Summary;
Evaluating everything i have done on this module I am quite pleased with what I have accomplished, I felt that the Life drawing this year really helped me with my of the human body, It helped me in my work to create a more proportionate character that looked anatomically correct, I'd say that I have developed my knowledge of Photoshop a bit more and have successfully created a character his background, his props and an environment. I was pleased with the CDDA module this semester.
Life Drawing;
So life drawing this year was fun. That would be my initial statement, I thoroughly enjoyed it, I think that i never missed a class i was there every week and i feel like it payed off! i really enjoyed turning up each week and trying out something new trying to use the different types of media to create my images and seeing what worked for me and what didn't along the way, id say a highlight for me was when i first started using pastels i felt that they created a STRONG image, bold colours and smooth lines, and being able to put down quite alot of block colour quickly then manipulating it using my finger to rub in tone or highlights in different places was very helpful in creating my life drawing images, I think its clear to see that in my life drawings the pastel ones were some of my best, at least to me personally they were, I also enjoyed the use of chalks and charcoal though, but favoured charcoal and pastels the most,
I found that Sarah was very helpful this year and the mix of quick drawings for the first half of the session to loosen us all up was very good, it helped me to create anatomically correct drawings quickly, being bale to get down the main structure of the body using, structure and form, and this leading into the second half of the sessions where we would do longer more focussed pieces and these were my favourite i felt that i created often my best pieces of work during these times and I never wanted to finish.
So Thank you for making it enjoyable this year.
Character design;
Okay Character design, I found that after settling on which idea i wanted to make and researching everything for my character i really enjoyed putting the image i had in my head onto the screen and making it into a vision that i could share with others, I thought that my development went well and that i managed to accomplish the look of the character that I wanted, For instance the Beauty shot of my character I was very pleased and proud of I felt that its some of the best concept art I have ever made and thought it was quite a Strong image, I felt that i had managed to portray a certain level of action in the image that i was hoping for and i also got across the feel of the oriental vibe that i wanted for him. One of my favourite parts of the image is his sword after redrawing that image a couple of times i was really pleased and felt like I had nailed the perspective that the sword was coming out towards the screen at you, In total i was very pleased with my character development and I thought it was well accomplished. If I could have done anything differently, I would have perhaps put him into an environment where he was subduing a wanted man or put him in the scene at the bar, just include him in the environment so that you could really get a feel of where he would fit into that world.
Prop Design;
Prop design, Well with the beginnings of my prop starting out as a multi purpose tool/ gun blade, it was difficult to create something that felt right and would fit with the oriental feel, my initial concept drawings of the gun blade and its development were okay but i would have liked maybe to create a few different gun blade design maybe that looked a little more sleeker and in theme with the character, whereas His sword that he uses I was quite pleased with, for what it is I think i did a decent job to display the blade in the turnaround, And i was really pleased with how it turned out in the characters beauty shot, In summary as i said, if i would make any changes and do anything differently then i would have created perhaps a few more gun blade designs and fleshed them out alot more to represent the oriental feel that i was looking for throughout my work, but in all I was happy with this.
Environment design;
Okay The Environment, This at first was very tricky, I was almost dead set on an outside bar shot where you could see partly his ship, but it just didn't feel right, I always wanted a bar, so i thought the next best thing would be a bar shot, of maybe the interior of the bar, the hangout place where this character would spend most of his down time, and when i started doing the research into the different types of places I had a vision in my head that i knew i wanted to accomplish, So With that I started on photoshop just sketching out a bar similar to the one that i had seen in the image before with the round bar, and i thought the idea of a used jet engine being held up above it that would be used, as an extraction system for the kitchens but also a source of light, This appealed to me, after putting all this in the image just seemed a little small and bare, So i wanted to see what i could do with the rest of the scene really paint a picture of where this bar was, the sort of area it was situated in, and I believe once i put in the shady, red light district over the back and the stairs, (once i nailed down the ones i liked) That looked like they went to perhaps a slightly richer of an area that might be a little more flush, and the dirty grungy pipe over head that's dripping with mould The rusty roof and the wall made of metal scraps i felt that it really sold the whole run down oriental vibe, I was really proud of this idea and spent a long time working into this image, I felt that It fit perfectly with Lo-Kags character and was the environment i hoped to convey.
In summary, I am very disappointed and upset that i lost my (PC :( R.I.P) Finished concept design in all its colourful glory but i believe that from what i have left the images that i had drawn and the descriptions about the scene i think that it does its job to paint the picture, the concept if you will of the surroundings that my character would of hung around in, So in conclusion, This piece was a good concept piece to convey Lo-Kag's Environment, I may also re-paint this piece in my own time as I was pleased how it turned out the first time.
Final Thoughts;
Right... So Final Thoughts for CDDA 2k13/14,
Overall I enjoyed it, I was pleased with the work i produced and proud of it, I felt that my skills and experiences have grown and felt that it has made me a better artist, I especially enjoyed life drawing, and thankful to Sarah and Gordon this year for that. I believe that I have accomplished what was set out at the start of the year and that I have created work to a decent standard that I am pleased with, I enjoyed spending time creating each and every one of the pieces.
It was also good to sit down and watch on Wednesday and see all the presentations from everyone this year, To get to see what my peers had created and crafted, I thought that everyone's work was well thought out and there were some really unique and inspiring pieces, If anything could be done on the course differently, i thought that the big group presentation where everyone had to show all there work was a really good thing, and that maybe we should have done that 3 or 4 times over the course of the module so that everyone could give constructive criticism to everyone about each others work and we get to see where the bar is being set in terms of one another amongst our peers. I thought this was a very good experience overall and I am happy and proud with what I created.
Thanks to,
Sarah
Steph
& Gordon
By,
Tim Nightingale
So yeah,
Thank you and,
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!!!
