Category: Final Major Project – Year 3

Introduction to Values!

Following the iterative process and coming to a conclusion on my final design, it is time for me to run through the colour iteration process, leading to my final proof of concept being ready for me to start production in E2.

Firstly, I started with an improvised value sheet, based on what I assumed would be the correct values for the characters to have. Originally I intended to use these values to figure out my colour palettes, but alas there was an issue with this; incorrect values lead to incorrect colours when you apply the colour layer to the value layer, and this was a problem I faced, meaning I had to change my approach.

From this, I had a point of reference at the beginning of this process, ready for when I chose my final colours, in order to help me understand and expand my knowledge of colour and value theory. To start, I worked on the Monstera’s colours, and used an array of different methodologies to find different palettes.

Introduction to Colour!

As you can see, there are seven different variations, including the original base palette that was experimented with. The original palette was made based off of photos and key references from my moodboards, resulting in a more accurate palette when compared to the sources. The six different variations were consistant amongst all the different characters colour variations.

These are; Var1: 1 layer Hue Adjust – A variation where the original colour palette is merged into one layer and hue values are changed in each colour channel (Red, Green, Blue).

Var2: Individual Layer Pastelization – A variation where each individual colour layer is taken and Hue Adjusted, but to a point where the colours appear more pastel and bright, making use of small doses of saturation and large brightness adjustments to achieve this result. This is mainly done as the most extravagent and dynamic variation to see where the original palette can be pushed in order to understand the maximum scale of variety a colour possesses.

Var3: Primary Colours Complimentary – A variation where the colours primarily used on the body, outfit and weaponry are changed to the complimentary counterpart.

Var4: Analogous + Monochromatic Hue Adjust – A variation where the hue is adjusted based on the Analogous and Monochromatic colours assigned to the character to look brighter and appear more vibrant.

Var5: Analogous Body + Monochromatic Weapon, Shield & Lineart – A variation where the primary colours of the body and outfit are of an Analogous relation to the original palette, followed by the features/characteristics being defined by the colours of the Monochromatic relation to the original palette.

Var6: Lineart Colours Complimentary – A variation where only the lineart is changed to the complimentary counterpart, in order to see and understand if it possesses strong chemistry with the original colours.

With all these iterations, it allows for much more experimentation than if I were to just adjust hues only (as I have done in previous work), and gives me more opportunity to find a palette that I really enjoy and wish to persue. From the monstera, we move onto the colour testing stage for the Aeonium.

Var3, 5 and 6 were all arranged and performed by hand. Attempting to recreate the Analogous colour for the Aeonium on a hue-slider specifically was a challenge, but it did end up to be one of my favourite colour variations, however a bit too saturated. Following this was the Aglaonema.

I really enjoyed Var1 for this concept, considering the nature of it being a supportive character with the white and red colour scheme seeming to work out perfectly. However, I did note that this was the character of the Aglaonema PINK Star, and therefore had to ensure that the colour of the plant was pink. Sadly it means I couldn’t utilize this colour variation despite my upmost temptations to do so.

Final Colour Palettes – Proof of Concept

To conclude my E1 work, I had to make my decisions on the colour palettes and confirm them, with a following value sheet to adhere to. It was also at this time that I gave the characters names. The Monstera is named Ebony, the Aeonium Ganymede, and finally the Aglaonema Ivory. Admittedly the only justification I have for these names is their similarities to plant-features/ natural presence. However this is just inferred, I personally enjoyed the names and believed they fit with the assigned characters.

It can be argued that there are some similarities with the proposed values and finalised values, but ultimately the differences are more prevalent. In regards to the colour palettes, I enjoyed Ganymede’s original palette the most, and also believed it to fit in most appropriately with the cultures and research that I had done throughout this process.

However, I was able to apply my variations to Ebony and Ivory a bit more, as whilst the originals were nice, there was still something missing about the colours. In regards to Ebony, the plant colour does convey the ancient message due to its low contrast and relatively impartial brightness, alongside much darker elements in the weapon and shield. Ivory made use of the pastelized palette, considering its nature of it being a supportive character, more pastel and brighter colours can help to convey that sense of safety and reassurance, whilst also not being incredibly saturated and overwhelming.

Overall, this concludes the work that I have done for E1 of Final Major Project, and now we push into E2, starting with the character sheets and mannequins that I will require for the sculpting process to begin. However, for now, its the holidays and to prepare myself to work as hard as possible in the new year, I need to take a break. Many time constrains have left me with a lot of crunch and stress, and I need to work that off before taking more in, so for now; Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!

First Drafts!

To start the thumbnailing process, I need to start with the basic sketches, whilst also applying my understandings from my research paper. As a result, I have these first 3 sheets, whilst also indicating the shape language with a red-outline.

From these, you can understand how I’ve tried to incorporate and focus on shape when considering proportion and scale. An example specifically being the Aeonium thumbnails, with the characters having a predominently rectangle shape, but making use of a large majority of the space in order to emphasise its scale.

Alongside this, it was incredibly important to understand the silhouettes that correlated depending on the role of the character, with the monstera silhouettes being the most defined and clear with features being clear demonstrating a feeling of uneasiness, on top of the Aeonium’s being more blocky and full; which adds to the intimidating nature of a tank.

However, this same premise doesn’t exactly apply to the Aglaonema, considering it uses a variety of shapes to understand which one is the easiest to feel safe around, of which the square or circle fills this expectation. On the other side though, it can be argued that the rectangle shaped figure looks quite approachable, whilst the triangular shape was trying to appeal more towards the warrior ideation rather than the supportive figure concept. Following these concepts, came my selected first thumbnail to further iterate into different ideas.

Iterative Process!

As mentioned above, I needed to take these concepts and create more concepts from their features. I primarily achieved this by taking the original thumbnail, and trying to iterate features and design aspects from the other original thumbnails into the design. This way I would still be making use of my research for my concepts whilst also pushing and adapting new unique designs for each character class.

For the iterations, I wanted to focus on specific elements I felt that weren’t as strong in the original design, and focus on that to change shapes and hone in on a silhouette that was satisfying to look at, whilst also being easy to understand and fitting in the plants assigned class. As well as the previously mentioned aspect of combining features from the original thumbnails.

In particular. my lecturer provided me with strong feedback which helped me when it came to iterating and designing the Aeonium designs, as he noted that both iteration 1 and 3 had issues. It1 struggled with looking too close to the original, whilst also being too condensed, it needed space to demonstrate how intimidating it truly was. It3 was argued to not look intimidating enough, and more approachable than the other 2 designs, which is the opposite of which I wanted to achieve.

After my lecturers feedback, it resulted in the iterations looking like this:

Notably you can see that It3 has a pot combined with the plant, similiar to thumbnail 2 from the original concepts, and the arms for it3 are more prevalent and spaced out, whilst still remaining at a point of similar reach and scale.

He also made some pointers regarding my monstera concept, informing me that use of the macuahuitl would work way better than a basic greatsword. This is something that can be noted in my designs for It1, and as my notes suggest, I wanted to take the weapon and replace It2’s existing weapon with it, as well as add more depth and solidify the shield I had designed.

Following this feedback and changes that I had made, it was time for me to compile the final concepts so that I could move onto colour testing and value arrangements.

Final Designs!

For now this is the end of my iterative process for thumbnail designs! In my next blog I will be discussing colour testing and deciding the final colours that fit the design, based on my research and understanding of character roles – ergo my Proof of Concept for the project guidelines. Whilst originally my plan was to have the 3 characters ready with front and side views, the time constraints have hit quite hard, as is apparent from the date of this blog. To combat this I have to scale down, but ensure those sheets will be completed when it comes to final production in E2.

See you next week for the Proof of Concept and finalised colour maps!

Introduction to Final Major Project E1!

With my 3×3 completed over the summer, my next aim was to work on researching the idea that I had chosen. For Final Major Project, I have decided to persue Idea 2: Rooted Army, as I ultimately decided that I didn’t want to focus on environments for the year, considering a massive portion of year 2 was dedicated to Visual Immersion so I feel quite burnt-out of environments, whilst characters are ok.

Alongside this, I felt whilst going for the studies would’ve been the most productive use of my time, it would’ve been incredibly hard to stay consistant with my progress and uploads on work, considering I wanted a weekly update with more progress on my studies, and missing a singular week could backlog me.

Final Major Project: Grimoire of the Rooted

To initiate my research, I needed to start navigating through my list of plant species of which my previous lecturer Peter had provided me. I managed to sufficiently find secondary research sources (photos) for 19 of the species on my list, out of 20. [WRITE NAME CHANGE EXPLANATION]

Following this list, I subsequently gathered my research and references for all the species with a tick next to them, resulting a mass amount of moodboards.

Alongside my secondary research, I went and visited the Barbican Conservatory to see if I could recognise any of the plants I had researched through my lecturers suggestions and from what I had seen on Pinterest.

Barbican Conservatory Visit!

This was quite a pleasant and helpful visit! It was great to actually see some of the plants of which I had been research up close in person, and it did also help to give me perspective on how to study and draw plants, especially with angled perspectives, so when it comes to me drawing my dynamic pose for my chosen characters, i feel I will have a much easier time deciphering how to draw it.

Project Proposal Pitch & Documentation!

Following this, I had to pitch my concept to my lecturers, so that felt on-board and understood where I was at, as well as understanding my circumstances, including risks, processes, inspirations and references.

I also had to consider a S.W.O.T analysis for my project, to see where my Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats are within my production. Alongside this I had to decide on an asset list for my production pipeline in order to understand what I needed to work on at any given time.

Chosen Plant Species!

After approval, I needed to pick the plant species my characters would be! I decided that with my characters being ancient plant warriors, I would need to split my character designs into the 3 main archetypes for that category. Warrior, Tank and Support. Having these 3 clear goals allows for me to decide through my research what type of plant would be the most suitable for the role of each class.

In order to justify my decisions, I wrote a research paper regarding the 3 species of plant I took the most interest in, researched their origins, features, as well as historical heritage so that when it came to thumbnailing them, I had justifications as to why I made specific design choices. The 3 species of plant I chose were the Monstera (deliciosa), Aeonium and Aglaonema Pink Star.

This is my dictionary for this project, it allows me to immediately cross-examine my design choices to see if they correlate with my research and desires for the designs of my characters. I am incredibly glad I wrote this, it is going to help me extensively throughout the design process and thumbnailing stages. Also here are the studies that I created for the differing title segments!

Historical Cultural Fashion & Research!

From my research paper, I went on to find secondary research and sources of the 3 different cultural themes I had discussed in my research paper; Aztec, Egyptian & Modern North African and Buddhist Monks. Using Pinterest I managed to gather sources of which would help me when designing my characters during thumbnailing!

Alongside these, I also did more indepth research on pottery from those 3 cultures, so that I could incorporate my original idea of using plant-pots as armor.

With the combination of my research on pottery and fashion/clothing from these culutural backgrounds, it will really assist in the thumbnailing process of my project, as typically I can get stuck figuring out where to take a design, and with the amount of reference I have at this stage, small and big changes feel much more achievable. Hope that as a result I end up with my perfect character concept.

Artbook & Grimoire Research!

With my research for my character designs ready and prepared, I now need to focus on looking into assorted artbooks and figuring out a base idea of how a Grimoire would look for my Artbook. From what I have found searching through Pinterest and Dictionaries, a Grimoire is a textbook of sorcery and magic (Dictionary.com, 2016). It was also relevant that witches were also using Grimoires.

Through my research, I compiled these images regarding to Grimoires, and found out a slither of knowledge regarding Wiccan Wisdom, which could be useful for me when designing my cover and pages, however I will need to make sure that the references I use are accurate.

Following on from this, I will be heading into the design process for my characters. WIth all my research in order, it should make the thumbnailing process quite smooth!

The Final Year!

Here it is, Year 3, the final year. Year 3 means one thing, Final Major Project.

Over Summer, I had been practicing my abilities with Character Creation Pipeline and improving on speed, going from mannequin to sculpt to retopo much faster than I had done in last years project! I aimed for about 4 weeks, but I managed to get it done in around 2 and a half weeks! I do have ambitions to finish this as a personal project, but I was mainly focussed on just getting the base body established.

I’m quite surprised as I managed to try and sculpt some muscle anatomy, whilst my knowledge isn’t as vast I still think I managed to make a good effort! It ended up making me feel more confident with my sculpting abilities.

FMP, it begins.

Over summer I also had started to brief ideas and think about what I wanted to do for Final Major Project. We were tasked to create a 3×3 presentation that displays our ideas and showcases what we are thinking of doing for the final project. I approached this with 2 ideas I felt were more centered towards a role in the Games Industry; that being 3D Environment & 3D Character, whilst my last idea was more of a basis for personal study and betterment in my 2D abilities.

Idea 1 – Tectonic Control

For my first idea, I wanted to create a 3D Environment similar to the last 2 environments I have created over the span of this course. My goal is to make the best of both worlds, and use all the feedback I have recieved to create the perfect environment that I can display on my portfolio, I realise what I could’ve done better in both projects to achieve this, and if I persue this idea, I will bring that knowledge with me!

As for the idea itself, I want to have this building in a pit/canyon (like before) but have it surrounded by cliffsides and waterfalls, as if something crashed into the earth and made a crater. However, all of the surrounding land would be really dry and flakey, with cracks in the surface, and in this central building, is a device that allows the person using it, to control how the chunks of the landscape move. For example they could swap pieces out or move them higher or lower, making it an incredibly volitile space. I enjoy this idea as it allows me to create one of my favourite types of environment, whilst also giving myself more freedom on creating the landscape.

Idea 2 – Rooted Army

My second idea consisted of creating 3D characters! Whilst I do have the intentions of becoming an environmental artist, I still enjoy creating characters IF its using a pipeline I feel confident in, sometimes character work can be quite a bit stressful so I have my own processes to work around that.

In regards to my idea, I had a concept in Year 2 that I didn’t get to work on, as I didn’t feel as strongly for it as I did with O+, however, after revisiting my idea, I really want to persue it as I feel it has a lot of potential for creative freedom, this idea is the concept of warriors/soldiers that are entirely plants; ergo, plant people. I feel that having that as a basis describes the lengths I can go with designing these characters, as the opportunities are limitless, different species of plant, rootage, do they have multiple stalks? Its an idea I am quite fond of, and I would aim to have my final result be an artbook.

Idea 3 – The Scholar

I was struggling to come up with a final idea for FMP, so instead I thought of a more practical solution rather than a creative one. Considering I struggle a lot with keeping up and trying to dedicate myself to 2D work, my final idea is me taking on studies and full on 2D drawing for the entireity of my project, having weekly updates on my progress and showing all the drawing I would do in a week and what I was focussing on learning.

My aim for this idea would be to produce a fully fledged understood 2D Splash Art piece, using all the knowledge I would’ve acquired over the year to create a final drawing that would represent all that I worked on over the past year.

These are all the ideas I have for FMP, I will do some thinking and more research on each of these topics and hopefully decide which one I want to persue within the next week, of which I will most likely start drawing and developing concepts for either one of the first two, or going straight into 2D studies for my third idea, see you then!