Character Commission- Dutazzi

To keep focus over the holidays and so that I can safely avoid working on my honours project which is at a standstill at the moment; I decided to complete a WoW commission I had been trying to get through during the madness of final assessments. Here is the progress on Dutazzi a lvl 85 Troll Hunter.

Finished product

Keeping the Creativity Flowing

One of the easiest things to do when on holiday from uni is to start seeing illustrating with a directive as work and to therefore avoid it. To overcome this, I search the net looking for competitions or open calls for illustrations so that I continue to practice working to a brief and deadline even when not at uni. The past few weeks have seen me design and complete a Christmas card for gaming company, Blizzard. The brief was that the card had to include characters from either Starcraft, Diablo and/or World of Warcraft; so I went with all of them on the one card.

SketchJam

Weekly sketchJam, the colours and theme are set each week and we have approximately an hour to complete the drawing. This week we had to draw a humanoid monster thing and as I've been sick all week mine ended up being a snot demon lol. 

Draco Complete Movie

To view the completed film, Draco Frightful Fun, please refer to the following link. I learnt a lot doing this film and have improved so much in terms of animation and finding my feet with layout and design. Would not have been possible without the hardwork of Amy & Yolanda. For me, this isn't the last time I will work with Draco and Draak, I have future ideas in mind and will keep you posted; but for the immediate future this is where they will stay.

SketchJam

I had never tried this concept online before but it was well good. It's essentially a chatroom but with visual access to everybody's desktop. Colours were chosen and a theme of ít's so freaking hot' was decided upon. We roughly had 30mins to finish a drawing. Here is my very rough interpretation of the theme lol.

Possible Further Study

Well Draco is finished. So, now what's next? Well I am considering further study to allow me time to explore some different animation styles, so potentially I could be back at uni next year completing an Hons year. Here's what I am thinking of studying:

As an animator I have an interest not only in the artistic and technical processes involved in animation, but also in the construction of narrative in order to tell a ‘good story.’ In my previous degree I studied the classic canonical literature of western societies and it was through my extensive study of such literature that I recognised a central aspect of the narrative common to all stories regardless of cultural origin.

This pivotal narrative device is the construction of a sense of community in a largely homogenised society and the identification of the outsider. This form of conflict provides the basis of most, if not all, literary texts and I believe is also the case within western animated feature films. The difference between the protagonist and the community can be visual and literal or ideological and psychological, but it is the presence of such difference that creates the all- important conflict paramount to the telling of a ‘good story.’

In my honours year I propose to study the presence of this narrative device as an integral part of story-telling in the visual medium of animation. In particular I will focus upon animated feature films of the Walt Disney Animation Studios and how the outsider is constructed within the narrative and as a visual presence on screen through colour, design and layout. This study will compliment my deliverable which will be a short animated film.

The film will be based upon a script that I wrote for our scriptwriting class (received a distinction grade) and although it will need rigorous revision to be condensed as an animated short, it is a story that encapsulates the concept of community and the evolution of the outsider. The story uniquely traces the change that occurs within both the individual and their environment, in this case the Australian suburbs. A full synopsis of the film proposal will be available at a later date. In contrast to my recent film, Draco, this individual project will be a different style visually and will incorporate different programs (such as Photoshop and TV Paint) in addition to Toon Boom to give the film the personal, authentic aesthetic that will contribute to the successful telling of the story. 

Draco Teaser Trailer

Finished our film, Draco: Frightful fun and this is the teaser trailer. World premiere is on 22 Nov in Brisbane with the rest of the awesome films from the graduating class of 2011. 

Game Prototype

Games History game prototype here

Poster Presentation for Games History

Games History poster presentation, the poster has been made to promote the mock-up computer game, RESISTANCE. The poster design was inspired by the propaganda posters from the Second World War. The poster is also found in the game itself as a recruitment poster for the resistance group in game.

Poster Presentation for Game Mock-up called RESISTANCE

Poster in game context

Parisian street in game concept art

Parisian street in game concept art

NPC Concept Art

Workflow - China: The Sleeping Dragon

Rough in basic shapes and layout

Basic colours

Detailing on the dragon's head

Add the bubble and more details to the dragon

Transition from dragon to wall (giant leap forward cos I worked on it at uni)

Add mountains and structures for Great Wall

My fave bit? The Chinese flag stars around her sleeping eye

Magazine Illustration: Rationale

The very first criteria listed in this assignment, was to select an article of substance from an existing magazine, this ruled out most of the magazines currently found at newsagents. I selected the article from TIME magazine as they are a publication well known for their journalistic integrity and their choice of story subject matter. I knew that I wanted something completely removed from animation or illustration and I knew that I wanted it to be dry and topical. These two factors dictated my selection of an article detailing the current economic situation in China and its’ far reaching ramifications.

Having studied political cartoons as a student of history I am aware of the iconographic visuals associated with various countries in certain contexts and this is why I choose to depict China as the sleeping dragon. The dragon is red in colour like the Chinese flag and around its sleeping eye can be seen the 5 stars that also make up the flag, the flag was important to include as it represents the country and also the theme of nationalism. The design of the actual dragon itself was very important as it is based upon the Chinese dragons often seen in temples and as a symbolic representation of the emperor. The dragon’s claw rests on the globe indicating as mentioned in the feature article the impact of an economic crisis in China across the globe. In my mind when the dragon is woken her first reaction would be to clutch and smash the earth which is in keeping (metaphorically) with the article’s themes of global economic turmoil. As the body of the dragon disappears into the distance it becomes the Great Wall of China, yet another symbolic icon of the country of China and important in defining the sleeping dragon as representing China herself. Above the dragon’s head (a shadow can be seen just above her horns) is bubble filled with houses. This is a direct interpretation of the false economy created by an inflated housing boom and the economic metaphor of a bubble that must eventually burst after a period of rapid growth. Once the bubble bursts, the houses will fall and awaken the dragon- this illustration correlates directly to the ideas within the feature article and creates a visual representative summation of the article’s themes.

 Once the illustration was created I faced the problem of making its look fit the magazine’s context. TIME magazine is a rather serious magazine that deals with socio political and economic issues from across the globe, therefore when looking at the coloured version of my illustration I found that it was a little too childlike or fantasy art based. The final design of a predominantly black and white image with the dragon and globe in colour provided a stark contrast whilst invoking a sense of seriousness and iconographic imagery associated with the country of China.

Final Full Colour Dragon

Final Assessment: Magazine Editorial

For this assignment we had to select a magazine article 'of substance' and illustrate it accordingly. My illustration is based on a TIME magazine article about the current economic situation in China and how the potential collapse of the growth period may lead to a global financial recession or worse.

Final illustration: took 2 and a half days to complete

Skateboard Deck Design

Something completely different for me, skateboard deck design for a pro-model skateboard. Had to consist of a tri colour palette.

Animation, animation, animation

Working on cleans for Draco and my life at the moment is an endless cycle of black line chasing the orange in a vain attempt to keep the animation from jitterbugging right off the screen. Daily routine has vanished and over this week long break I wake at 9am start work at 10am then continue through to usually 12midnight or 2am. The cans of V are taking over the desk, but there is a sense that I am achieving things and making an all out effort to move the Draco production along.

Always time for lols though:

How I feel at 2am when I go to bed and Draco is still on screen

Studio Set Up for Portrait

My studio, complete with old school 'dual screens' lol

Portrait Complete

The finished portrait, I'm pleased with her likeness. Also pleased that was able to digitally paint her in colour rather than simply going with the black and white original.

Sexy

Illustration Portrait: The Process

The original photograph by Milton Greene in black and white only, I used colour photographs of Marilyn as reference for her colouring. 

Done in Photoshop CS3 using Wacom over approx 3 days.

basic sketch

block in shapes

skin tones

reference picture of different pose helps with her colouring

Cigarette and more depth to shadows

lips and teeth- a challenge to avoid tombstone syndrome

eyes and eyebrow with rough sketch for guidance

The cardi- pale blue own choice to compliment her hair and pale complexion

Blocking in hair and tonal values

Softening the hair