Chiarello, M, (2007), DC Comics Guide to Coloring and Lettering, University of Michigan, USA
Cooney, D, (2011), Writing and Illustrating the Graphc Novel, Barrons Educational Series Inc, UK
Combermale, Leslie (2007) Artwork of John Alvin. Available from <http://www.johnalvinart.com/Default.aspx > [Accessed 05 Nov 2011].
Cortina, F, (2005), D'artiste Character Modelling, Ballistic Media Pty, USA
Del Toro & Hogan, C, (2010), The Strain, Harper Collins, USA
Gabriel, Paulo (2010) Interview with Legendary Drew Struzan. Available from <http://abduzeedo.com/interview-legendary-drew-struzan > [Accessed 05 Nov 2011].
Gurney J, (2009), Imaginative Realism: How to paint what doesn't exist, Andrews McMeel Publishing, UK
Gurney, J, (2010), Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter, Andrews McMeel Publishing, UK
Hitch, B, (2010), Bryan Hitch's Ultimate Comic Studio, Impact, UK
Hughes, Adam, (2011), Draw and Paint a Sexy Cat Burglar, ImagineFX, 67, pp 72-75.
King, S, (2001), On Writing, Hachette, UK
Lauther, H, (2004) Creating Characters: A Writer's Reference to the Personality Traits That Bring Fictional People to Life, McFarland Press, New York
Mateu-Mestre, M, (2011), Framed Ink, Titan Books, UK
McCutcheon, M, (2001), Building believable characters, Writer's Digest Books, USA
Millar, M, (2011), Nemesis, Titan Books, UK
No Author (2011) Digital Motion Comics. Available from:
<http://digitalmotioncomics.com/news >[Accessed 24 Oct 2011].
No Author (2011) Marvel Motion Comics. Available from:
<http://marvel.com/motion_comics > [Accessed 02 Nov 2011].
No Author (2011), SoundDogs. Available from http://www.sounddogs.com [Accessed 21 Oct 2011]
Oldham, A, (2010), A writers guide to character creation, Pen Press, Brighton
Parks, C, (2008), Secrets to Drawing Realistic Children, North Light Books, UK
Seger, L, (1990), Creating Unforgettable Characters, Holt Press, New York
Sneddon, Laura (2011) Comic Studies. Available from:
<http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=35132 >[Accessed 26 Oct 2011].
Snoswell, M, (2004), D'artiste : digital painting, Ballistic Media Pty, USA
Swain, D, (2008), Creating Characters: How to Build Story People, University of Oklahoma Press, USA
Taylor, A, (2010), Design Essentials for the Motion Media Artist, Focal Press , UK
Thompson, T, (2008), Adventures in Graphica, Stenhouse Publishers, USA
Tilson, Cody (2009) Last Man Standing. Available from:
<http://www.lastmanart.com/interviews/jason-chan/004 >[Accessed 06 Oct 2011].
Whitlatch, T, (2011), Animals Real and Imagined, Titan Books, UK
Withrow, S, (2007), Character Design for Graphic Novels, Elsevier, USA
Wright, B, (2003) Comic book nation: the transformation of youth culture in America, JHU Press, UK
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Violence in comics
Graphic violence is something that has only in the last 20 years seen fruition in the comics industry, this was unheard of during comics early years as there was no comics code to regulate it so children of all ages could read them. In recent years this has become more and more frequent and stylised with artists such as Frank Miller (2011) and Mark Millar (2011) making a name for themselves with it's use. The use is often for it's own sake but the artists have managed to make it as stylised and contextualised as possible with Millar especially, only using it when it has meaning.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Conclusions
This brief has given me a great deal of insight into how comics and graphic novels are constructed artistically as well as a better insight into their writing.
I now know exactly how the look and feel of my graphic novel/motion comic will be and know that it will be a far from easy task to complete. The brief has made me aware of all of the stages of conception from writing down to aspects that I had not given a lot of thought to such as lettering.
Although the brief was at many times a challenge, particularly with regards to attempting to push and develop my own artistsic style, I feel that this brief has given me a large amount of knowledge on the subject ans has definitely made me a better artist. I can now work with an amount of realism and style and am now able to deliver character and personality to my drawings which was something I had always wanted to accomplish.
I now look forward to beginning my final piece and putting everything I've learned and developed over the last two years together. I will incorporate all of the skills I have acquired and been taught such as composition and lighting into my final piece.
I now know exactly how the look and feel of my graphic novel/motion comic will be and know that it will be a far from easy task to complete. The brief has made me aware of all of the stages of conception from writing down to aspects that I had not given a lot of thought to such as lettering.
Although the brief was at many times a challenge, particularly with regards to attempting to push and develop my own artistsic style, I feel that this brief has given me a large amount of knowledge on the subject ans has definitely made me a better artist. I can now work with an amount of realism and style and am now able to deliver character and personality to my drawings which was something I had always wanted to accomplish.
I now look forward to beginning my final piece and putting everything I've learned and developed over the last two years together. I will incorporate all of the skills I have acquired and been taught such as composition and lighting into my final piece.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Posters
To 'sell' the concept of my graphic novel I created two posters which would advertise it. I wanted the focus of the posters to be on the dual worlds. So I created designs which I thought would capture this. As with the large majority of my work for this brief I wanted to show the scope and tone of the graphic novel/motion comic.
For inspiration I looked at poster work by Struzan, an artist who did many of the movie posters in the 80's and early 90's such as this iconic poster...
Alvin explains that a poster has to be more than an impressive image, it has to "Create the promise of a great experience" (Alvin, 2006).
This was what I wanted to capture in my posters, a sense of story and scope...
For inspiration I looked at poster work by Struzan, an artist who did many of the movie posters in the 80's and early 90's such as this iconic poster...
I didn't want to create just an image, I wanted to be able to portray the story. I looked at the way Struzan and others such as Alvin, (2008) the astonishingly prolific poster artist who created this piece for Jurassic Park...
Alvin explains that a poster has to be more than an impressive image, it has to "Create the promise of a great experience" (Alvin, 2006).
This was what I wanted to capture in my posters, a sense of story and scope...
Poster 1...
Poster 2...
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Reference photos
For many of the environments, I wanted to base them as much as possible on real environments, therefore I began taking reference photos whenever I could both for colour schemes and for actual environments that I could base my structures on. I was able to take photos of different places including photos at Coventry Cathedral which had a distinct gothic look I could incorporate into the design. Many of the photos inspired my environment designs such as the large arches I photographed in Coventry.
Snoswell, (2004) describes the use of reference photos as an important step when designing environments as every artist needs to know how structures and landscapes relate to each other in the real world before they can be created from the imagination (p62).
Snoswell, (2004) describes the use of reference photos as an important step when designing environments as every artist needs to know how structures and landscapes relate to each other in the real world before they can be created from the imagination (p62).
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Motion Vs Traditional
My work in the last brief along with several releases from Marvel and others in the 'motion comic' field convinced me that I wanted to do my graphic novel as a motion comic.
Motion comics such as 2010's 'Spider-Woman' by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev are en excellent example of motion comics which are created and executed successfully.
Although I had to be wary that I was not animating for animation's sake. Scalera (2011) explains that since the processes for creating a motion comic are a fairly simple process then many comic/game/film companies are producing them just to have another branded product out on the market (p11). Often-times they are conceived well such as the 'Halo' tie-ins but there are many that simply jump on the band-wagon as they see an opportunity to extend the franchise. Companies such as Marvel, have spent large amounts of money investing in motion comics. The aforementioned 'Spider-Woman' and 2010's 'Iron Man: Extremis' are good examples but more money doesn't necessarily mean a better product. Their 'Astonishing X-men' motion comics pushed the boundaries too far and attempted to integrate 3D into the 2D animation as well as a surplus of lip-synch's that seemed unnecessary.
The successful ones seem to work by making the animation subtle and unobtrusive to the scene. Simple lighting changes or backgrounds in motion seem to work well but full figures in motion only seem to accentuate the fact that it is a 2D image.
I wanted my graphic novel to be in two forms, the traditional comic book printed version and a motion comic version. I would do both at the same time. Realising that I needed to convert many images to After Effects scenes before-hand meant I could tailor them so they would be better suited. For instance creating larger backgrounds than needed.
Motion comics such as 2010's 'Spider-Woman' by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev are en excellent example of motion comics which are created and executed successfully.
Although I had to be wary that I was not animating for animation's sake. Scalera (2011) explains that since the processes for creating a motion comic are a fairly simple process then many comic/game/film companies are producing them just to have another branded product out on the market (p11). Often-times they are conceived well such as the 'Halo' tie-ins but there are many that simply jump on the band-wagon as they see an opportunity to extend the franchise. Companies such as Marvel, have spent large amounts of money investing in motion comics. The aforementioned 'Spider-Woman' and 2010's 'Iron Man: Extremis' are good examples but more money doesn't necessarily mean a better product. Their 'Astonishing X-men' motion comics pushed the boundaries too far and attempted to integrate 3D into the 2D animation as well as a surplus of lip-synch's that seemed unnecessary.
The successful ones seem to work by making the animation subtle and unobtrusive to the scene. Simple lighting changes or backgrounds in motion seem to work well but full figures in motion only seem to accentuate the fact that it is a 2D image.
I wanted my graphic novel to be in two forms, the traditional comic book printed version and a motion comic version. I would do both at the same time. Realising that I needed to convert many images to After Effects scenes before-hand meant I could tailor them so they would be better suited. For instance creating larger backgrounds than needed.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Creature Design
One of the more enjoyable parts of the brief was creating who would inhabit the Animorum. However this didn't mean that they would be designed with any less depth. Rickitt, (2006) explains that any creature must be designed so that it looks and feels like it inhabits it's surroundings, both in physicality and in tone (p44).
With the above in mind, I concepted my creatures bearing in mind that the world of the Animorum is not that much different from our own. I couldn't create creatures too outlandish as though I was creating them for an alien world, they had to resemble actual creatures in our world. I also created them using hues that I used in the environments so that they integrated better and felt more a part of the world.
Although the creatures had to resemble real-world animals, I also wanted them to look unique and have their own physiology. Whitlatch (2010) agrees with this and explains that creating creatures which look as though they could exist is completely dependant on understanding the physiology that exists in our own world (p8). Therefore I looked at animals such as dogs and spiders and how their musculoskeletal systems and exo-skeletons worked. I didn't want to design something that looked imaginative and original but that could not exist physically.
With the above in mind, I concepted my creatures bearing in mind that the world of the Animorum is not that much different from our own. I couldn't create creatures too outlandish as though I was creating them for an alien world, they had to resemble actual creatures in our world. I also created them using hues that I used in the environments so that they integrated better and felt more a part of the world.
Although the creatures had to resemble real-world animals, I also wanted them to look unique and have their own physiology. Whitlatch (2010) agrees with this and explains that creating creatures which look as though they could exist is completely dependant on understanding the physiology that exists in our own world (p8). Therefore I looked at animals such as dogs and spiders and how their musculoskeletal systems and exo-skeletons worked. I didn't want to design something that looked imaginative and original but that could not exist physically.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Panels
Of the utmost importance to me was the look and feel of the graphic novel, I wanted to take what I had learned in my last brief further and work as best I could on panel lay out and flow.
I took note of how many comic artists are utilising the panel layouts to the best of their potential. The best of these were artists such as Jae Lee (2011) and Steve McNiven (2011) but pushing the envelope of comic book art with the use of panelling was Frank Quietly (2011). Quietly had been working on DC's 'Batman and Robin' and had recently produced a graphic novel with industry legend Grant Morrison. Quietly had experimented greatly producing some outstanding work.
Quietly explains that it is easy to experiment for experiments sake but that any kind of panel oddity that didn't read well would instantly throw readers out of the story. He continues to explain that the panels in whichever form they take must serve the pace, style and tone of the narrative (Quietly 2011). Another comic artist that pushed boundaries in terms of layouts and structure with regards to the art is Dave Gibbons who worked on Alan Moore's 'Watchman', he designed the series meticulously, every cover acted as the first panel of the comic and many issues had panels which were a perfect mirror to the point where the middle two pages formed one page.
Hitch, 2010, explains that panel design and composition is key to the storytelling aspect of the artists job, that they must reinforce and augment each other (p17).
To try and see how I wanted the graphic novel to look and feel I created a test page from my concept art. It didn't have the finished lettering but I think it gives a good example...
I took note of how many comic artists are utilising the panel layouts to the best of their potential. The best of these were artists such as Jae Lee (2011) and Steve McNiven (2011) but pushing the envelope of comic book art with the use of panelling was Frank Quietly (2011). Quietly had been working on DC's 'Batman and Robin' and had recently produced a graphic novel with industry legend Grant Morrison. Quietly had experimented greatly producing some outstanding work.
Quietly explains that it is easy to experiment for experiments sake but that any kind of panel oddity that didn't read well would instantly throw readers out of the story. He continues to explain that the panels in whichever form they take must serve the pace, style and tone of the narrative (Quietly 2011). Another comic artist that pushed boundaries in terms of layouts and structure with regards to the art is Dave Gibbons who worked on Alan Moore's 'Watchman', he designed the series meticulously, every cover acted as the first panel of the comic and many issues had panels which were a perfect mirror to the point where the middle two pages formed one page.
Hitch, 2010, explains that panel design and composition is key to the storytelling aspect of the artists job, that they must reinforce and augment each other (p17).
To try and see how I wanted the graphic novel to look and feel I created a test page from my concept art. It didn't have the finished lettering but I think it gives a good example...
Monday, 24 October 2011
Historical and the Future of Sequential Art
Throughout history the role of sequential art has changed, for instance both Captain America and Superman were created as World War 2 propaganda. This was more than evident with Captain America's first issue where he is seen on the cover as punching Hitler. The comics in those times were created as escapism as well as propaganda, taking peoples minds away from the darkness of war to a place where patriotic heroes and aliens from another world had saved Earth from it's worsening problems.
The role slowly changed over time and it became a medium that was just for children, no longer did soldiers in the trenches need the escapism after the war and so the characters changed as well.
The role once again changed in the 80's when more teenagers became interested in comic books and the comic industry boomed. Wright (2003) agrees with this and explains that the role of comics has changed so much over the last 40's years that it is hard to pin them down as targeting any one market at at any one time (p40).
The comics industry almost collapsed however just after their boom in the mid-90's when Marvel were printing ever type of variant they could, with hologram covers and 4 collectible issues and so on. The boom turned to dust and Marvel along with many other companies were on the brink of collapse. By scaling back however, Marvel and the others managed to survive into the next era which would see the main consumer of comics being the children who had grown up in the heyday of comics and now had more mature tastes and a more sophisticated palette. This was catered for by comics such as the massively popular 'Watchmen' and 'Dark Knight Returns'. Today the status quo remains the same, comics are now mainly aimed at the grown-up Generation X and the content is reflected as such.
The future of sequential art is unknown with Marvel still cancelling titles and digital comics becoming more and more popular, it's possible that comics will become purely digital in the future especially with the impact of piracy but only time will tell.
The role slowly changed over time and it became a medium that was just for children, no longer did soldiers in the trenches need the escapism after the war and so the characters changed as well.
The role once again changed in the 80's when more teenagers became interested in comic books and the comic industry boomed. Wright (2003) agrees with this and explains that the role of comics has changed so much over the last 40's years that it is hard to pin them down as targeting any one market at at any one time (p40).
The comics industry almost collapsed however just after their boom in the mid-90's when Marvel were printing ever type of variant they could, with hologram covers and 4 collectible issues and so on. The boom turned to dust and Marvel along with many other companies were on the brink of collapse. By scaling back however, Marvel and the others managed to survive into the next era which would see the main consumer of comics being the children who had grown up in the heyday of comics and now had more mature tastes and a more sophisticated palette. This was catered for by comics such as the massively popular 'Watchmen' and 'Dark Knight Returns'. Today the status quo remains the same, comics are now mainly aimed at the grown-up Generation X and the content is reflected as such.
The future of sequential art is unknown with Marvel still cancelling titles and digital comics becoming more and more popular, it's possible that comics will become purely digital in the future especially with the impact of piracy but only time will tell.
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Dialogue and Speech Bubbles
One of the aspects I needed to consider for the graphic novel was the design of the speech/thought bubbles. Previously in my last project I had used the standard fonts and bubbles that came with the Comic Life software and although the software was quite easy and intuitive to use, I did find find that it was quite limiting is this respect.
For my new graphic novel and wanted to spend more time on aspects such as this, aspects which are often overlooked in comics and graphic novels. Thompson, (2008) explains that though they are a simple feature they are one of the most defining aspects of sequential and therefore should be considered just as integral in their design as the art itself (p82)
An example of good use of these would be in the 2004 film 'Night Watch'. The filmmaker knew that the dialogue is Russian and would be subtitled, but they made an artistic decision that they would not use standard-format subtitles. The filmmakers were aware that many cinema-goers did not like subtitles as they thought they were hard to follow and were intrusive on the film. They therefore decided that their subtitles would be more a part of the film and would interact with the narrative. For instance a scene where a boy is being called by vampires, the subtitles are blood-red when the boy is underwater and then dissipate with the water when he emerges...
This is something I wanted to explore and utilise in my graphic novel, certain characters speech bubbles would have different styles and fonts to other and would integrate more with the panel if possible.
I created a test panel to give to give an example of how they would interact in my graphic novel...
For my new graphic novel and wanted to spend more time on aspects such as this, aspects which are often overlooked in comics and graphic novels. Thompson, (2008) explains that though they are a simple feature they are one of the most defining aspects of sequential and therefore should be considered just as integral in their design as the art itself (p82)
An example of good use of these would be in the 2004 film 'Night Watch'. The filmmaker knew that the dialogue is Russian and would be subtitled, but they made an artistic decision that they would not use standard-format subtitles. The filmmakers were aware that many cinema-goers did not like subtitles as they thought they were hard to follow and were intrusive on the film. They therefore decided that their subtitles would be more a part of the film and would interact with the narrative. For instance a scene where a boy is being called by vampires, the subtitles are blood-red when the boy is underwater and then dissipate with the water when he emerges...
This is something I wanted to explore and utilise in my graphic novel, certain characters speech bubbles would have different styles and fonts to other and would integrate more with the panel if possible.
I created a test panel to give to give an example of how they would interact in my graphic novel...
Ghost effect
For my finished animated BA8 graphic novel, I would have a supporting character who has died before the narrative of my story begins. She would be introduced to the story as a helper to Finn in the Animorum. This character would be a young girl and a close friend of Finn when she was alive. Due to time constraints, I couldn't spend too much time focused on her physical characteristics such as features, hair, clothes etc but I did want to create her effect for BA7.
For the graphic novel I wanted to create an effect for her ghostly form that was different than had been shown before. I didn't want to simply use techniques that were almost now so common as to be industry standards such as setting an outer glow.
I experimented with several techniques for the effect before finding one that I was happy with...
I also created an animation to show the fading imprint of Lacey's ghost form on her environment, I wanted the effect to resemble a steamed handprint fading from glass...
For the graphic novel I wanted to create an effect for her ghostly form that was different than had been shown before. I didn't want to simply use techniques that were almost now so common as to be industry standards such as setting an outer glow.
I experimented with several techniques for the effect before finding one that I was happy with...
Another feature of the ghost character I wanted to design was that I wanted the ghost to have a visual impact on their immediate environment. Such as glowing footprints or an energy trail that would exist momentarily and then dissipate...
As some of the effects would be animated in my final graphic novel I used After Effects to create them, such as the effect for Finn's transformation to his ethereal form as shown below...
I also created an animation to show the fading imprint of Lacey's ghost form on her environment, I wanted the effect to resemble a steamed handprint fading from glass...
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Trailer Soundtrack
With regards to the music and sounds for the trailer I composited my own sounds as well as used websites such as SoundDogs (www.sounddogs.com) for the backing track and then composited the sounds together using After Effects. The sound for this trailer was more complex than the sounds I had composited previously as they needed to match the timing of the moments in the trailer and the length of the trailer itself.
To enable the sounds to fit the trailer I had to speed the backing track up and lower the volume at points where I wanted the boom sound effect of the writing appearing on screen. This was complicated as it often did not correspond with the music that was happening in the backing music. To solve this I had to ensure the music started at a different point so that it reached those milestones in the trailer when I needed them to .
After a great deal of attempts with different sounds and backing music I created a track that I thought complimented the imagery of the trailer.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Trailer
Alongside the Design Document as Research Document, I also intended to produce a short trailer promoting the animated graphic novel I would produce for BA8. I did not want to produce the trailer independently of the images I was producing so while working on the images for the Design Documents I was aware that some of them would be used in the trailer via After Effects.
Many companies are producing After Effects animated trailers for their products, even those not in a graphic form, for instance novels such as the below trailer for Guillermo Del Toro (2011) and Chuck Hogan's (2011) 'The Strain' trilogy of books.
This in my opinion was a poor example of what could be produced using After Effects for product trailers, as it fails to show the tone or give a feeling of the style of the intended product, in this case a book.
A better example of an After Effects trailer for a book would be the following trailer for Scott Westerfields. 'Leviathan'...
It could be said that many companies, adhere to the adage 'No such thing as bad press' as they will often allow for any pieve of marketing for their product to be created, regardless of the quality. I intended my trailer to show not only the content of my graphic novel but primarily the tone as this is what would set it apart from others in it's media. While working on my images, I kept in mind that the best of them would be utilised for the trailer and therefore would need to be manipulated in After Effects. Knowing this I remembered to keep my images as layers and to as often as possible keep them wider than they would be normally so that I could animate them.
Taylor, (2010), advocates the use of After Effects to produce short animated trailers for films and other media and explains that they can be used to great effects to attract new audiences (pXIV)
Although I wanted to utilise the images I had already created, I also intended to produce a few images that would be used in the trailer only so that the whole thing would not just be recycled from my other project.
I began storyboarding the trailer, as I knew what I wanted to show...
Many companies are producing After Effects animated trailers for their products, even those not in a graphic form, for instance novels such as the below trailer for Guillermo Del Toro (2011) and Chuck Hogan's (2011) 'The Strain' trilogy of books.
This in my opinion was a poor example of what could be produced using After Effects for product trailers, as it fails to show the tone or give a feeling of the style of the intended product, in this case a book.
A better example of an After Effects trailer for a book would be the following trailer for Scott Westerfields. 'Leviathan'...
It could be said that many companies, adhere to the adage 'No such thing as bad press' as they will often allow for any pieve of marketing for their product to be created, regardless of the quality. I intended my trailer to show not only the content of my graphic novel but primarily the tone as this is what would set it apart from others in it's media. While working on my images, I kept in mind that the best of them would be utilised for the trailer and therefore would need to be manipulated in After Effects. Knowing this I remembered to keep my images as layers and to as often as possible keep them wider than they would be normally so that I could animate them.
Taylor, (2010), advocates the use of After Effects to produce short animated trailers for films and other media and explains that they can be used to great effects to attract new audiences (pXIV)
Although I wanted to utilise the images I had already created, I also intended to produce a few images that would be used in the trailer only so that the whole thing would not just be recycled from my other project.
I began storyboarding the trailer, as I knew what I wanted to show...
For the finished trailer, I aimed to produce not only some images, but I also wanted to produce some effects that would be specific to my design such as the transformation effect from Finn to his Wraith armor and the ghost effect for Lacey, one of the supporting characters. I realised quickly that although some effects looked fine as a still image, they did not work as well when they were animated.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Personality via posing.
One of the things I also tried to work on was posing of characters. In my previous work, I had a tendency to use simple poses which in hindsight were quite static and at times bland. I wanted the characters I concepted to have personalities that were discernible without any story or dialogue, just from a single image. For this I needed to work on my posing. I followed the advice of Green (2006), who explains, in concept art, the pose of a character must be an outward expression of their personality (p44). The way they hold themselves, how they look at the 'camera' or if they are looking the camera at all must express who they are. With this in mind I began creating drawings of my young protagonist, not just standing or in an 'action pose' but standing as Finn would be standing if I had seen him in the street, or doing things that Finn would be doing.
Below is an example of my previous pose for the protagonist...
Now after a lot of practice, one that is both more realistic and has more personality...
I concepted a series of these drawings, studying how people hold themselves and envisioning what my protagonist would be doing. Upon recommendation from my tutor, I also produced some pieces of Finn in environments, doing what he loves to do. These helped establish not only personality but mood..
Below is an example of my previous pose for the protagonist...
Now after a lot of practice, one that is both more realistic and has more personality...
I concepted a series of these drawings, studying how people hold themselves and envisioning what my protagonist would be doing. Upon recommendation from my tutor, I also produced some pieces of Finn in environments, doing what he loves to do. These helped establish not only personality but mood..
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Realism via colour
The next technique that I wanted to learn was style of coloring that is used my many concept artists such as Jason Chan. The technique was to work out the values in black and white, then apply the colors individually as new layers in Photoshop.
Chan (2011), explains that working out the values first, gives the artist a clear concept of shadow and farm without having to worry about the colors and repercussions of light on color until later (Chan, 2010).
I therefore began just creating my concepts with light and shadow after the line-work. This allowed me to pay more attention to detailed areas of shadow and reflections. Once the value studies were completely finished I then began layering on the individual colours.
Below is an example of the stages in the process, Line work, value study and final colours...
The work would then go into refining the colors, this was something I had not done before. My colours in my previous work were quite flat. For my newer concepts I adhered to the advice of Snoswell (2004), who states "I build up complementary colors on top of each other to create color depth" (p84). With my fished colours I went into the detailed areas such as around the eyes and mouth and layered colors over the top ensuring they were not out of place and worked them into the existing colours. This attention to colour detail gave my pieces much more realism and depth, something they were sorely lacking before.
Another thing thing that I learned in my research was that colours and highlights are more realistic if they are less saturated and pure colors should be used sparsely. This is advocated by Cortina (2005), who recommends that colour use is approached tentatively and that stark colors should only be kept for when they are required such as in sharp highlights.(p172).
Chan (2011), explains that working out the values first, gives the artist a clear concept of shadow and farm without having to worry about the colors and repercussions of light on color until later (Chan, 2010).
I therefore began just creating my concepts with light and shadow after the line-work. This allowed me to pay more attention to detailed areas of shadow and reflections. Once the value studies were completely finished I then began layering on the individual colours.
Below is an example of the stages in the process, Line work, value study and final colours...
The work would then go into refining the colors, this was something I had not done before. My colours in my previous work were quite flat. For my newer concepts I adhered to the advice of Snoswell (2004), who states "I build up complementary colors on top of each other to create color depth" (p84). With my fished colours I went into the detailed areas such as around the eyes and mouth and layered colors over the top ensuring they were not out of place and worked them into the existing colours. This attention to colour detail gave my pieces much more realism and depth, something they were sorely lacking before.
Another thing thing that I learned in my research was that colours and highlights are more realistic if they are less saturated and pure colors should be used sparsely. This is advocated by Cortina (2005), who recommends that colour use is approached tentatively and that stark colors should only be kept for when they are required such as in sharp highlights.(p172).
Friday, 14 October 2011
Realism
Now that the protagonist felt real to me I realised that the 'cartoonish', simplified look I had first drawn him with would lack gravitas in the story. Therefore I realised I would need a more realistic drawing style.
Achieving this would prove to be the hardest part of the project as my personal style was quite flat and basic. I began to research drawing realistically and how to bridge the gap and improve my style. Especially when drawing fictional characters this would be complex. Parks (2003), states "One of the main reasons for people being unable to draw realistic people and particularly faces is that they are almost pre-programmed to recognise and reiterate learned patterns and therefore all noses, eyes and so forth are drawn exactly the same regardless of character" (p75). This was very much true for my drawings, as I looked at them, I noted that a lot of the characters faces were drawn the same way. In particular my last project 'Wylde', I looked at critically from a drawing point of view and realised that it was only the protagonists' hair that made him distinguishable from the other characters faces.
I began practising using the techniques I had learned in my research. One of the most beneficial things that I had discovered was that if I intended to conceive the character in colour, then I needed to let the color and shade do the majority of the work and keep the line-work to a minimum.
For the realism, I started to use a number of new processes and new software.
The first of these processes was doing rough line-work for my concepts on paper in ink/pencil and then scan the work and do a second tighter version. This system is utilised by many comic artists, the roughs are used to figure out angles and compositions and the finals are done digitally.
I also started to learn Adobe Illustrator to make the line-work that I did use smoother and sharper as working from pen/pencils scans often left me with rough edges. At first the software was quite difficult to learn as it was a very separate entity to Photoshop, there was no easy erase system and very few tools. However, after a lot of practise I began to get to grips with it and my line-work improved greatly. Though this was not the way I previously worked I wanted to adapt to this new system as soon as possible so that it was in place for the concepting of my final piece. Hitch 2010, states "Every artist I know has a different way of working and develops their own solutions to problems as they learn." (p10). I had found my own solutions and I now needed to adapt to them as the status quo.
Below is an example of my pencil-scan line-work compared to my Illustrator lines.
Achieving this would prove to be the hardest part of the project as my personal style was quite flat and basic. I began to research drawing realistically and how to bridge the gap and improve my style. Especially when drawing fictional characters this would be complex. Parks (2003), states "One of the main reasons for people being unable to draw realistic people and particularly faces is that they are almost pre-programmed to recognise and reiterate learned patterns and therefore all noses, eyes and so forth are drawn exactly the same regardless of character" (p75). This was very much true for my drawings, as I looked at them, I noted that a lot of the characters faces were drawn the same way. In particular my last project 'Wylde', I looked at critically from a drawing point of view and realised that it was only the protagonists' hair that made him distinguishable from the other characters faces.
I began practising using the techniques I had learned in my research. One of the most beneficial things that I had discovered was that if I intended to conceive the character in colour, then I needed to let the color and shade do the majority of the work and keep the line-work to a minimum.
For the realism, I started to use a number of new processes and new software.
The first of these processes was doing rough line-work for my concepts on paper in ink/pencil and then scan the work and do a second tighter version. This system is utilised by many comic artists, the roughs are used to figure out angles and compositions and the finals are done digitally.
I also started to learn Adobe Illustrator to make the line-work that I did use smoother and sharper as working from pen/pencils scans often left me with rough edges. At first the software was quite difficult to learn as it was a very separate entity to Photoshop, there was no easy erase system and very few tools. However, after a lot of practise I began to get to grips with it and my line-work improved greatly. Though this was not the way I previously worked I wanted to adapt to this new system as soon as possible so that it was in place for the concepting of my final piece. Hitch 2010, states "Every artist I know has a different way of working and develops their own solutions to problems as they learn." (p10). I had found my own solutions and I now needed to adapt to them as the status quo.
Below is an example of my pencil-scan line-work compared to my Illustrator lines.
Many comic book artists such as Marvel's Joe Quesada (2011) and Sara Pichelli (2011), now only work in digital form and even do their roughs digitally. Below is a short video of how Pichelli works her lines digitally.
Pichelli is a good example of an artist who uses economic lines, this was a style that I wanted to try and emulate but with a more realistic content.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Protagonist
I concepted initial character drawings of what I thought Finn would look like. Although I knew roughly what I wanted him to look like, I knew from my last brief to keep his conception loose and not get too defined at this early stage. I understood that I would be changing the design and style when I would create silhouettes and thumbnails.
I wanted Finn to be relatable and for readers/viewers to be able to empathise with him. Withrow and Danner (2007) explain that many of the best characters are the ones who are most relatable, they need to have a vulnerability (p31). With that I mind I decided that Finn's character would be quite quiet and reclusive. I now had a clearer idea of the character but he still did not feel real enough to carry the story, especially as we would be seeing the story through this characters eyes. Swain, (2008) explains that the characters through whose eyes we experience the story cannot just be a device to see the world they are in, they need to have a viewpoint on it. An angle on the world they inhabit that makes it realistic (p44).
I now knew that I further needed to flesh out the character. I therefore wrote a full character sheet with what makes Finn a character, what his likes and dislikes were. As King, (2001) describes the process
"Spend time with the character before the story begins" (p97)
Below is the character sheet....
Name: Finn Riley
Doing this exercise proved to be extremely beneficial, as now I not only knew what Finn was like but it also revealed how he would look and how he would react in certain situations. Thus driving the story.
I wanted Finn to be relatable and for readers/viewers to be able to empathise with him. Withrow and Danner (2007) explain that many of the best characters are the ones who are most relatable, they need to have a vulnerability (p31). With that I mind I decided that Finn's character would be quite quiet and reclusive. I now had a clearer idea of the character but he still did not feel real enough to carry the story, especially as we would be seeing the story through this characters eyes. Swain, (2008) explains that the characters through whose eyes we experience the story cannot just be a device to see the world they are in, they need to have a viewpoint on it. An angle on the world they inhabit that makes it realistic (p44).
I now knew that I further needed to flesh out the character. I therefore wrote a full character sheet with what makes Finn a character, what his likes and dislikes were. As King, (2001) describes the process
"Spend time with the character before the story begins" (p97)
Below is the character sheet....
Name: Finn Riley
Age: 10
Character traits: Finn would be the boy at school who would spend most of his lunch-times sequestered away in the library reading comic books or old classics. His favourite being Dumas’ ‘Count of Monte Cristo’. While the other boys would be outside playing football Finn would be behind the shelves in the library. The only time Finn does love going outside it at weekends when he goes to the forest near his house and climb to the top of the biggest tree he can find. Often taking books up there in a back-pack to read.
He’s smart but not an over-achiever.
His best friend; Lacey, who he grew up next door to, died in a hit-and-run a year before the story starts.
Many people, including his father, step-mother and his teachers think that the reason Finn is so reclusive is the loss of his best friend but the truth is Finn was always that way. Losing his best friend just made it obvious.
Dislikes: Sports, Maths, Winter.
Favourite movies: Transformers, Goonies, Back to the Future
Favourite music: Blues, Elvis, Swing
Family: Valerie Riley – Mother
James Harris – Step-father
Anna Riley – Old sister (17)
Hobbies: Comic books, reading, geology, tree-climbing.
Doing this exercise proved to be extremely beneficial, as now I not only knew what Finn was like but it also revealed how he would look and how he would react in certain situations. Thus driving the story.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Characters
With this brief, I wanted to put a strong focus on the narrative and in particular the characters as I knew this was something I wanted to work on and develop from the last brief. Although I had a strong concept last time, I felt that my characters could have been a lot stronger and more defined.
I immediately began researching characters and the art of the creation and got the following books...
A writers guide to character creation - Andrew Oldham (2010)
Creating Unforgettable Characters - Linda Seger (1990)
Creating Characters - Howard Lauther (2004)
Building believable characters - Mark McCutheon (2001)
Creating Characters: How to Build Story People - Dwight Swain (2008)
These books were the best of the ones I had read as they went into more detail and had a focus on visually creating a strongly defined character than the other books, which seemed a lot more basic in their approach.
I began structuring my main characters and adhered to the advice of Lauther (2004), who explains that a good way to create a character is to contrast them to their environment/situation (p47).
With that in mind I knew that the main environment and narrative was essentially a dark and grim one, so I made the main protagonist an innocent, 10 year old boy. I thought the contrast of the young boy in such a dark, twisted landscape would make an interesting hook to the story.
Using a young boy would also give a different perspective on the story than using an adult, his reactions and decisions in the environment would also differ from an adults.
I immediately began researching characters and the art of the creation and got the following books...
A writers guide to character creation - Andrew Oldham (2010)
Creating Unforgettable Characters - Linda Seger (1990)
Creating Characters - Howard Lauther (2004)
Building believable characters - Mark McCutheon (2001)
Creating Characters: How to Build Story People - Dwight Swain (2008)
These books were the best of the ones I had read as they went into more detail and had a focus on visually creating a strongly defined character than the other books, which seemed a lot more basic in their approach.
I began structuring my main characters and adhered to the advice of Lauther (2004), who explains that a good way to create a character is to contrast them to their environment/situation (p47).
With that in mind I knew that the main environment and narrative was essentially a dark and grim one, so I made the main protagonist an innocent, 10 year old boy. I thought the contrast of the young boy in such a dark, twisted landscape would make an interesting hook to the story.
Using a young boy would also give a different perspective on the story than using an adult, his reactions and decisions in the environment would also differ from an adults.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Origins
After I had completed my final brief for year 3, I decided that I would need to create a brand new concept for my final year.
With that in mind I began researching what type of game I would like to make. Mark Millar, (2010) states "Nothing an author creates will be successful unless it's something the author would like to read themselves" (p4)
So I wanted to create something I would want to play or read myself, I decided that if I wanted to best display my skills as an artist then I would need to create something that has enough scope that I would be able to create both realistic and fantastical creatures. I came up with the concept of a young boy who is able to switch between our world and the world of the dead. As I began to flesh out the synopsis I realised that this concept had a lot of potential and a wide scope for design as I would be able to create both realistic landscapes for the real world designs and more fantastical designs for the hereafter.
Inspiration came from the artistic style of film directors such as Timur Bekmambetov, Guillermo Del Toro and JJ Abrams all who have a distinctive style and a love of large scope films.
With the basis of the plot gathered, I began to think about the characters.
With that in mind I began researching what type of game I would like to make. Mark Millar, (2010) states "Nothing an author creates will be successful unless it's something the author would like to read themselves" (p4)
So I wanted to create something I would want to play or read myself, I decided that if I wanted to best display my skills as an artist then I would need to create something that has enough scope that I would be able to create both realistic and fantastical creatures. I came up with the concept of a young boy who is able to switch between our world and the world of the dead. As I began to flesh out the synopsis I realised that this concept had a lot of potential and a wide scope for design as I would be able to create both realistic landscapes for the real world designs and more fantastical designs for the hereafter.
Inspiration came from the artistic style of film directors such as Timur Bekmambetov, Guillermo Del Toro and JJ Abrams all who have a distinctive style and a love of large scope films.
With the basis of the plot gathered, I began to think about the characters.
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