Genre Artwork 2 (15/1/2013)

For this session, after finally coming up with a name for my character I decided to work on the clothes and accessories that Elexia would wear. A woman who wears overly casual clothes that wouldn't necessarily match due to her mental disorder. 

I knew from the start of this project that I didn't want my female character to be a sex symbol as other women in gaming sadly often are. I also wanted to draw a female character as I find women harder to draw than men and thus wanted to give myself a challenge.

Even though I knew what clothes I wanted her to wear and hoped that they would be original, I feared her head wouldn't as I kept imaging her to either look like Jade from 'Beyond Good and Evil' or Faith from 'Mirror's Edge'. Both these girls have short dark hair as seen in my reference images below.

 

Therefore I started this session by looking at an assortment of messy hair styles and clothing as Elexia is meant to be a fun and causally dressed young woman, thus explaining why I always imagined her with baggy trousers and an XXL T-shirt.

With my first page of possible character designs I spent a long time looking at hair so as to capture the messy look I wanted whilst staying away from my reference images. Although the character would be mostly seen indoors I decided to draw designs for hats and accessories anyway as I just wanted to see if any of them caught my eye and gave me a new angle on what she could look like.

 

Within the second page I decided to not only draw the XXL T-shirt and combat trousers I imagined her wearing originally, but also an assortment of other designs so as with the other page I could see if anything 'grabbed me'. I also messed around with shoe designs although I imagined her to be bare foot and even symbols that could be on her clothing perhaps as she is obsessed with her TV and therefore may wear branded items.

Now, although I did draw a sports bra and vest on this page I would just like to point out that these would only be included under something like a T-shirt. Otherwise the flowing and large necked nature of an XXL T-shirt would lead to showing players what was underneath whenever the character does anything athletic. I also found from thinking about this design flaw that it would thus open up new ways to animate the character as whenever she swings the hammer she uses the T-shirt could billow in the air. Thus giving her combat grace and beauty.

After the session I then went away and drew four models for possible character designs that you can see below:

I found drawing numerous designs really helped as it allowed me to look physically at both my original concept (number 2 with a hat added instead of hair) and other designs I had thought of. Whereas I do like design number 4 I feel that it is perhaps more suitable for a male character. Personally I really like seeing people in turtle neck sweaters for some reason, however, for design number 1 I felt this design along with the tight trousers were too out of place for the character's casual nature. Now, whereas I really like the design and layers on 3 I feel that they would perhaps suit a male more and just can't imagine Elexia wearing them for some reason. Therefore I have decided to go with my original design concept of number 2, however, I will be including number 3's hair underneath the hat and possibly the same symbol seen on the T-shirt.

Although pleased with my designs I can see looking back at them that I made the shoulders for the female poses look far too broad and masculine. Therefore I practiced sketching some shoulder designs as seen below so as to be ready for my final design. I also went back and practiced drawing the creases caused by the layers and weight of the clothing she is going to wear as baggy clothes should hang off her more. Finally I practiced drawing her hair under the hat so as to make sure the design would work.

• Unknown (Unknown) Jade with her camera [Online image]. Available at: http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111107205908/theirisnetwork/images/thumb/9/9a/Jade.jpg/270px-Jade.jpg (Accessed: 23/1/2013). 

• Unknown (Unknown) Faith jumping [Online image]. Available at: http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR6nuU5GpcDyso2TjcqoygJnSkP0FZzd9d8FdOEngccjl5LjMVi7g (Accessed: 23/1/2013).

Genre Artwork 1 (8/1/2013)

For my next art project I have been given the task of creating artwork for a genre of my choice that I will in a few weeks time present through a power point presentation to my peers and lecturer. Therefore I spent this session researching my ideas for an action adventure genre that I plan to give a twist to so as to make it original. I will post the idea and the back-story for my next post as I have an idea already, but I want to give myself more time to determine all of its elements first.

With an idea in my head already of what my project will look like I hope to post my artwork as I progress throughout this project on a frequent basis and look forward to the end results and the feedback I get from it. Hopefully, I will be able to transfer the ideas from my head to my sketches as that can be a difficult task for anyone.

I also did an hour of sketching objects that you can see below. One was done with pencil and I felt at home using this familiar method, whereas using the charcoal was challenging as I kept smudging it by accident. However, overall it was a fun sort of challenge as it allowed me to mess around with the unknown.

After this session I went away and started to draw possible poses that my character might adopt. I tried a variety of poses as I wanted to capture as many aspects of her personality as I could. Therefore, I did stances that had her waving and relaxing to show her casual nature, doing handstands to demonstrate her carefree athletic side and finally fighting poses to show that she can take care of herself.

I then went on to designing a hammer for her that looked almost alive in nature or out of place as she would receive this weapon in the Monster World. This explains why number 2, 4 and 11 look monster like, although saying this I did try a variety of designs as I had flat surfaces, round surfaces and even spiked surfaces. When designing the hammers I also tried to come up with how they would change combat e.g. number 9 is a silly design that would imprint a smiley face on the enemy, 11 could perhaps stick an enemy to it, 1 could maybe be used to unhinge things, 2 could perhaps mind control due to its Cthulhu design and so on.     

I wanted her to use a hammer as I nearly always see the main protagonist in video games using a sword and thus the market is full of sword users, therefore I decided to be different.

Finally I drew a number of different environments as I can not decide which one to go with.

The first two are based in the high streets of the Monster World that the character enters through her TV. Its design was based on all the random stuff you find in your wardrobe as children are told monsters live in them. I also wanted the streets and buildings to be a mix of cultures as they would accommodate monsters from all over the world. Therefore I made the buildings a mix of western and eastern design and even included Chinese lanterns strung across wires in order to light the streets as they would be underground. And, even though I didn't draw them into the scene I can imagine the shops to be selling very random stuff such as cactus plants, garden gnomes and snow globes.  

Then I drew two similar concepts for one of the Monster Arenas that the player would fight in. I based these arenas on monster truck arenas purely because the word monster was in the title and I thought the open stadium nature would be a cool design as they are so big and the lights and sounds that come from them would be a good contrast against its dark backgrounds. I also included hills, spike traps and flares so as to show what the player could use to their advantage if need be. 

Finally I drew the character's apartment set in the real world. I wanted it to be a compact but bright environment so as to show a contrast between the human world and the monster world. I also wanted it decorated to mirror the character's taste for games and even included empty cans and other mess on the floor in order to convince players that it is lived in and not just on display. The first design I went with was calm and secure, whereas in the second I choose to include the limbs of monsters coming out of the screen and a telephone dangling on its wire in order to tell the viewer a story. Have these limbs abducted someone? Has the occupant just run out of the room? It is up to the viewer to decide.

Photoshop Session 4 (8/1/2013)

As you may of noticed the title for this post says number 4. So you may be asking "where is number 3?". Well everyone had to miss one of the sessions due to it running into the X-mas holidays.

As for the session itself sadly they isn't much to say about it. I was looking forward to it as it promised to show us how to draw characters on Photoshop. However, we were merely given an instruction sheet online and expected to do it ourselves. Personally I don't think this was a good idea as it meant that the session as a whole could have just as easily been done at home even with the odd words of friendly advice given. However, I did find out how to roughly shade a human face correctly, so I will be able to look back at my image when trying to do the same thing in the future. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't draw a realistic face as intended and instead kept going back to the more cartoonish/Manga style I am used to.

I haven't decided yet whether or not I will continue with these sessions or if there are any remaining anyway. Overall I just felt disappointed by this one and expected a little bit more from it.

You can see the process of my portrait drawn using a tablet on Photoshop below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absence note for Drawing for Games (11/12/2012)

Unfortunately due to a sickness bug in the winter of 2012 I was unable to take part in this session.

I hope that I will be able to go back and complete the colouring of my Star Wars' art as I was really looking forward to completing the picture that I had put a lot of time into. Sadly I don't have Photoshop at home in order to complete it in my own time.

Photoshop Session 2 (4/12/2012)

Having enjoyed the last session I was really looking forward to this one as I thought I would be learning new things. Unfortunately this was not the case as we were told to practice the skills we had learned last week in order to produce a cover for a video game. Now whereas I did have fun doing this and it allowed me to remember previous skills I felt at the same time that I could have done this at any time at my own leisure.

After we had finished our covers we moved onto shading a ball similar to how we shaded the human face last week. Unfortunately I only felt this to be another practice of the skills we had already learned and nothing new.

Overall, whereas it was a fun session that allowed me to practice my skills I felt as if we were covering old ground. Therefore I hope next time we will be able to learn something new.

You can see the evidence of my work below:

Referencing:

Paladin, D (Unknown) Castle Crasher Knights [Online image]. Available at:  

http://www.gamerzines.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/castle_crashers_small.png  (Accessed: 4/12/2012).
 

Unknown (2008) Xbox 360 box template [Online image]. Available at:  http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/Spyro4President/Xbox360Template-1.png (Accessed: 4/12/2012).
 
Unknown (Unknown) Banjo and Kazooie [Online image]. Available at: http://www.therwp.com/w/images/thumb/c/c5/Banjo-kazooieBKNB2.jpg/300px-Banjo-kazooieBKNB2.jpg (Accessed: 4/12/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Joanna Dark [Online image]. Available at: 

http://www.oxmonline.com/files/u12/JoannaDark.png (Accessed: 4/12/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Marcus Fenix [Online image]. Available at: 

http://images.wikia.com/gearsofwar/images/1/19/Gears_of_War_3_Personajes_COG_Marcus_Fenix_V2.png (Accessed: 4/12/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Splosion Man [Online image]. Available at: 

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/3683/1049517-splosion_man_1.jpg (Accessed: 4/12/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Master Chief [Online image]. Available at: 

http://bakarenders.com/renders/albums/userpics/22517/normal_Halo-4-master-chief-front-cover.png (Accessed: 4/12/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) PEGI 12+ image [Online image]. Available at: 

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060221071461/finalfantasy/images/c/ca/PEGI_12.png (Accessed: 4/12/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Kaim Argonar [Online image]. Available at:   

http://s4.zerochan.net/Kaim.Argonar.full.891686.jpg (Accessed: 4/12/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Fable 2 Hero and Dog [Online image]. Available at:   

http://xboxoz360.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/fable-2-31.jpg (Accessed: 4/12/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Viva Pinata [Online image]. Available at:  

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/polls/640000/640700_1297552376331_full.jpg (Accessed: 4/12/2012).

Unknown (Unknown)  Crackdown Agent [Online image]. Available at:  

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100528213247/crackdown/images/7/72/Crackdown_agent.png (Accessed: 4/12/2012). 

Research for my Star Wars piece of art (3/12/2012)

Having the time to draw my own piece of artwork I decided to base my work on one of my favourite movie franchises, Star Wars.

Wanting to capture the atmosphere and appeal of the films I looked at many existing designs and came up with the following six credit care concepts.

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

Asking all my fellow peers and even my lecturer I not only found out that they all really liked my concepts, but I also got the following notes for my work.

• 1 was popular with a few of my peers as not only did it have perspective, but it also had a figure on the seat who looked as if he could be talking to the figure in front of the image. Whether this figure is meant to be intimidating or not is another thing. 
• One thing that people liked about 2 was that the person appearing from behind could infact be rushing over to tell the other person at the console that something is wrong with the ship. Thus adding tension to the overall scene. And whereas this was the first idea in my head originally I feel that it may pay too close a resemblance to the well beloved Millenium Falcon as seen in the movies. 
• 3 was very popular due to the image's perspective in a large open environment and the use of the triangular windows that not only looked good, but also original. They also really liked how the scene was layered and even included a mouse droid which they demanded to see in the final piece.  
• Quite a few people really liked 4's perspective as not only were the two characters on different perspectives, but the one on the raised surface looks as if he could be intimidating. I intended to capture this as if I do draw this one then I would add lots of red lighting and dark backgrounds for atmosphere. My peers were also keen on the console the figure at the front is using due to its unique design, though some did confuse it for a window. The lecturer did point out however that I should avoid having background details collide with the characters, otherwise it can mess with the viewer's eyes and make them think that the two are the same thing. Therefore if I were to do this one I would have to slightly tilt everything to one side. 
• Wanting to including some emotion into my scenes with hand gestures and body language, number 5 was a good example of this as you can clearly see the two figures either negotiating or arguing. Perhaps they are in the middle of a battle and/or are lost, thus explaining why they would be gesturing like this. The addition of the Astromech droid was also popular as people loved the R2-D2 look alike. A few peers liked this scene, but most felt that its angle didn't feel right, as if the scene was more a part of some set. Therefore if I were to do this image I would need to change the angle slightly.
• 6 was not only my favorite due to the homely atmosphere it creates, but was also very popular with both my peers and my lecturer who suggested that if I were to do this piece of art then I would need to use lines of perspective in order to accomplish the scale. I also recognise that I will need to give the figure with his feet up something to rest on otherwise it looks as if his legs are floating.

Overall:

As stated before 6 was my favourite and whilst it is challenging I feel that it just calls out to me to draw it.  Therefore I will attempt to bring the scene to life using lines of perspective before drawing the crew, environment and objects. I recongise that I have not recently tried to draw a scene with all these features in it and therefore it should be a lengthy, but rewarding task to complete.

Photoshop Session 1 (29/11/2012)

Having not had much luck with the Unity sessions I was slightly hesitant to take part in another Tuesday night event. However, I enjoy using Photoshop and want to improve my skills with it, therefore I decided to give the first session a try. Having done so I am glad that I went as the lecturer was not only clear, but also knew what he was talking about and went at a pace which everyone could follow without difficulty.
Going over mainly the basics for this session ended up being a good thing for me as even though I know what a lot of the things do on Photoshop I have not experimented with everything and therefore didn't even know what some things did.
The lecturer went through each tool with us and explained to us their properties which I am glad he did as doing so introduced to me a lot of useful tools that I am sure I will use the next time I use Photoshop. To further help us he even gave out printed sheets with the shortcuts you could use on Photoshop in order to save time e.g. '[' reduces brush size and ']' increases it.
The session felt as if we covered a lot as we edited a video game character, coloured an eye in a different colour and even experimented with brushes in order to create part of  a human face.
Overall, it was a very good session and one that I wish I could have stayed for longer. Therefore I look forward to the next session.

You can see evidence of my work in the session below:

Referencing: 

Novák, P (2005) Eye iris [Online image]. Available at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Eye_iris.jpg/800px-Eye_iris.jpg  (Accessed: 29/11/2012).

Unknown (Unknown) Mario jumping [Online image]. Available at: http://www.nintendo.com/sites/mario/_ui/img/home/mario.png (Accessed: 29/11/2012).