Research for my character piece of art 1 (6/11/2012)

Currently my favorite artist is Shigenori Soejima, the artist who illustrated the characters in my favorite video game series 'Persona'.

Usually he does anime/manga type drawings, but I love his detailed rendition of the android Aigis below as this is the version of her that he always wanted in the game 'Persona 3'.

He stated in (Shigenori Soejima Art Works 2004-2010) :
"This illustration represents the most faithful reproduction of the Aigis that I originally imagined." (June 2010)

I just love how detailed this version is of Aigis which include the following aspects:

Positives: 

• All the fine intricate details such as the stitching, joints and facial features.
• The shading and the cuts on the material clothing her really make it look as though it is actual fabric.
• The hair has obviously been the subject of numerous stages which have resulted in the right kind of shading and layering. Thus making it look realistic.
• Her joints are wonderfully detailed as can be seen in the shoulder. However, unlike the hair her joints represent machine like connections and appear metallic and hard. This convinces those that are looking at the drawing that all the joints would help her move in a variety of directions. The thighs appear both springy and flexible enough to deal with different movements. This is achieved as the thighs look rubbery and appear to function rather like a pair of bellows.  
• In short, Shigenori Soejima is able to perfectly contrast metal, fabric, skin and hair convincingly by using skillful art techniques. 

Negatives: 

• Her shadow in the bottom right hand corner is perhaps not nearly as big or detailed as it should be realistically. Perhaps this was deliberate or may be as a result of the light source.

Personal Idea:

I know that I want to include a mech in my art but am not 100% sure how to within the context of my game idea. One idea I have is that a posse of cowboys come across a steampunk type mech that they use in order to accomplish A-Team type missions within tactical turn based combat.  

When coming up with possible ideas for the character designs I used the following photos for reference as I wanted to begin by drawing a cowboy.

Personal and peer feedback as to which design I should choose:

I first drew 6 character designs with the following reactions:

• Liked the pose of 1, but felt that he should have been siting down. 
• Liked the design of 4 and 6. 
• Preferred the  character to be wearing the poncho as seen in 2 and 4.
• Need to make sure the steampunkish robot is made of materials that would be appropriate to the cowboy era. 
• The robot should also look quite blocky and not smooth like modern machines e.g. make it look like a Generation 1 Transformer as seen below. 
• Think having the character sitting on the robot's shoulder would be pretty cool.
• Possible make the proportions of the character similar to the three cowboys directly above this section.

Then I drew another 6 character designs which got these reactions:

• Personally I think sketch 11 is a really good idea, the only down side is that you only see the robots hand.
• I'm tempted to give the character an eye patch as seen in 10. 
• I like the positioning of the characters in 7, even though the robot is too small for my liking.
• People loved the robot's design in image 12, but I fear it is too close to my reference seen below.

Overall:

I may want to incorporate both a character and a robot, but draw them both separately and then scan them into photoshop in order to make them both a part of the same image. This way I would make sure that each drawing is as detailed as possible.  

Referencing: 

Moylan, M (2011) Shigenori Soejima Art Works 2004-2010. Canada: UDON Entertainment Corp. 

Soejima, S (Unknown) Aigis on a book cover. Available at:  
http://edmosphere.injeksionline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/tumblr_lpbbg1Enx11qgrgvgo1_1280-1024x948.jpg (Accessed: 6/11/2012).

Soejima, S (Unknown) Aigis. Available at: 

http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/e/ea/Persona_3_Aigis_4.jpg (Accessed: 6/11/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) A cowboy is sitting on a bench with a gun in his hand. Available at:  
http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/217465/217465,1305135204,2/stock-photo-a-cowboy-is-sitting-on-a-bench-with-a-gun-in-his-hand-77397025.jpg (Accessed: 6/11/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Deguisement Western Cowboy . Available at:
http://www.festimania.fr/7012-3921-large/deguisement-western-cowboy-poncho.jpg (Accessed: 6/11/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Cowboy Silhouettes. Available at:  
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&authuser=0&biw=1366&bih=665&tbm=isch&tbnid=G-4DqNKnAXjKmM:&imgrefurl=http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php%3Ft%3D74716%26page%3D13&docid=Uzgy98MxO9uYJM&imgurl=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/zenarion/tf21850_cowboySilhouettes.jpg&w=600&h=422&ei=I_mfUJb0GOTH0QWsioHoAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=185&vpy=196&dur=145&hovh=188&hovw=268&tx=207&ty=94&sig=114205264093602267420&page=1&tbnh=135&tbnw=198&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:67
(Accessed: 6/11/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Ironhide. Available at:  
http://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/thumb/2/25/Ironhideg1guido.jpg/300px-Ironhideg1guido.jpg
(Accessed: 6/11/2012).

Unknown (2010) Robot Cowboy. Available at: 
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&authuser=0&biw=1366&bih=665&tbm=isch&tbnid=2ezbrS1OE9g91M:&imgrefurl=http://www.the-real-alpha2.com/lensflare3.html&docid=RZGcFZwPhD7AtM&imgurl=http://the-real-alpha2.com/images/bnw/robotcowboy.jpg&w=500&h=688&ei=DPSfUOCJNOW10QWl2ICQBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=739&vpy=120&dur=61&hovh=263&hovw=191&tx=98&ty=108&sig=114205264093602267420&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=105&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:75
(Accessed: 6/11/2012).

Comparing my environment art to the example I chose before (23/10/2012)

Comparing my own drawn environment to the Craig Miller's environment they clearly share similarities and differences.  
For example:

Similarities:

• Both pieces are city landscapes with tall looming towers, some of which contain windows. 
• Visually neither environment look like they would be particularly nice places to live in.
• Numerous vertical lines are used in order to make the buildings in both images appear taller. 
• Both environments have similar dark colour palettes and moods. 
• Both give the viewer a sense of perspective as they include foreground and background which helps  the viewers eye to travel across the camvas.

Differences: 

• In my view the images appear to represent different periods of time.
• My environment contains numerous people, whereas Miller's has only the one person visible. I chose numerous small silhouettes because my focus was on the environment and not the characters. I also wanted the characters to not over shadow the existence of the robot. In Miller's image I assume he wanted his character to be more dominate which is why they take up so much space in the foreground.
• My art and Miller's art are very different. My art is very animated / cartoon like and consists of fine black border lines to show the outlines of the things within my work. As so far I use little to no shading. Whereas Craig Miller's image is rather sketchy and makes effective use of light and shade. 

Referencing: 

Miller, C. (Unknown) goodbrush. Available at:
http://www.goodbrush.com/ (Accessed: 16/10/2012).

My environment art and analysis (23/10/2012)

Before starting my drawing I spent time thinking of various ideas and then did some sketches of them as you can see below:

After completing these initial sketches I then analyzed them to see which one I wanted to pick for my final piece. This involved deciding which features I could take from the ideas and what I might possibly add:

• Maybe include the positioning of the cops as seen in the bottom left corner as their positioning seems the best.
• Include more sky in the background of the bottom right hand image.
• Include more steampunk aspects, cars, cops and robots. 
• Maybe add a blimp or plane?
• Or perhaps a river? 

The bottom right hand image ended up being my favorite and thus I decided to choose that one for my piece of environmental art.

When I did finally start my image I included a boat in the background. However, as I am still learning how to correctly use perspective I ended up not only making the boat too big, but also making the supposed ocean in the background at the wrong angle to the rest of the buildings as you can see below in the top right hand corner:

 
In the end I decided to cut out the images background instead of starting again as I had already put in a lot of work into the image and didn't want one mistake to ruin it. I'm glad that I made this decision because the image in the end accidentally ended up looking a lot better as not only did the cut around page look layered over the new piece of paper it was stuck on to, but it also gave the image a layer of depth. This is something that I could perhaps do more of in the future. 

You will have no doubt of also seen that special effects have been added to my image. These effects were created using Photoshop and include the the clouds, smoke and even the dark silhouettes which are actually me. I put myself into the image as I knew the piece of art was meant to be environment based and therefore didn't want to waste too much time on detailed characters. Plus I thought that dark silhouettes would add atmosphere to the scene. Adding myself was also quite simple. I just used some photos taken of me in a hat and trench coat in various poses (to match the drawn images) and then incorporated them onto Photoshop. Once on the program I then cut out the background and upped the contrast, thus creating dark and mysterious figures which I felt came out better than I expected.

I knew that I also wanted to add some colour to the scene but wasn't 100% sure both on how to do so and what colours to use; something that I originally didn't even think about, but in retrospect I probably should have done. After messing around with browns that would have suited a more steampunk aesthetic and failing to get it just right, I decided to use another bit of  inspiration for my scene instead, film noir as you can see below:

Now whereas it wasn't my intention to go for a film noir look I feel that its black and white misty filter really added to the overall atmosphere I was trying to create in the environmental scene.

Work Schedule:

Friday: 11:20 - 11:50, 12:20 - 14:00, 14:30 – 15:00

Saturday: 16:00 – 17:45, 19:45 – 21:20

Sunday: 18:40 – 20:25, 20:35 – 20:55, 21:00 – 21:20
Tuesday: 9:15 - 11:15

Research for my environment piece of art (19/10/2012)

I want my piece of environment art to consist of the following:

• Key stone cops from the 1912-14's.
• Steam punk visuals and machine/robots. 
• A city similar to Rapture from the game Bioshock.
• Film Noir style and atmosphere along with the sort detectives in hats and trench coats that you would see in them.

Visual research:

Referencing: 

Bernard, B. (August 7, 2011) Visit to downtown Picture. Available at: 
http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/6/640x368_2438_Visit_to_downtown_2d_sci_fi_steampunk_city_picture_image_digital_art.jpg
(Accessed: 19/10/2012) 

Brindley, A. (Unknown) Ariion Kathleen Brindley. Available at: 
http://www.ariionkathleenbrindley.com/tax-keystone.jpg
(Accessed: 19/10/2012)  

Caoili, E. (November 25, 2009) GAME SET WATCH: 1959: Rapture's Ballroom. Available at: 
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/091125-1959.jpg
(Accessed: 19/10/2012)

Dennis. (September 20, 2010) Denzomag: 18 Great Examples of Steampunk Cities Illustrations. Available at: 

http://th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/146/a/7/Tamerlane_steam_city_by_EasternVision73.jpg
(Accessed: 19/10/2012)  

Haskell, E. (June 21, 2010) Blogspot: Eddi Haskell's Second Life. Available at: 
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvFK1s2aaDiNhcU0IRFifOh5mm-pYHL1pR7QgLUKFPVSavGbv_9en-f3WM1K46JE6cy9ZjxIDwkvuIlHXmMMRPYO9JhPzly6GPXRr3_O7T81z3t_ljsba_UgmEIq9TSmdpG67ywAfXAt1/s1600/Snapshot_018-1.jpg
(Accessed: 19/10/2012) 

Low, A. (April 15, 2010) Film Noir City. Available at:
http://filmnoircity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/film_noir.jpg
(Accessed: 19/10/2012)  

Shapera, P. (March 30, 2011) The Steampunk Opera: Steampunk Cities, Postcards. Available at: 
http://coolvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/steampunkcity.jpg
(Accessed: 19/10/2012)  

Tres, V. (August 26, 2012) Blogspot: abominatio nascitur autumno. Available at: 
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHRifDN3aFeoZdllDQrgZHAunU0tSotbBP2vHv7VcgfyZYWf85ABfCrSvnIEjjwtk3x-zamiX41a8Km9BQDixezZnCzim3zfismqWWG22AaoeHbfINpIL8MXCqQzQHJod2_R4LuHMsCbP/s1600/10.jpg (Accessed: 19/10/2012)  

Unknown. (Unknown) gdefon.ru beta. Available at: 
http://www.gdefon.com/download/Iron-Grip-Marauders_Steampunk_city/287460/1920x1200
(Accessed: 19/10/2012)  

Unknown. (August 17, 2012) /tg/ - Traditional Games. Available at:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/20365707/thumbs/1345259865154s.jpg (Accessed: 19/10/2012)