SILHOUETTE AND SHAPE ATTEMPT

          In the most recent lecture, I learned two things - how shape can define a character and two, how using silhouettes can be an effective aid for good character design.

    The first of which was shape. In this 30 minute lecture, I learned how different base shapes (triangles, square, circles etc.) can define a single character because of how as humans perceive shape. For example, a character designed using the triangle as a base shape will reflect a villainous character, because of the harsh corners where as a character designed using a circle as a base would be a nice, trusting character because of the elegant shape and ease on the eye.

    One of the best examples of good character design using shape is Silent Hill's iconic villain, "Pyramid Head" or "The Bogeyman".

    There is a clear focus on triangles here, with the head being the obvious vocal point. What is interesting (as my tutor stated) is that the body itself is very elegant. His theory for this is that the Pyramid Head is quite a sexual character, as the game has many sexual themes. It is because of this blatant but unique take on a character that Pyramid Head is so recognisable - the use of shape has resulted in great character design.

     With this knowledge in mind and this example to solidify its effective use, the tutor moved onwards to the use of silhouette in conjunction to shape and how developing a silhouette based of a single shape can help in practising good character design. I was tasked at using shape and silhouette to design a character - I chose the circle as a bases. We had to draw the silhouette, use that silhouette as a bases to develop a full line drawing and finally, colour and light him. The result is below.

    Yes, the drawing was awful and yes, the character is generic and boring, but never the less the technique worked. I had created a character with circle as the bases and successfully represented the shape's common associations when used in character design - a happy go lucky, trustworthy person.

        Now that I had practised the techniques taught to me with success, I was set the next task - to use silhouette and shape to design and develop two different characters using two different shapes as a bases. This task would take my vague experience and knowledge of shape and silhouette in character design and develop and refine it to the next level.

NEXT POST: TASK 4 - DEVELOPING SILHOUETTES

TASK 3: COLOUR AND LIGHTING (HAND-IN)

        Following the hand-in for Task 2 and learning rendering techniques. I was set the third task - to demonstrate my talent in colour and lighting. Struggling to come up with ideas, my tutor set me the task of presenting the same image 6 times. Each image would have a different lighting source. The final hand-in is below as a .gif (to show development) and as a .jpeg.

    My personal goal, is to complete each task achieving its independent goal to the best of my ability, but to simultaneously demonstrate everything else I have learned previous to that task. In this task, I believe I have done that and in result, it is my best piece of work to date on this course. I have implemented everything I have learned as of yet - proportion, detailing, line theory, colour and lighting  Because of this, each piece has improved in quality, making each piece not just an exhibited for what I have recently learned, but as comprehensive demonstration of my talent so far.

    Each face has a different lighting source. Purposely, I added parts to the image so I could represent different textures through lighting and colour. I have the face, the jacket and the sword. This way, each face would represent the lighting source clearly. I believe it is a successful attempt to demonstrate my understanding of lighting and colouring. Now all I need to do is develop my ability to draw 'characters' in the true sense, rather than the generic 'perfect' characters I have drawn so far.

NEXT POST: SILHOUETTE AND SHAPE ATTEMPT

TASK 2: BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOSHOP (HAND-IN)

          Before learning the rendering techniques and practising them on various templates, I was given the second task of drawing an entire black and white image of myself on Photoshop. This image had to include a full body drawing (to demonstrate body proportion), a front view of the head (to demonstrate head proportions and facial detailing) and a side view of the head (to demonstrate proportions and profiling). The final hand in for this task is below.

        I had learned how to draw the body, the head, the face, the hands, the feet and even the clothes. And from theses lessons, I believe I have managed to complete this task successfully  Yes, there are a few flaws - the overall body is too two-dimensional and the full body face is a little vague. But these are things I can eventually improve on. In terms of the faces, I believe I have successfully exhibited my skill level at this present time. As an additional note, I developed this piece whilst learning the basics of lighting and thus, I decided to add in some basic monochrome lighting to add depth to the piece (even if I forgot the light the side view...).

NEXT POST: TASK 3 - COLOUR AND LIGHTING (HAND-IN)

TASK 1: YOURSELF AS A CHARACTER (HAND-IN)

        After my first initial attempt at this assignment I ironed out the flaws in my proportion, from this I then began to start the final draft of the first assignment by utilising what I've learnt in the workshops and what I've learnt from practice whilst ensuring I was fulfilling the criteria the assignment sheet asked for. I developed three drawings for the assignment as asked for - a full body sketch and the face with a front and side view. These drawings are below;

      Personally I believe this body drawing is a success, however there is clear roam for improvement. These potential improvements do not lie within the proportion, but within the technique, as although it does look fine when demonstrating proportion, it still clearly isn't as realistic as it could be. This is a result of the face lacking detail, the body looking too two-dimensional, and the clothes (which although a success) needing a slight improvement. Regardless, I hope I get a good marking in this, as I still believe it demonstrates all that I have learnt over the previous two weeks.

   The front view and side view of the head had been done to the best of my ability, and in result the drawings are something I can be proud of. If I would have drawn these a few weeks earlier than I did, certainly the results would not of been the same. However, although I believe the level of detail, the proportion and the shading are fine, the eyes are the assignment's only flaw. Although the eyes are better than I could ever accomplish before the classes, they are still not at the standard they could be - this is something I need to work on. 

   I have high hopes that I'll gain a good mark here, however even if I don't, I know personally that I've progressed rapidly since I started this course. Being able to translate this progress digitally however is a entirely different question.

NEXT POST: LIFE DRAWING CLASS

INTRODUCTION TO BLOG

        Drawing has always been something I've practiced, long before I attempted to model or design games, however I've never mastered the individual details that build realistic proportion. My artwork has always been admirable compared to most people’s standards, but my work was always inexperienced and flawed. Thus, this module is something I wasn't actually expecting and in result was pleasantly surprised when I was introduced to it. In this module I've learnt more about the art of drawing than I have done in all my years in education. In one lecture I have learnt to draw faces confidently; something I've always found difficult.

   Throughout this module blog you will see regular posts on drawings, portfolio development and personal work. You may also see a couple of miscellaneous posts that I believe relate to this module as reference for myself. You will see this through scanned images and texts.

   The purpose of this blog is to record such progress as an artist with paper based art and digital art. Couple these two together, and I hope that in 3 years time I could look back on my work and see how I've improved, be able to put together an accomplished piece of artwork, and apply it to other crafts such as 3D Modelling.

   Therefore as a starting point my first posts in this blog will show my practice with drawing the head, the body, the hands and the feet, then moving onto full body sketches and assignment work.

NEXT POST: LEARNING HEAD PROPORTIONS