Alien Development

To help me generate ideas for my alien concept, I have tried modelling his head in Sculptris. This is my work in progress so far...

Parione Thumbnails

Ideas for my Parione city concept. It is a city surrounding and enveloping three hills and appears in Freda Warrington's "Jewelfire" trilogy.

Atomhawk Brief

Very rough thumbnails for a city concept, trying to find a composition I like. This is my progress so far:

Learning Outcomes-Knowledge and Understanding

1. Appraise the issues relevant to character design in various contexts.


When designing characters, there are a many factors to take into consideration. The age group at which the characters are aimed,, and whether they are being designed for films/animations, games, theatre productions or comics, has a significant impact on the overall design.


Another thing to take into consideration is the unique identity the character should have. If it is a main character, it is likely you would want it to be instantly recognisable and distinctive. Also, the intent of the character should be visible, the audience should be able to tell whether the character is a protagonist or antagonist. This encourages the audience to build a first impression of the character's personality and helps make the character more believable.


The nationality of the target audience also can affect the character design. Certain parts of the world can consider certain things offensive. If the character you are designing will be shown to a select audience or country, it is always best to research the cultural background of the audience that it will be shown to. If the character is going to be shown internationally, this becomes much harder to achieve, and is easier to aim at a target age instead.


I will be looking at several different examples of character designs in order to further explore this learning outcome.


FILM/ANIMATION 


When creating characters for film and animations, you need to take into consideration what genre the story is, and at what age group it will be aimed at. Below is an example of a character concept from the film 'Thor'.

KING LAUFEY- Character Concept from 'THOR' 

Michael Kutsche

It shows a menacing, brooding figure, immediately recognisable as fitting into a fantasy genre. The character is distinctive, with bald head and strange, tattooed skin, he already makes a strong impression on the audience. He feels powerful, and to me it is clear that he is not the protagonist. The colours are desaturated, and cold, to match the character's personality. It does not feel like this character belongs to a film for young audiences, who generally prefer more colourful, whimsical characters, like the one shown below:

RAPUNZEL- Character Concept from Disney's 'TANGLED'

This is taken from Disney's 3D animated film 'Tangled'. There is a strong difference between the way in which this character has been depicted to the previous image. It is obvious to the viewer that this is a 'good' character. She appears innocent and slightly vulnerable, yet defiant at the same time. It is a character that children, particularly young girls, would be drawn to and therefore works very well as a concept for a children's animation.

When animating characters, particularly 2D and especially by hand, it is also important to have a character that is easy to reproduce over and over again, whilst still having distinguishing features or clothing.

GAME

As with films and animations, the target audience is a major factor in character development for games. Many games focus around war, horror, sci-fi and fantasy genres and quite often deal with mature themes.

Illidan- Character Design from from Blizzard's 'WARCRAFT' series

Wei Wang

This character is clearly 'evil', with a corrupted, demonic appearance. The design reinforces the personality of the character. The bold colour palette also adds to the strength and power of the character. 

Another concept for an 'evil' character is shown below. This one is for a game aimed at a younger audience. 

LeChuck- Character Concept from Lucas Arts' 'MONKEY ISLAND' series

He is still clearly a villain, yet comically so. The figure is exaggerated with bizarre proportions. Plus, there is a dead bird on his head.

COMICS/GRAPHIC NOVELS

In my experience, the majority of comics are aimed at a male audience, yet span wide age ranges and cultures. The two examples I have picked are typically western examples of 'super-hero' characters. Comic book characters need to be easily recognisable, and artists can do this by assigning certain colours or accessories to a character. Generally this is done by giving them a distinctive 'super-hero' suit.

Wolverine, Character from 'X-men'   

A brutal and dramatic depiction of the character, immediately recognisable as Wolverine. This easy recognition is due to the costume and distinctive 'claws'. The aggression and violence of the image marks it for a mature audience. 

Ben 10, Character from children's comic and TV series

This is a character aimed at young children, particularly boys. Shows a fun, adventurous kind of character, and although he is not in the typical super-hero leotard, he always wears the same outfit and carries a distinctive gadget on his wrist. This helps the artists to be able to reproduce the character with consistency.

THEATRE


Character designs for theatre productions are generally focused around costume. They generally do not need to reinforce the character's personality through pose and body language.

Character designs for 'JAQUES AND HIS MASTER' by Denis Diderot and Milan Kundera

 Marta Roszkopfová

These designs feel more like a mood-board than a polished character concept. This is probably partly due to the fact that the costumes will be seen from a distance and do not need to be particularly detailed. The artist seems to be establishing a feel for the character rather than designing them.

IN CONCLUSION:

All the issues I have explored are very important when designing a character. Particularly having a clear idea of your character's personality and its target audience. The character design should address the issues raised above and should also be designed with the end product in mind. This is what helps to make a successful character concept. 

Learning Outcomes-Knowledge and Understanding

2. Make informed choices relating to the creation of artwork designed to meet professional requirements. 


I believe that I demonstrated this throughout my work produced for this brief. I had to make informed decisions on colour, composition, shape and form, the outcomes of which can be viewed here: 


http://hayleymerrington.blogspot.com/2012/01/character-design-sheets.html

Learning Outcomes-Knowledge and Understanding

3. Demonstrate an understanding of techniques and methods appropriate to the chosen area of design.


In order to answer the brief, I used several different image making techniques. To initiate ideas, I started with pencil sketches and silhouettes in order to arrive at a suitable pose, composition or form:

I also produced several speed paints. This is a very quick and efficient way of producing work that shows colour,atmosphere and composition:

A 3D modelling program was used to develop the head of the alien character. This allowed for a greater understanding of the characters shape and form:

For the more finished pieces, I used a more detailed and refined painting style in order to make the concepts feel more complete and believable:

Learning Outcomes-Cognitive & Intellectual Skills

4. Investigate and synthesise visual research into the creation of original concepts. 


I looked at many different visual references whilst working on this project. They have been compiled into moodboards, shown below:

 Aztec:

Alien:

The references draw from films, games, existing concept art and real life. Images such as this are very helpful and without such references I do not feel my work would have progressed very far nor been as strong visually. 

I believe the following images reflect my research well:

Learning Outcomes-Cognitive & Intellectual Skills

5. Evaluate and defend own work in the context of contemporary practice. 


I am pleased with the outcomes I have reached for this project. I feel that the images reflect the brief well. My environment in particular effectively tells the story of the Aztec-alien encounter. 


The research aspect of the project was very helpful, it was an interesting process that gave me a better insight into a different culture. It was also useful to see relevant artwork by other artists. By looking at their use of technique and style, I could transfer some of this into my own work and further develop my own painting and drawing skills.


I used a variety of different techniques to produce concepts for this project, from pencil sketches to digital painting and 3D modelling. Using a wide range of processes to produce work allowed me to experiment and reach more unexpected outcomes. Pencil sketches are quick to produce, and so were useful for initial concept sketches. Digital speed paints were very effective at quickly realising environment concepts, particularly with regards to colour, light and composition. I used 3D modelling in order to make my alien's head more convincing and understandable. A more refined painting style was used to paint the final character designs and the final environment piece. As these pieces are more detailed and defined, they feel more like finished concepts rather than working drawings.


I do feel that my artwork has improved and progressed dramatically throughout this project and I feel more confident with each image I produce.


For further development, I would like to experiment more with colour palette, especially for the environment piece, as I feel the mood and atmosphere could be heightened much more for extra drama. I would also like to produce more scenes of the interactions between the Aztecs and the aliens, to better portray the manipulating powers the aliens have over the Aztec people.


The work I have produced could fit easily into either the game or film concept art categories, although personally I feel it would be better suited to film. 


Overall, I am happy with my response to this project and feel that I have answered the brief effectively.

Learning Outcomes-Practical & Professional Skills

6. Explore and evaluate the appropriate skills relevant to the creation of character design.


There are many factors to be taken into account when creating a successful character design. One must consider the pose of the character, as well as the composition, light, shape and form. But before this can be considered, the character's personality and function must be known and understood.


I explored these aspects when composing my character designs by creating many different sketches. These sketches allowed me to investigate what composition and pose would be most suitable. I then painted over the sketches, thinking about light sources and colour palette and what each aspect would say about the character.


The following images show the process of creating my characters:

Learning Outcomes-Practical & Professional Skills

7. Operate ethically demonstrating critical understanding of the issues governing good practice.


Whilst research was an important aspect of this project, it is also important that the work of others is not plagiarised or reproduced. I used my visual research only to initiate my own ideas, rather than copy the work of others. I have included several work-in-progress images showing how I achieved my concepts to re-inforce the originality of my work.


Examples of this can be seen in the following images:

Learning Outcomes-Key Transferable Skills

8. Demonstrate an independent and reflective approach to personal and professional development.


I have found that working on a masters course, one needs to be extremely self motivated and independent as much of the workload is self-initiated. Organisational skills are key, as is successful time management. These skills will prove very useful later as I progress onto a professional level. After receiving feedback from tutors and fellow students, I strived to improve and amend my work according to their advice and critiques. Understanding and being mindful of such feedback is a vital part of personal development as it allows you to see your work from different perspectives. It also allows you to learn from your mistakes, and improve upon your skills.

Learning Outcomes-Key Transferable Skills

9. Exhibit professional communication skills in the specialist area.


The work produced for this project answers the brief well, in my opinion. I think it clearly shows a meeting of the two different species. The environment piece best demonstrates this as it depicts the moment of first contact.

Other images show the manipulating power of the aliens over the Aztec leaders. 

The issues I wanted to communicate have been addressed by such images through use of pose, composition and colour palette.

Aztec Environments

Speedpaint environment concepts for our Aztecs & Aliens project. My favourite is the first one, and am currently reworking it to a more finished level.