel, and raises questions as to what art is, along with questions of what it is to be human.įirst, I’d like to look at how Asterios and Hana are drawn, especially when they interact with one another.

One of the most interesting aspects of Asterios Polyp to me is its use of art techniques to tell a story.

Asterios polyp graphic novel