Name: Jake cloney
M Number:m2002808
Concept Art Template
Use this template to complete the concept art assignment, you can decorate this template as you wish - be creative! Remember to annotate your drawings throughout to show your thoughts and reflections throughout the process.
The client's brief
- You have been asked by your employer to choose one of the short story ideas below. You must illustrate a character or environment from the text, you may design both if you wish BUT this will be a challenge and you must organise your time effectively. You are required to focus on light, colour, composition, perspective and volume in your concept drawing.
Story One
The story begins with a powerful elf woman in a shadowy forest. Her archenemy is a telepath who has long flowing hair. The two have been brought together by fate in order to rescue their friend Kulag from the grips of the Frost Dragon followers. The two must make their way to the garden of evil to track Kulag’s last steps.
Story Two
- The story begins in a post-apocalyptic world where the land is overrun with corrupted machines. A reluctant hero has been sent on a journey to defeat the evil architects who released the machines. The hero must summon all their knowledge, intelligence, and agility to survive each encounter.
Story Three
- The story begins with two menacing aliens who come to take over Earth and destroy anyone that tries to stop them. It is up to two charming little waggy tailed pooches to stop their plans before it is too late.
Starting points
My chosen story is… Story Two
To achieve the brief i plan to create...The reluctant hero character
Mind-map some ideas and insert it here.
Starting points
Thumbnail Sketches
Thumbnail sketches are super quick and small sketches to produce lots of different ideas without going into too much detail. This is a super cool way to consider lots of different ways your drawing could look without putting in too much work or dedication to one idea. Remember, if you are producing an idea for an environment - try to work include perspective with a background and foreground. Annotate to explain composition.
Starting points
What? – Describe what you did
What did you do? These are my silhouettes for a post apocalyptic character design i made in photoshop. Most of the designs were drawings that i traced using the pen tool and colouring black. The bottom three designs i created by tracing reference images like body shapes and hats etc. This was my favourite design so i created three variations to choose from.
So What? – Analyse your work
What went well? I really like the bottom three designs as they are more proportionally accurate since i used reference images. It also gave me chance to come up with different looks and try to link to the brief as much as possible.
What could be better? I don't really like the first few designs as i don't think you can easily tell all the features like you're supposed to for a silhouette. Also since they were from my own drawings they aren't too proportionally accurate.
How have your skills improved/changed? My skills have definitely improved and i think it shows through my silhouettes. Since i hadn't done too much silhouetting before i didn't really know a good way to work. Before i was just making shapes in black pen and trying to come up with designs on the spot which made them look unnatural, now i know i can use reference images and the pen tool to easily come up with different designs.
Digital Development
Develop your chosen sketch digitally, do not add colour or shading. Concentrate on perfecting the outline and/or silhouette shape (if you are producing a character) and add some important details. You should also include perspective whichever subject you chose.
Idea Development
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What? – Describe what you did
What did you do? I took my selected silhouette and used the pen and select tools to make an outline that i could then add detail too. Through the development process i struggled with the design for the helmet so i created lots of different designs to pick and gain inspiration from.
So What? – Analyse your work
What went well? Im very happy with the design features for the costume and that i managed to get a helmet design i really like. I also think the proportions look alright too.
What could be better? I tried to make the legs different shapes and in different positions to make it look like hes taking a step forward but since its an overall stationary pose it didn't look exactly how i wanted it to. Next time i would make a more dynamic pose to test my skills and make the character look more interesting.
How have your skills improved/Changed? I definitely found it easier to take the design of the costume step by step instead of trying to think of everything at once. Doing a silhouette allowed me to experiment with different designs without committing to one specific feature.
Idea Development
Colour
Develop your chosen sketch digitally, Experiment using different colours (consider colour theory and connotation in your choices) Edit the hue/saturation or repaint sections of your design using the select tools.
Idea Development
Use e you have used these effectively.
What? – Describe what you did
What did you do? After finishing the design for my character i filled it in with colour using the paint and bucket tools. These were basic block colours with no shading so i could make multiple looks that i could choose from.
So What? – Analyse your work
What went well? I think both the colour designs i created use palettes that work well together and fit the post apocalyptic setting. Using darker and dirty looking clothing suits the brief and makes the character look more mysterious and interesting.
What could be better? I wish i had enough time to make more colour choices to experiment more with colour theory and different hues. Next time i know to spend a bit less time on the design so the colouring looks just as good.
How have your skills improved/Changed? Designing and looking at different colour palettes has helped me understand more about colour theory. Whenever designing a character i would always stick with very safe colours like black, white or grey but now im starting to use not only different colours but different hues of that colour. For example i would never have used the murky green that is used in the second choice which is why i chose that one over the first.
Volume
Develop your chosen sketch digitally, show volume and depth using shading. You can do this in colour and use a black and white filter. Include perspective if you can.
Idea Development
What? – Describe what you did
What did you do? For this step i took my coloured character design and added basic shading to give a variety in colour and to make it look more realistic. I didn't add any lighting or highlights yet, just darker shading where i thought the light would be less likely to hit. I did this using the select tools to target specific areas, then use the eyedropper tool to select the base colour and make it slightly darker. You can then use the brush tool with a low opacity to add the darker shades which gives it a smooth transition.
So What? – Analyse your work
What went well? I tried to make the shading act as if the light it coming from the left but also keeping it fairly simple so i could experiment with light later. The character now looks alot more like something out of a comic which i really like.
What could be better? If i had managed my time better earlier on i would have had more time to give the clothing different types of shading like folds and fur textures. I tried to do this on the legs as i thought that was the part that i wanted to emphasise the most as it was looking to smooth.
How have your skills improved/Changed? This is my first time doing shading digitally and i can really see the benefits once i can practice more. I wouldn't have been able to achieve this shading with colour if i was doing this on paper unless it was with paint, but for character design where there is a lot of small details this is the closest to actual concept art i think i've ever been able to match.
Light
Develop your chosen sketch digitally, experimentation and different examples of lighting and shadow. You can do this in colour and use a black and white filter. Include perspective if you can.
Idea Development
What? – Describe what you did
What did you do? After shading i added an additional layer for lighting which would make the character stand out more. I used the same method for adding darker shades to add light ones but instead of just going with a lighter colour i chose white. I did this as i felt all the colours where how i wanted them to be so i didn't want them to change, adding white makes it lighter without making the clothing look different colours.
So What? – Analyse your work
What went well? I really like the outcome of the option i chose. After doing 3 different lighting options i preferred the more subtle one that goes from the left which works with how i did my shading on the right.
What could be better? If i had added folds in the clothing the lighting would have been more detailed. I also could have done this on his shoulder where the cloth is to make it look more raggedy.
How have your skills improved/Changed? The first design i did had the light coming from the top but i realized that the light wouldn't hit much of his body so it looked almost the same without lighting. The second one had lighting coming from the right and i tried to add a lot more this time but it turned out to be slightly overbearing so in the third design i made it alot more subtle with less opacity which worked quite well.
Final Development
Final Evaluation
Produce an evaluation considering how you have demonstrated lighting, colour, composition, perspective and volume. Identify your strengths/weaknesses throughout the assignment.
My skills have developed a lot since the start of this project. My silhouettes are more recognisable for what there supposed to be and look more realistic, which i struggled with before. The perspective for my character is from the front and the character is doing a basic stepping forward pose. This was good for my first time doing this but next time i would like to have a more unique perspective and give the character a more dynamic pose to give the image better composition instead of having lots of blank space. When colouring my character i did two designs and made them both dark and grimy for the post apocalyptic setting that was in the brief. I picked the colour palette that had more variation with browns, greens and greys to make the shading and lighting process also look better. It would have been hard to add dark shading when the character is dressed in black. For the shading i focused on making it fairly simple, adding dark tones where i thought the light wouldn't hit no matter where it was coming from. I practiced with adding lighting and tried to improve and learn from my mistakes each time i did it. First there wasn't enough light so i added a lot more next time but it was overwhelming and removing a lot of the colour. Finally i made the lighting a lot more subtle and added shading to compliment the direction the light was coming from to make it look more realistic. To improve i wanted to add shading to the clothing to show different textures like folds in the coat and lines on the fur and raggedy parts. Overall i'm happy with the progress i've made and enjoyed following the concept stages.