Printed Book! and evaluation

Here are a few images of how the book turned out, really happy with the print quality and how it all came together.

Evaluation

In this project I intended to improve on my 2d concept and design skills, and I think I have successfully improved in these areas. I have also improved my workflow and the speed I am able to concept and paint. By choosing a project that covered the majority of the different areas of concept art from characters, creatures, weapons, vehicles and environments I have built up a better understanding of each subject and have developed a much more varied portfolio. This project was a great opportunity for me as it gave me the chance to work as a concept artist would work in the industry, to concept and design from descriptions set by designers or lead artists. I didn’t encounter many problems with this project, but I do think if I was on a master’s course I could at least have doubled the work and even further increased my skills and knowledge but with working alongside other projects I had to limit the amount of work I could do because of other deadlines. From completing this project I now onwards I have a better understanding and a better workflow to work on other projects similar to this to further my portfolio. For example I could use another book as a starting point to create another series of work to create something completely different from what I have done in this project; this could explore different styles and various painting techniques.

Makelyne and Dragon final.....i think

calling this piece done now.. again. I think its much better than how it was before so I'm glad i took the time to redo it.

Making revisions!

One of the tutors had mentioned that this painting would look better on a more wider canvas, i agreed but had to move on to get other work finished in time... luckily i have a bit of time now to go back over the work i had done this year. I am pleased that i have as i can see the improvements already from this quick paint-over, I'm hoping the changes shouldn't take to long as the stuff Ive added in is outside the focal point so doesn't need to be too detailed! its nice to look back over the year though wish a fresh view on everything and make the changes to improve my work.

Final scene

Calling this one done now. Time to go back through the work I've done this year to make any changes then its about time i start putting the book together!

Update

Some more progress on the final scene, almost there. I'm going to have to call it a day on this one soon.

Hookmen scene wip

Not uploaded any progress in a while.
Here's a wip for the Hookmen scene, its changed quite a bit. I decided to go with a more blue-ish/green colour palette as it's what i originally thought the scene would be like, to make it look all murky. I have a fair bit to do on this but hopefully i can get it finished soon so i can start putting the final book together!

Narrowing down options

 

Ive narrowed my choices down to these two concepts... although I'm not  sure which to go with now! will have to get some feedback to hopefully move forward and get some progress done for this piece as times running out!

Colour tests

More colour tests

Hookmen scene wip

Thinking of different colour pallets i could go for... want to try a few more i always seem to go with blue and contrasting orange... which i like but i think i use it too much in my work.

Hookmen WIP

 Back to some progress with the Hookmen scene, tried going for a more line art approach to get a better of idea what ill actually be painting instead of just jumping straight in there.

Here's what I've got after a little bit of time sketching and blocking in the tones. Still not feeling right about the buildings, i like the sketch i done earlier but its hard to show that idea with the view i have here... all the buildings are looking kind of the same.. i need to add some more character to them to make it interesting, maybe even some smaller wooden buildings as i don't think they would all be huge buildings, the jailers would only be the big places. Got lots to do anyway but I'm getting somewhere, i just hope i can find an interesting colour palette to bring it all together.

House sketches and ideas

I was struggling with getting the idea of how the houses would look in the world, because they cant be too neat and tidy because the water level is always rising slowly. In the book the buildings are described as being built up on top of the buildings below the water level, and all the parts such as the windows and door frames are then moved up above the water level, so houses are stacked up and built on top of each other. Above are some useful reference images that are relevant to what i need. 

 

Here are some sketches i came up with for a general idea on how the houses would look. i liked the idea of having cranes and winches set up on top of the buildings so supplies and building materials can be pulled up to continue the building process, but also to dry out wood and other materials so they are safe to use. 

Hookmen scene sketch

Decided to try another sketch for this scene.... and I'm actually fairly happy with the direction its going! one problem though that's been holding me back is the buildings, because i haven't got a clear image of how i want them to look in my head i have no idea when it comes to painting the scene. So next I'm going to do some building and architecture sketches, hopefully this will allow me to gain more inspiration and an understanding of how i want the final scene to look.

Granger in armour

Some more work on this piece, calling it done for now, need to go back to the Hookmen boat scene and start from scratch!

WIP

Worked more on this painting a bit today.. mainly detailing the face as its the main focal point.

.....Think i went of a bit OTT on the face detailing.. no one will see it but mehh i enjoyed creating all the cracked bits of skin and cuts.. just noticed his left eye (on the painting) looks a bit odd, ill have to change that.

WIP progress

Some more work on Granger in armour, found a good reference for how i wanted the position of his head, it just wasn't how i wanted it before so its looking much better with that change.. still lots to do

Hookmen and Granger in armour scenes (WIP)

Blocked in the basic idea i had in mind for the scene where Granger busts into the room where his daughter is getting tortured. Nothing too fancy just want Granger looking pretty bad ass standing there in his armour with his disfigured face and bloodshot eyes.

Ive now also started to come back to the Hookmen scene as i wasn't really happy with the direction it was going. Here I've cropped the canvas to try and see if it makes the buildings look a bit more built up, i think it needs more brick showing instead of plastered walls.. but just not sure if its interesting enough.

Here's a quick attempt at trying something new for the scene, just a quick photo manipulation and paint over. Again not too happy with the general direction for this, hopefully i can keep at it until i find something i think suits what i want.....

Granger and Samarol wip

Worked more on this scene, getting more happy with this now, just want to add some more details here and there...

Granger and Samarol scene wip

Starting to add some colour to it now.... got a lot of work to do on this piece.

Granger in Unmer armour thumbnails

Thought id take a break from the other scenes to work on some ideas for another scene, where Granger bursts through into a room where his daughter is getting tortured. Hes wearing Unmer armour with a sword and shield.. I quickly sketched up some basic ideas, thinking to include other characters or not, but i think the main focal point should be on granger so i then developed a thumbnail to have granger standing in the doorway.. not sure if i should make the scene more wide or to leave it like this to focus on the main character.

Granger and Samarol scene wip

Started to work up this scene to see if its the direction i want to go. Realised where the helmet was in the sketch before was wrong and just wouldnt work... so i changed it so it looks like granger just punched the helmet and the front piece has come flying off. I kind of like it at the moment but not sure if it ruins the composition.

Granger and Samarol scene

Done some more research looking into boxing fights and things like that, wanted one more scribble at a sketch before i start working on a chosen idea in more detail, kind of like this sketch although im not sure if it has enough energy i want in the piece.

Granger and Samarol fight scene thumbnails

Some quick sketches to start with some ideas for the next painting i need to do, its a scene in the book where granger is almost in a battle arena where he has to fight various oponents, what i want to show is where granger nocks the helmet of the samarol character revealing the bare human skull underneath

Hookmen Boat scene wip 2

Some more progress with the boat scene, blocked in most of the buildings now, more happy with it and feels like its getting somewhere, Ive also thrown in some of the Hookmen.. which need some serious work, drawing people small with a pose that reads from a distance and showing character is so hard! Next i want to work on a few of the buildings in the background, to try and show some of the constant construction going on in the world to escape the rising waters, possibly some cranes on the top of the buildings.

Hookmen boat scene wip

Started working on some thumbnails for the Hookmen boat scene where the Hookmen come to collect Granger. Wasn't too happy with the thumbnails i did, couldn't get down what i was visualising in my head. Then i came across a really nice image that would fit the scene perfectly as a starting point, I'm not sure if the image was of somewhere in china but it had Chinese lanterns scattered around everywhere. After a quick painting over and adding the 3d boat in the scene i think its starting to shape up nicely.. just need to make the buildings a bit more rough looking and botch built. Also the Hookmen are pretty important, i think i might have one guy stepping of the boat onto the steps then a few at the back of the boat or something.

Hookmen boat sketch

Just a quick paint over of the boat concept, just thought it would be nice to see it in some water... probably wont use this at all but was nice to do..

Hookmen boat

Concept for the Hookmen boat, from the thumbnails i went with a mixture of number 1 and 6 and came with this small rusty old fisherman's boat. I first blocked out a 3d model then took some renders to paint over, not sure if I'm going to work on the back view yet... might just do other orthographic views so anyone can see how the rest of the boat looks.

Hookmen boat thumbnails

Some thumbnails for the boat that the Hookmen arrive on to capture Granger. I imagine the boat to be more of a smaller looking fisherman's boat, all rusty and quite old looking. leaning towards 1,2 and 6.

Crystal Shield

Finished concept for the Crystal shield Granger takes with him to save his daughter. i want to do a back view sketch when i have time to show the arm strap, and also to show that the crystal part at the top can been seen through by the user of the shield.

Samarol rifle

Concept for the Samarol characters rifle, still some things i want to finish up such as the bullets it uses and other things you can see floating around. Last piece of weaponry next, Granger's blood red shield.

Harpoon gun

Finished concept for the Hookmen harpoon gun, pretty happy with how it turned out, still needs some tweaking with some dark areas i think but I'm happy enough to leave it for know.

Replicating sword

Granger's replicating sword that he finds with the armour he wears later in the book.

Emporor Hu's Trasient sword

Emporor Hus sword final concepts, think i want to go and rework the silver part between the blade and the handle.. don't think it quite fits the rest of the design but i need to move on for now.

Unmer seeing blade

Final concept for the Unmer seeing blade. Not really happy with how the blade turned out.. don't think it really looks like metal too much but hopefully ill be able to improve on that later when i have time. 

Samarol carbine rifle- 3d block out

3d block out for a rifle, against just added some quick materials to get the base colours down.

Harpoon Gun- 3d block out

Here i have blocked out one of the harpoon gun concepts. I figured id make multi-sub objects in max to lay down some flat colours onto the model, this will cut down the painting stage a huge amount! i don't really know why i haven't done it before. Pretty happy with how this turned out, going to take some higher res screenshots before painting over this weapon.