Finding Solace - Episode 01: Why Solace Exists

Summary

Solace grew out of the creator’s personal experience of grief. After years of working as a concept artist on other people’s films and games—sometimes watching projects get cancelled or seeing final results go beyond his control—he wanted to tell a story of his own.

The inspiration came from Bas, his beloved golden retriever. As Bas grew old and his health declined, the creator eventually had to say goodbye. He was surprised by the intensity of his grief and by how much he longed to see, hold, and smell Bas again. Rather than dismissing those feelings, he wanted to explore them as a deeply human response to loss.

Artistic Concepts and Process

• Personal experience as source material: The story began with the creator’s grief and his wish to explore the powerful, irrational feelings that followed Bas’s death.
• Travel and visual reference: While visiting the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Norway, he photographed landscapes and processed some of his loss along the way. He describes carrying heavy camera equipment through harsh weather and dramatic terrain.
• Turning emotion into images: He began sketching to translate the raw feeling of grief into visual storytelling.
• Early concept art: Initial images included Asya at a gravesite, Hati being buried, and Hera taking off with Hati’s body, unable to let go.
• A defining visual: One concept—Hati on her back—made the central idea click: someone in denial digs up a loved one and sets off in the desperate hope of bringing them back.
• Concept board: The creator shows a messy board of concepts developed so far, along with prints of some early designs.

The creator thanks viewers for their supportive messages, saying that feeling represented by the story gives the team a sense of purpose.

Creators and Contributors

• The narrator and creator, along with the Solace team, are acknowledged. The team roster appears in the video but is not named in the subtitles.
• Bas, the creator’s dog, inspired the story but is not identified as a production contributor.