Learning Outcome 01

Appraise the issues relevant to character design in various contexts.

Designing a character is a process that goes through many stages and requirements. A character has to aggregate ideas, history and personality to form an individual person or thing. It also has to fit to its requirements and to the context in which it will be included: a comic book, children’s animation, game, etc.


One of the first steps in a character design would be to define who this character will be in the story context. To be well-designed a character has got to show much of its history and attitude by its appearance. Knowing the history of the character, where it comes from, what its function is and the importance of it in the role in the story can give lots of content to explore during its development.


Another very important factor in a character’s design is to know about its physical and psychological conditions. Defining colour, race, age, gender, lucidity, how aggressive it is or not will also change much of its development and looks. Resuming, having in consideration the characters life, such as his past, maybe future, and some of his physical and mental condition, can help a lot in its concepts.


As important as these factors are another very relevant issue to consider is to know which media this character is going to be used in and also the public which it is aimed at. Nowadays with the advance of technologies, the only limit faced on a character conception is the imagination of the artist, although many times it is not the complexity of a character that will make it suitable for the work. Children’s books, games or animation, for example, usually require characters with simple lines and colours and short on details for easier comprehension and charisma. On the other hand, developing a game that is aimed at a more adult public will completely change these requirements. In this scenario, most of the time it is the complexity of the world and character being explored that will catch the attention of the spectator. Games such as “God of War”, which are aimed at an audience of 16+, are famous for action scenes and also for the immense size of its scenarios and characters through the game. Gigantic bosses full of history and details where scenes of gore and almost nudity are constantly present might be factors to be considered in this kind of games.


In conclusion, there are many issues to be considered when it comes to a character design. However, having these backgrounds defined makes it much easier to start the work on the concept of these characters. As most works, designing a character is a process, and the most you can define before you get to sketch something, the easier it will be to get it right and have a rewarding outcome.

Leaning Outcome 02

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


The  process of a professional presentation and work development can be seen on the development of the Aztec leader character, for example. The sketch process starts on page 5 and goes until the pages 7 and 8, where a final character is presented in a composition.

http://felipeizidro.blogspot.com/search/label/Character%20Design

Learning Outcome 03

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


Different techniques and methods are demonstrated through out several sketches and thumbnails in the work sheets presented for this submission.

The pages 1 and 3 demonstrate a group of sketches used in the development of the alien character. Also on pages 5 and 6, 9 and 10, sketches around the Aztec leader character and space ship, where the use of perspective was very helpful, are presented. 

The development of a few if the selected pieces can be checked on pages 2 and 4 , for the Alien character, pages 7 and 8 for the Aztec leader and also some of the thumbnails presented on 9 are further developed on pages 11, 12 and 13.

http://felipeizidro.blogspot.com/search/label/Character%20Design

Learning Outcome 04 - Cognitive & Intellectual Skills

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


A moodboard was not put together, but series of images, of different artists around the different fields that would be relevant to this project, were analyzed.

During the speculation of the alien character, other artists and creatures pictures, such as insects, reptiles and sea creatures, were studied. Some of the sketches can be seen at pages 1 and 3.

On the development of the Aztec leader characters and also for the environment development, another research around the Aztec culture and place as made in parallel. Also films and pictures that would have this people, such as “Apocalypto” and “The Fountain”, for example, were very important. The work around the Aztec leader can be found on pages 5 and 6.

http://felipeizidro.blogspot.com/search/label/Character%20Design

Learning Outcome 05

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


Concept art, or also known as creative visualization, is the pre-production process of creating illustration to represent a visual idea for a game, film or animation, for example. In order to have a concept art work started, it is essential to have a script or storyline to work on as a briefing.

This project consisted of developing the concept artwork for a picture discussed during class, at the beginning of the module. The picture in question was a scene described by the tutor as a spaceship hovering some aztec type pyramids. From this point on, the storyline, characters and other details were being built differently by each student. Having this in mind, it is believed that the brief has been achieved and represented in the pictures developed for the project. 

Contemporary practice is formed a wide range of artists with different skills and levels of experience. Studios such as “Massive Black”, “Leading Light Studios”, “Atom Hawk” and a few others, are seen as the top in the field. My work is still requires more development before it can be equated to these contemporary practitioners.

http://felipeizidro.blogspot.com/search/label/Character%20Design

Learning Outcome 06 - Practical & Professional Skills

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


Character is composed of features that form and define the nature and qualities of someone or something. Kind, race, time and place are some of the features that help on a character creation. Being able to create a character is being able to materialize these characteristics and this requires a series of skills and qualities.

To start, a basic drawing skill would be essential. Knowing how to represent something such as a imaginary creature, animal or a human, with a expression of character, may require knowledge of anatomy and structure. Knowledge of human anatomy is a basic skill in drawing any kind of human characters, whether detailed or not. But knowing how to structure a body is not only necessary for human characters. On sheets 3 and 4 it is possible to see how a structure was created underneath the alien character skin, all to ensure a more convincing anatomy and functionality. 

Furthermore, light, color and composition knowledge are skills that can make huge difference on a character exploration. Being able to place a character in a environment also can give more information about personality and character.

http://felipeizidro.blogspot.com/search/label/Character%20Design

Learning Outcome 07

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


Trough the creation process of this project, many pieces of work of many artists were taken as references. Photographic pictures of landscapes, animals and people, pieces of art in different styles and other had major importance as font of inspiration for the first sketches. Although, from the next stage on, the development of the sketches and ideas, all the work done was new and unique, a evolution of the my own pictures.

http://felipeizidro.blogspot.com/search/label/Character%20Design

Aztec Leader

The next post is a development of the Aztec and Aliens project. We were supposed to choose one of the main characters of our story and make a further development on him. My Choice was to develop the Aztec Leader. 

Learning Outcome 08 - Key Transferable Skills

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

Self and professional development depends on a having a clear picture of you. Being able to find strengths and weakness is always a good way to start. During the master’s course, receiving feedback from the tutors and from the other students helped finding out where my mistakes and qualities were. Being able to find out about your own work from a different point of view allow you to improve yours skills in the right direction.  

Learning Outcome 09

Exhibit professional communication skills in the specialist area.


As the tale of this module was developed independently by each student, the story approached by my pictures is about a death based relationship in between the aztecs and aliens. The picture developed on page 07, the Aztec leader set in his throne, has a great strength of character and telling this story.

http://felipeizidro.blogspot.com/search/label/Character%20Design

Aztecs and Aliens

The following work is related to a project where the briefing described a ancient American civilization, much before the Spanish reached the Americas. This civilization had some kind of contact with a alien race that was not yet defined by the briefing, but by was in our designs.

In the first project we were supposed to develop the leader for each group, the alien and the Aztecs.

Naked Men

The following sketches come from one of our first assessments where we a few images of naked men and women of different ages, sizes and colors were required.

Concept Specifications

Project Overview:

Make studies and develop the pre-production concept art for a sci-fi/horror game featuring demonic entities.

A main character, the final boss, two monsters and two environments shall be developed during the project, although only the main character and the final boss shall be taken to a final stage.


Project Development:

At first a few games, artists and films selected to be main references for my project will be studied.

The games ‘Heavy Rain’, ‘Demon’s Souls’, ‘Dark Souls’, ‘Kill Zone’ 1, 2 and 3, ‘Deus EX’ and ‘Dead Space’ will be taken as visual and gameplay reference. The concept art studio ‘Massive Black’, the comic book ‘Spawn’ from Todd McFarlane and its parallel stories ‘Spawn Dark-Ages’ will also be taken as a main point of reference for the visual concepts. This list may be expanded during the project development as other games and artists I discover during my research could also have relevant concepts and styles I consider to be useful references.

The 1986’s film “The Flight of the Navigator” from ‘Walt Disney Studios’, will be another reference, however its major contribution is related to the storyline of my game. The game’s storyline is not yet definite, although a short script based on this film shall be written to guide my concept studies. The development of a storyline will be important to define the context of the game: where is it going to happen, when is it going to happen, who is the main character and how does he develop and who and how are the monsters to be developed.

Once the storyline of the game is defined and the contextualization is clear, a series of paper based rough sketches around the main character and final boss will be developed first. These first sketches shall not be detailed and the main objective of those sketches will be defining the silhouette, structure and size of the main characters. Also based on these sketches, particularly the final boss’ sketches, a few secondary monsters shall be developed. At the same time, I will be studying the main references I’ve collected. These studies will help me to define style and also to collect ideas for my concepts.

After I reach a satisfying series of sketches around these two main characters, I shall discuss its qualities in class. The feedback and analysis I receive will help me to choose the two options that I will take to a next level of development. Once the concepts that are suitable to my project are chosen, the next level of development in terms of detail and finalization will get started. Details such as suits, face and assets will start to be developed, going through the same process of development faced before.

Having the characters defined, with individual sheets for each of them, the action poses and facial expression for the main character and the final boss will be developed. One action scene in an environment will also be developed to a finalized illustration level.


Delivery Items:

-A document with the development sketches for the main character, final boss and secondary monsters;
-A sheet with two action poses and three facial expressions for the main character;
-A sheet with two action poses and three facial expressions for the final boss;
-A finalized illustration with an action scene in an environment between the final boss and the main character.

Line Drawing

http://www.herbwiersma.com/transit/line.pdf

In these post I will give my opinion related to the pictures in the link above. The main idea is to study line these line drawing, what make it work and how do my work compare to them.

Nude:
Egon Schiele’s nude is characterized for a very organic free line. With a free movement the artist find the shapes and composition without much care to details and anatomical accuracy. Also the soft line, from what looks to the result of a metal etching, added the texture presented in the background, gives the picture a very relaxed feeling.

Property Owners:
 Unlike to Egon Schiele’s, in terms of line,  George Grosz bring to his picture a very sharp line rich in details. The picture is also not accurate to the anatomical proportions of the human body, however I believe these disproportions are directly related to the picture’s story telling.

Cholera Lines:
The picture from Ronald Searle brings to the spectator a dramatic view. Line in these picture has no longer the function of defining shape only, but also brings shadow and depth. The artist keeps a more accurate body proportion and with a more dramatic line gives the picture a much stronger meaning.

Blind Men:
The artist Hokusai bring to this picture a sharp confident line that enhance the strong style proposed in these characters. Not only to define the shapes, line is very well explore to in a few textures.

Akira studies:
Again, in these oriental pictures you will find a very confident sharp line defining shapes and texture, but different to the “Blind Men” from Hokusai, a more calculated line supported by the hatching lines give it more volume and dynamism to the images.

Holiday Types:
Only one type of line is explored in these images: sharp and confident line. Very successful in giving very different personalities to all his characters, Jonathan Millward define shapes and different textures, suck as different hairstyles and fabrics, not changing much the rhythm and thickness of his line.

Tank Girl:
The black and white Tank Girl from Jamie Hewlett do not have many variation on line style and thickness. The strong comic style enhanced by a the dramatic contrast of the two colors, Thank Girl do not give you much room for other interpretation.

Set Drawings:
Confident and relaxed lines are present to this set sketches from the arts Ronald Searle. The sharp strong lines used in the construction of the characters faces make a beautiful composition when put together to the messy and free line used on the creation of the hair styles.

Vogue:
A sharp and precise line is explored in Carl Erikson’s composition. Full of details and very accurate, the lines in this picture varies from a tick outline line, defining shapes and depth, to a very thin line resumed to the exploration of the picture’s details. Mixed to these precise lines, a dust and a bit random texture in the background, with the non “finalization” of the picture, when the author leave many of the lines opened on the edges of the illustration, invite the viewers to explore it and have further interpretations.

Disney’s Hercules:
Clearly just a sketch from the artist Andreas Deja by the overlap on the strong lines of the composition. The fluidity and the mix of curved and straight lines, supported by a strong style makes it smooth for the eyes. All the curves put together with the sensual hair and look make the character very feminine.

Disney’s Aladdin:
Another sketch from Walt Disney. In these one Glen Keane is clearly trying out with a very loose line. What make’s it work is the line of action. On the top of the thinner lines, a few strong lines bring a few shapes out of the mess.

Skateboarders:
At this picture, from the artist Kevin Springet, a very fluid line defining shapes without many details put everything together. There’s a slightly different style from the skateboarders in the top, from the ones sitting in the bottom, once the use of textures replace the tangled lines present in the first ones.

Juggler:
A sharp tick line flowing in one rhythm brings all together in these picture from Herb Wiersma. The non connection of the lines, with the lack of minor details gives the image at the same time depth in space and expression.

Fleurs du Mal:
Henri Matisse simplifies these picture to its essential lines. A few more of a dozen of loose lines that do not change much in thickness and form, give’s  the viewer lots of space to wander around the picture.

Me ,)

 

Well, I think I was kind of successful in these picture, as a representation of reality and study, however I believe there is a lack of style in my drawing. I think I still have much to learn in terms of line thickness exploration, specially in terms of creating more smooth and subtile  transitions on space and volume. I think these might not be the best example of my work to show this, but I also think there's much in terms of creating a structure that I want to improve in my drawings.

First blog!

How exciting, here it is, finally born, my first blog!