Thursday 26 November 2009

Just a note

I think that even though i made a few negative comments and explained that i will redo the moat and mountainous wall concept, I will be brave and use this as one of my final pieces unless I manage to scribble out another design tonight, but it takes me long enough so i dont think that it will work.

Anyways, the reason behind this is because today, yes the day before the crit! , Photoshop on my laptop decided that it would erase a few of my prep images that i could have used and most of another final concept!!!!!! I managed to redo one of them (the last post) and am fairly pleased with the result but thats the reason for my lack of uploaded preps (not an excuse). Emily tried to help me recover them this morning but no such luck :( They're gone forever!!!

Jungle concept continued

At the end of the last post, i explained that i wanted to add something to the image because the foreground didnt look as if the characters were trekking thorugh the jungle and the hilly area still didnt look raised. instead, i decided to add another tree as if to suggest that the characters were looking through it, and made the shrub overlap it.




Jungle Ruins Concept











































When i added grass to the two different layers, they began to look like they were the same layer, so the image below shows that i added another layer over the top/


















































Even though I created a new layer, the foreground still didnt look like it was slightly raised as if the characters were trekking through it. This is osmething that i will work on and play around with to see if i can create a better final image.

Wednesday 25 November 2009

Volcano concept


ok, so heres a piece of concept art i was working on- like i said in my previous post, i wanted to take a step back and zoom out from the close-up of the volcano and moat. I decided that i would include a piece which was a view through the end of the jungle and grass which they trekked through to get to the moat, where they faced the steep mountainous wall.
i didnt include the moat in this piece because it would be too crowded and it wouldnt overly be seen anyway through the grass and trees.

The images are very simple but i didnt want to go too much into detail and the scene is set just before the sun finally sets.







i made quite a few layers to make the volcano, but i merged them so that i was able to edit it as a whole.

I used a very pale pink/white to brush over the volcano and turned the opacity down to create a faded look, so it was clear that it was in the background and further away from the trees.

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Prep drawing of moat

I admit, I was slow starting and uploading these images purely because i dont have a lot of confidence in my work, especially as i have had no experience at all of digital painting. So, here is a little Prep study of one of the concepts. It was meant to be a close-up of the moat running round the outside of the volcanic wall.


When I showed Digital Phil and explained that it didnt look right, we agreed that it would be best if i had a main focus point to the image first and also to not make it look flat. So, to improve on this, I will 'zoom out' of the view and step back a little, showing more of the volcano so that it has a defined shape and is easier on the eye. The same with the moat.



So, here goes..... :S :S oh, and the layers messed up a little too :(












Just working out a composition











I drew a quick sketch of the wall detail first before adding colour.






















Same image as above, just deleted the wall sketch layer.














Grass detail in the corner was added






Added the moat detail- was meant to resemble a dried up moat with a patch of water- i used a textured brush for the mud in the moat so that it looked dried out.










It's not clear to see from this image but i used a grass shaped brush to create small patches of grass springing out of the ground.

Jungle research

There's a scene in the book which describes the characters coming across blocks of ruins- each block being separated by what had once been garden-ground, but now was dense jungle. the pathways were traceable by the burnt-up appearance of the grass which grew upon them.





I decided mainly to research some jungles to help out with composition and colour etc.



I would like to use style of the trees in this image because, though not directly in this scene, the structure of the pillars in the cavern in another scene are described as being similar to that of stately palms. Quote, 'we discovered a large quantity of stately looking palms... and i have no doubt that that the first designer of those columns drew his inspiration from the graceful bends of those very palms...' This can also be used in the mountain/volcano scene as it also says that the palms , 'now beautified the slopes of the mountain that had once formed the shores of the volcanic lake.'




I added this image because i like they way the light shines through the trees- you can see the beams of light shining down.












Some research images

In one of my previous posts, I wrote a basic background to the book and mentioned that it was set in Egypt,, but Simon commented and advised me to steer away from this and to look at Sumerian cities and ruins.












I really like the way the sun is low in the sky and has an orangey glow over the ruins. I will try and incorporate this in one of my final pieces.
















I also researched other ruins to be able to understand their structure and textures.









Tuesday 17 November 2009

Short and Sweet 2 :)

So Farideh, Leo and I took another trip up to London to Short and Sweet; this time the mood being a lot more light-hearted. We were quite saddened to find out that they were going on holiday for a couple of months and they will be resuming in February.



I thought i would post a few of the films that I particularly enjoyed, but they were very difficult to find....

This film, 'Spider,' was one of my favourites. When you watch it, you'll probably wonder why- i dnt really have the answer myself because its quite shocking, but i think its the pure fact that you take it so seriously up until the very end when you thenr realise that its meant to be quite a dark comedy. I think the fact that i also have a terrible fear of spiders helps me to relate to it more.....



One of the music videos also caught my eye- it was a promo for the Kooks' song 'Sway.' I related to it because i really love the song- its about losing someone. In the Kooks' case it was the lead singer of the Kooks having to get rid of his drummer after drug abuse- i relate to it in other ways but still about losing someone. I can't put the video up on here because we were given a special preview, which consisted of many of the same elements of the original video but you can check out the song and the official video on youtube or on my blog lol (whichever is available), just to listen to the meaning behind the lyrics and get the overall jist...

link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKLYO-4LRsY

Edward Scissorhands




Well, what can i say? I really loved watching Edward Scissorhands am so glad we were given the chance to see it, especially being a hige Tim Burton fan. I admire the way the events happening in the film relate to Burton's life in so way or another, and Edward's appearance reflecrs that of Burton's too. I must say that although very dark and gothic in places, it was such a beautiful and touching filmand definitely brought tears to my eyes, especially the scene where Edward was carving an ice sculpture whilst Kim danced in the snowflakes he was producing. The end scene where we learn that the elderly lady telling the story is Kim herself and find out that the last time she saw Edward was when she pretended he had been killed, but is sure he is still around because it still snows is very touching.






Having Johnny Depp play the part of Edward was an excellent choice- his own character fits Edwards perfectly and we automatially feel a connection to him.

Another very effective scene was when we hear Peggy's husband explain that having money in society makes you accepted and urges Edward to charge people for the hedge shapes he created. Everyone can relate to the idea of trying to fit in and become accepted within a group. The film has a very comical value to it too but it also quite emotional.















I liked this particular image in the film, where the Avon lady, Peggy has done her door-to-door in the typical 50's suburban neighbourhood, which is humerously colourful, looks in her wing mirror to reveal a complete contrast; a gothic mansion, dark and gloomy. However, it still intrigues her and goes off in search for a new Avon customer, admiring the gothic surroundings whilst shes there, only to find Edward Scissorhands and brings him home with her, where he is treated like an outsider.


Overall, a brilliant film and possibly one of my favourites!!!


Friday 13 November 2009

Thumbnails


These are little thumbnails of 4 main scenes that i want to try out as Concepts. In the digital painting lesson, today, i began to reprouce the 3rd thumbnail from the picture above- Phil H spoke with me and helped me to make the composition more interesting. The ruins were the main focus, so they needed to be much bigger and bolder so the focus isnt taken away from them.


i think i may make the tree trunk in the foreground slightly stronger because it's a bit too overpowering. The ruins will be more detailed. I did still find it quite tricky organiseing myself in Photoshop and was a bit 'fingers and thumbs' on it for half the time, but i did manage to master making paintbrushes so that i can create a more realistic grass effect and also learned how to change the 'noise' of the image to create a grainy effect which will be useful for the bricks and rocks of the ruins.




Thursday 12 November 2009

Pillar of Fire

In the story of She: A History of Adventure, there is a scene where the supposed reincarnation of Ayesha's true love is asked to walk through the pillar of fire so that he will become immortal with her and 'live happily ever after.' I didnt know where to start so i researched some images of fire as a starting point- I chose to go with the one shown below...... (Although not a 'pillar' exactly, it depicts the image that was created in my mind- a suddden burst of flames.










I used this as a basis for my drawing- its only a quick drawing, mind, and doesnt look realistic but here goes....







The pillar of fire in the book was described as, "like a rainbow-many coloured,' so i decided to incorporate some more colour. I will put these images into Photoshop again and play around with the colours and special effects....




I dont have a background on these images purely because i was just testing the idea out, but i think with a bit of work, it could be transformed into one of the final pieces- The setting the pillar of fire in is 'carpeted with fine, white sand; walls had been worn smooth; not dark like the other caves.' I will try this composition out next and add the fire to it of it works.

Wednesday 11 November 2009

Random sketch in colour



Photoshop decided to crash on me today, so I had to use another drawing programe that is similar but obviously not as good. However, i really wanted to try and get to grips with drawing with the graphics tablet so i used what i had ........ (the layers went a bit awry cos i got carried away!)

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Short and Sweet

On Monday night, Leo, Farideh and I went up to London to Short and Sweet, where we sit around in a cosy dimly lit bar full of sofas and watch about 8 short films. Yesterday, the movies were quite emotional, candles were lit during one particular film, the crazy organiser cried on stage due to the meanings and depth behind them. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole evening and was told by Leo, who has been before, that the short films shown are usually very light-hearted and comical. However, the line-up for last nights gathering didn't put me off wanting to go again!

Here's a couple of the films that i enjoyed: Im guessing that these particular ones will be popular choices for Leo and Farideh to post on their blog due to our discussions yesterday. Anyway, enough rambling........




I abosolutely loved this quirky music video and was possibly my favourite piece of the evening :)

The next film just made everyone cry with laughter- just the whole randomnes of it is brilliant and is VERY entertaining :)



Check out Leo's blog for some more of these quirky films that have previously been shown and I cant wait til next week so see what's in store then :)

Sunday 8 November 2009

Rough sketch for scene 1

During the Digital Painting lesson on Friday, i came up with one idea for a scene and drew it roughly before choosing to reproduce it in Photoshop I kept re-reading the paragraph the scene was depicting it and each time, a new image cropped up- this was the first image that came to mind:


its very rough with no detail but shows the composition i would like-

However, another time that i read the page this scene was in, the ruins were to be seen from looking down from the volcano- This image that i depicted also fits in with another scene though, after i read on, so does fit both in a way.

(there will be more sketches to come, if not that great- but digital painting stuff will come soon for reasons ii explained in my previous post)

Getting Ideas together

Whilst reading through the exerpts of She: A History of Adventure, I underlined the vivid imagery from the story so that i could focus on the main points (although after reading them a couple of times, my ideas changed and as i began to understand what was going on more).

I decided that i didnt want to just type up the Key Points on my blog because i knew it would confuse me even more and they wouldn't make much sense so i created little spider diagrams to gather my thoughts.


The next step for me was sorting out 3-4 main scenes that i wanted concept drawings for. The thumbnails on here arent good at all but it jsut helped sorting out the rough composition.