Character Sheet Task.

So today I decided to take a painting I did over the summer..

and pluck the character from the painting and develop his personality.

I had to first figure out which sort of personality this guy could have?

So I decided, he's obviously fond of nature. I like the idea of him having to urge to stare at the moon every night and not know why. Similar to Disney's Hercules always feeling like he doesn't belong on earth.

Then I realised, he's sitting in what could potentially be a rather difficult area to reach. So he could be very agile and a skilled climber.

So I threw these ideas together and created this character sheet.

character development exercise.

Industry Interviews.

The last few weeks have flown by.

However, I have a few exciting things happening in the development of the project in the very near future.

Exciting thing number one!

Junior Concept Artist Sarah Morris from Atomhawk has agreed to help me out with a bunch of questions I have concerning my project.

Atomhawk's visual designs are breath-taking.

Also, my Academic Tutor (Lynn) has been kind enough to get in touch with freelance Concept Artist Kenneth Anderson on my behalf. He has also been kind enough to help me out. So it looks as though I'm going to meet up with him and conduct a sort of discussion/interview about his practices.

So I'm currently drafting up questions and topics that I'd like to hear their opinions about.

Will hopefully remember to record that interview, because I'm sure I'll get some really valuable advice.

So a big Thank You to those mentioned I feel is in order.

Exciting thing number two!

Kenneth Anderson, whom I previously mentioned, has an awesome portfolio on his website, and so I decided to take the colour palette of one of his paintings and use that to do my own concept design work.

Here's the end result.

Also here is his original, which i took the colour swatches from. 

Andersons' artwork has a very interesting style. 

What did I learn from doing this? Well quite a lot actually. 

I got a lot better at blending colours and facial tones. (Even making the nose and ears a bit rosey adds so much to these studies, it's quite unbelievable.) 

I also learned that I need to keep practicing in order to get to the quality of work expected in the industry. So I may do more of these studies. 

However, I feel like the first two characters I drew (the top two), are the strongest of the four, and the last two are visually weaker. So I think I need to think more about the sort of character the person is more thoroughly before I dive in and start throwing colours around. With the first two I knew what sort of characters I was after, and with the final two I was just sort of trying to make something that "looked cool." And that just didn't cut it. 

I have also managed to add some books to my collection since my previous post. 

One that I started reading recently, "Drawing Basics and Video Game Art" by Chris Solarski has me very excited. The book is very much "as it says on the tin", in the way that it teaches drawing fundamentals and thereafter goes on to illustrate how these translate into the world of video game art. 

The book explores the work of Da Vinci, Rembrant, and others.  

Like a book I read last year, ("Creating Characters with Personality"), Solarski also provides the reader with exercises to complete in tandem with your reading of the book. This is something I am a big fan of, because it feels like you are getting so much more out of the words written on the page by actually doing, and taking the time to think about what you've actually read, as apposed to merely rushing through book after book hoping that something will stick. 

The next book is "Watchmen: The Art of the Film".

I've always loved the graphic novel and the film. So I had to track down this one for my honours project. In honesty I came across this book by chance during a visit to Dundee University's library. 

The Art of "Watchmen"

Nevertheless, at a glance the book looks like it's going to be a great help. The fact that the concept artists for Watchmen did very much adapt the style that was already in place from the graphic novel makes this a great resource for my project specifically. So hopefully I'll pick up some useful advice. 

Short Pose Sketches.

The model couldn't make it to life drawing this week so we all took turns to draw each other. 10 minute sketches. 

More Silhouettes. Sorry.

I don't think I've mentioned before, but for a few months I've been watching tutorial videos on the excellent CTRL+Paint website.

The website's founder Matt Kohr, now a freelance concept artist, creates these excellent video tutorials which can all be accessed FOR FREE.

One of his videos focuses on silhouette iteration, and today I've basically been doing the tutorial. The videos are really easy to follow and he goes into just the right amount of detail that it just sticks.

Anyway, I'd highly recommend giving his website a visit if you would like to improve your 2D skills.

So the tutorial basically allows you to experiment with the inner detail to silhouettes using masks in photoshop. I created a silhouette which I liked, made several copies, and made the inner detail different each time to suggest different results from the same silhouette. Rather fascinating.

Anyway here's his example.

 And here's my efforts.

I know the styles seem rather different, but the point is to experiment and discover some cool ideas. Not to do an exact copy of his work.

Clay Sculpture?

So I've been researching clay sculpture a lot recently.

Hopefully this blog post will not only let me express my personal views on traditional sculpture but also entice yourself to perhaps consider giving it a try!

My first proper attempt at sculpture (high school aside), was during the development of my short animation that I made in third year - (before the summer).

I used an easily accessible product named "Newplast". The modelling material is ideal for stop-motion animation; However, it can also be used for creating still models.

"Newplast" the industry standard for stop-motion flicks.

Neat fact: On the London studio visit trip I noted that Tandem Studios used Newplast almost exclusively for their stop-motion projects. So I was glad to have made a good choice.

Since then I've made two more sculpts from Newplast. Thankfully, I seem to be getting better each time.

My latest rough sculpt. Newplast.

However, for my exposition I would love to use polymer clay, or an oil-based clay to create some really polished character statues/maquettes.

I guess I should share the sources I've found during my research!

This video is a great two-parter, which gives a neat little intro to the life of professional sculptor, Tony Cipriano, who, despite sounding like a mafia boss, explains his work excellently and clearly.

I've also bought a couple of books on the subject to get me started, and help me hopefully pick up the foundations of modelling.

The first is "POP SCULPTURE", by Tim Bruckner. This book is actually recommended in Cipriano's videos, and really does lend a massive hand to people eager to learn this way of art.

Recommended by Tony Cipriano

On a more basic level, "Modelling Heads and Faces in Clay", tells you the step by step process to making convincing human heads. Which although perhaps seen as boring by some, is obviously essential if you want to be a great character sculptor.

So hopefully in the coming weeks I'll have finished a first draft of a clay sculpt. And hopefully it'll be on the way to being awesome.

Art Dump Ver. 1.1

Finished reading "The Skillful Huntsman" today. (I'm reading other books parallel to this one). And got inspired by the incredible artwork yet again. So here's some character sketches for y'all.

Update/Pitch Summary and Reflection (Week 4)

Today I had my first progress presentation of my honours project.

It went really well! Got some really useful advice and now have a much greater idea of where I what I want to do next.

I basically put across my vision for my final project. - Which I have just realised hasn't been discussed on this blog.

To begin with, I've changed my entire idea. About a week ago, if memory serves.

Research Domain: Story Illustration and Design

Aim: To design an appropriate universe and artistic style for a story and interpret the importance of visual creation in adaptation.  

(Current) Objectives:
-Examine existing design processes and interpret reason behind creative directions.
-Critique and contract justification of bringing a stories' universe "to life".
-Create a broad visual realisation of a story, and assess the design process.

So basically, I'm going to completely realise the visual feel for a short story. And the process is going to be fun/interesting part.

This is kind of how I envision my final showcase to look. This is of course very early doors. But I like where it's heading.

design process: silhouette-thumbnails-refine-scenes-polished final concept art- high quality clay sculpts.

So this will allow people who view the exhibition to see my entire thought process in terms of design direction and decisions and, of course, experiments. I also would like to add a bit of inter-activity also. For example, I have a set of head phones which should be worn when viewing to add to the experience of the project. The head phones could either: Tell the story, in a compelling rhythmic style, play ambiance & foley sounds appropriate to the story- (through the help of one of the CSP students perhaps)- or even a mix of both.

ANYWAY...

Tips I received from pitch session:

- expand my research horizon, look into more books which cover the design process for films/games.
- consider making a timelapse video tutorial/info video about how I go about designing. (They do say the best way to really learn something, is to teach it). So I'm quite excited about the idea of that.
- What makes my design process/ideas different? What other creative professionals have done this well?

So as soon as I left the pitch session I headed to the library and got a hold of a few goodies.

- 2 DVD's (Gnomon Workshop):
"Character design for Games and Animation"
"Anatomy of A Short Film"

Image courtesy of graphixshare.com

(Gnomon DVD's were particularly recommended by Robin Sloan.)

I also grabbed a book which caught my eye.

Image courtesy of Amazon.co.uk

Because one can never draw too many naked people.

But seriously, I started flicking through this in the library, and ended up reading about 15 pages, so I couldn't not take it home. Some of the points made are incredible, and I only wish I'd discovered this sooner. I will no doubt post more about this book as I read more into.

Up until the start of third year, I hadn't bought a single art book. This fact is more than slightly depressing. But at the same time I'm now getting my hands on every scrap of art literature I can.

For adaptations such as "The Lord of the Rings", the studios release the accompanying "Art of" books. Although some of these books don't really explore the process that well, some of them can be incredibly interesting and can really help illustrate the pipeline behind visual development for adaptations.

So for my personal development I want to become much more well read in these Art of Books, and in Art books in general .

'til next time,