Self evaluation

Well, that was fun!

I really enjoyed working on each of the assigned tasks we were given and I feel like I am improving much more as an artist. Over the 3 tasks we were set I am starting to see much more confidence within my work and practice as a whole - this is evident in my 2nd and 3rd task as I became more expressive with my mark makings and focused less on over rendering a final piece. I also think that I am becoming much more efficient and organized with how I progress through a task, brainstorm ideas and create digital paintings. I feel like I have learned and got a hang of the process behind character and environmental concept design now and I want to improve on that foundation.

If I were to do any of the projects again, I would definitely be much more experimental and use all resources available to me. The jump and experimentation with 3D during the 3rd task also made me realize this. I also noticed I can get too caught up in an idea that I generated early, instead of investigating and pushing the designs further. This I would also correct, if I were to repeat the tasks. Time management was also an issue for me; too many times I would find myself bummed down by a piece of work only to procrastinate for too long over the thought of failure which is something that I need to

I was happy overall with the skills I have developed over these short weeks and I have taken a liking to 3D modeling as well. I am also becoming much more interested in the processes behind the creation of concept art, which may lead me into more experimentation and diversify my future work.

Lifedrawing

Here is some work from my first two sessions of life drawing that I attended. The images below were from relatively short studies (around 10-15 mins each) that focused on rendering the light and leaving the midtone of the paper for the main skin tones of the model.

I incorporated some graphite into one of the studies to allow for darker tones and some minor contrast around areas of intense light. I found these studies quite difficult, as it forces you to look for the plains of flesh that are brighter and render the body "backwards" instead of the usual rendering of shadow and detail.

These were my first set of sketches from the life model. We were given various amounts of time than decreased after every 4 we completed. For the last 4 I had only 30 seconds each. For my first time in life drawing, I don't think I did too bad, although my studies are a little large. I also need to work on stopping going over my lines repeatedly.

These sketches are from my second life drawing session and I feel like I have improved already in comparison to the previous weeks work. The inclusion of minor shading within the sketch really allows the drawing to pop out and look much more 3D than a standard sketch. I'm really enjoying life drawing so far, I can't wait for my next sessions and to see how far I can get.

Final concept piece

Here is my final concept piece. My main idea for the piece was to show the genie emerging from the tinderbox. As the story also dictates that the tinderbox was found in some form of underground cavern, i opted for a background that indicates this abandoned atmosphere whilst not looking too out of place with my selected time era. I also wanted to incorporate dynamic lighting in the image and I ended up with 3 different sources in total, with some evidence of bounced light and other effects.

In retrospect I feel like the image might be too dark, however, on the other hand it creates much more atmosphere with this contrast. I also intentionally made the character brighter than the lighting would render it, as to make the genie pop out from the background moreso.

All in all, I am happy with the outcome of my final image. Although I would have loved to spend much longer on the image and render it to the best of my ability, time was an issue. Maybe in my spare time..!

Tinderbox: Character sheet

This is my character sheet showing various movements and effects that the genie has. My first idea was to have a faceless genie, with a vortex Esq mouth that would generate items when commanded. I changed to a face to allow for recognition between the number of strikes/buttons/etc that the "tinderbox" has. Another benifit of having a zbrush model is that it helps when posing and sketching the character in various positions, as well as speeding up the process!

Tinderbox: Model sheet

So here it is. The model sheet for my final design! I created the model in zbrush similarly to my previous design and I painted it the model using the software as well. I did not include much tonal variety as my plan was to incorporate the model into my final image and I feel like it will be much easier for me to vary tone by hand, especially in a dynamic view.

Onto the character sheet!

Tinderbox: Extra iterations

Some extra iterations looking at alternate colour palettes and some accessories I could include in my designs. I like the second colour palette purely due to the gradient between ghastly lighter colours and much more solid and warmer tones. For the accessories, I think they might be a little too much and may take away the simplicity from my designs.

The model used in the accessory iterations is my favourite right now, I think i'll develop the model.

Tinderbox: zbrush iterations!

zBrush iterations! I tried playing around with various clothing (although I still have a way to go for rendering at that level!) I particularly like E, F and G as I feel they hold the most potential for an interesting design.

I think these iterations worked rather well. I will definitely be using zbrush for this purpose in the future!

Tinderbox: zBrush model!

From my genie silhouettes, I created a zbrush model based on the first design from the liquify tests as I felt it was much more simplified and portrayed a genie much more recognizably than the others. I also played with colour, I found the traditional persian tan/orange to be interesting in combination with a spectral green colour which shows both "halves" of the character.

I actually like how this model turned out, however, the design feels a little too simplistic. I think I will try iterating the model in zbrush to create some new stuff~! 

Tinderbox: More silhouettes, different character.

I created more silhouettes based on the character of a genie from my previous batch. I used the liquify tool to play around and warp the silhouettes, creating brand new designs in the process. I think the liquify tool really helped me to push my idea more and to create designs that I initially had not considered. I also dig the way my designs are becoming more organic and varied. 

Tinderbox: Iterations

Here are some iterations based on my initial silhouettes. I was mainly trying to get a grasp as to what the character could look like in terms of clothing, accessories and weapons. After finishing these images, I feel quite disappointed with the direction of the character. I think I am trying to force my designs onto the silhouettes instead of being more free with them.

I'm going to take the project in a slightly different direction and work on a different character. Maybe I could create some form of Genie that represents the 3 dogs within the story?

Tinderbox: Silhouettes

These are my initial silhouettes for my project based on the short story, "Tinderbox". I was also given the time period of Persian Empire to design my character alongside. I chose to design a character based on the Soldier found within the story. I trialled a few different methods for silhouette creation and I found the more textural silhouettes and the alchemy silhouettes to be the most effective.

Timekeeping: Final concept piece

Here is my final concept piece for the "timekeeping" task. I opted for a somewhat low angle perspective of my monumental device, trying to focus on presenting the scale of the object as large as I could without it filling the entirety of the canvas. I also decided that the landscape for the piece must be supportive of the structure and somewhat strong in itself. As environments are not my strong point, this was a challenge for me.

I used various textured brushes of varying sizes to create a more expressive looking landscape, as refining the area too much would detract the focus on the object and focal points in general.

Timekeeping: Final design + Model sheets

After manipulating the alchemy silhouette I began developing a few that I thought were decent. I tried to mix up my colour schemes without being too drastic with changes. I ultimately thought that the 6th and 7th design were the best ones for this sheet.

I went ahead after the development and iteration of the silhouettes and made a model sheet for both designs that I liked to see which variation I felt worked better in a "3D space" and had more values to consider. In the end I opted for the first design!

Below is the model sheet but with additional 3/4 views. Yay!

Timekeeping: Developing alchemy silhouette!

Similarly to the insect project, I went back to my silhouettes after feeling like my first developed timepiece was rather lackluster. I went to my Alchemy silhouettes as they offered me a range of more mechanical and angular forms to play with. I picked my favourite and then manipulated the shape to create various iterations of the original!

Timekeeping: Silhouette development

From my initial silhouettes, I chose one that I felt was easily recognizable and held some potential. I created iterations by duplicating the silhouette and combining the various shapes to create something new. I also played with colour, I didn't want to create anything too ambitious at this stage, just broad areas of colour.

I enjoyed the top right iteration the most on this page, due to the idea of creating a timekeeping device that was monumental and technologically contrasting with its environment. To follow through with this, I will iterate and develop some alchemy silhouettes as they typically follow a more mechanical aesthetic.

Timekeeping: Alchemy Silhouettes

Here are some more silhouettes that I created using Alchemy. For these silhouettes I opted to focus more on a "mechanical" range of shapes that look interesting rather than operational. I played with a few of Alchemy's settings to create these silhouettes, as I wanted the majority of them to just be black.

Timekeeping: Silhouettes!

For my second task I have to design a timepiece of some sort using a similar process to what I used during the creation and development of my insect.

timepiece |ˈtīmˌpēs|

noun

an instrument, such as a clock or watch, for measuring time.

Now onto the silhouettes!

Here are my first batch of silhouettes where I mainly explored interesting shapes and forms rather than functionality. Compared to my silhouettes I created for my insect task, I feel like these are much more varied and creative! This may be a product of practicing, which I should keep up! Before developing my silhouettes I will create some more. Perhaps on alchemy! 

Insect final concept piece

Final concept piece~

Here was my initial sketch. I followed various lines and focal points found within a typical thirds composition. For the image itself I knew I wanted to play with perspective a little to give a more intimidating appearance to the insect. I also placed the "camera" lower to add to this effect as well.

I also wanted to include some form of prey item so I decided on a cricket. This helps give the insect scale as it is relative to an actual insect. The addition of a prey item also indicates the hostility and insectivorous nature of the insect. The reasoning behind me choosing not to have the insect killed but to have it flee was to emphasize the insects lack of vision rather than its incompetence at hunting.

From the sketch I layered various greens and yellows to get an idea for the lighting and environment as a whole by using large and varied brushes. As environments are not my strong point, I tried to create something simple that supported the design of the creature rather than looking realistic or innovative. While painting at this stage, I decided that I wanted my insect to be revealed by the light, as if it lay in wait.

As I worked on this stage of the image, I switched back and fourth between the creature and the background as I wanted to leave some of the background colourations in the insect to stop it from feeling like it was separate from it. I began laying down basic tones and colours on my insect focusing on light and shadow. I used a variety of brushes for this stage, mainly ones with textured edges and sharp brushes for finer painting. I wanted the image to look very green in the hope that the claws of the insect would contrast, but not too much. For the background I decided on painting mushrooms due to the mushroom shaped head of the insect, adding a little camouflage.

After finishing most of the tonal work on the insect, I began to add detail and highlights with finer and more controlled brushes. I also began adding shadows to the different sections of the insect to indicate the direction of light. I also added the proboscis and membranes in the mouth and other goodies.

More detail work! I started bringing the piece together by refining areas of detail, painting up the cricket and rendering more shadowed areas. I also worked on the environment a little more, although I am still not too happy with it. 

For this stage I added a multiply layer and began refining the insect even more focusing purely on light this time. I added motion blur to the cricket to give a sense of motion (obviously). I did try adding blur to the left claw of the insect, although it looked very out of place and bland.. More work on the background and details!

Here is the final image. I added more indications of light and some particle effects here and there. I added some texture to the background to give it a bit more life. I also played around with the levels to pack more punch into the lights and midtones. I can't say i'm too pleased with the final image, some aspects feel rushed and others feel very bland and not thought out... I do enjoy areas of the insect that rendered pretty well though.

From this painting though, I will definitely be doing some environmental studies and such to help me in the future. I still have a lot to learn about digital painting and I am still relatively new to it, but that shouldn't phase me.

Light~

"Piazza D Italia" - Giorgio de Chirico

 This painting by Chirico relies on lighting to bring the whole piece together. There seems to be little dynamic occlusion in this image; Chirico has kept the intensity of the shadows rather consistent and sharp, which gives the effect that the light source is closer than it probably is intended to be. There is little bounced light as well and in a similar fashion is kept consistent and sharp. This creates a feeling of abstraction and surrealism due to the flat colours.

"Soft Construction With Boiled Beans" - Salvador Dali

The painting above by Dali follows a similar direction to Chirico's, albeit much more realistically. Bounced light is used in various parts of the painting to render some of the surrealistic flesh, however, as the shadows are sharp in this image also, I feel like it is less intentional. Some sub surface scattering is evident here, mainly around the areas of warm tone on the flesh.  Dynamic occlusion is also much more prevalent in this painting.

Composition~

"Untitled" - Zdzislaw Beksinski.

"Plague's end" - Runescape

Here I looked at the composition of two paintings in both traditional and digital format.

The first, by Zdzislaw Beksinksi seems to take an "L" format for the composition. The outer "frame" supports the inner section through flow, direction and alteration of tone and colour. Beksinksi used this to draw the viewers eye towards the centremost section and focal point of the painting.

The second image is a concept piece for the game Runescape. The composition in this image leans more toward a usage of thirds instead of a "L" composition. Each focal point, (where the diagonal lines meet), is used to produce a much more aesthetically pleasing image overall. The angle of the plague doctor's masks also follow these lines.