Week 4: Game production

Wow, this was certainly the most difficult week so far; we were set our new project 'Sci-fi crate' on Tuesday and had a week to complete it. I was a little bit concerned to begin with but figured 'how hard can it be?!'... Very.

I think the biggest mistake I made was at the beginning when I felt comfortable enough to model the crate without watching any tutorial videos. I used the planes provided as reference and managed to model the crate within the first day. That was completely fine until I came to unwrap it. I haven't had much experience in texturing despite my previous knowledge of Maya- its something I really struggled with and kinda managed to do okay-ish if I posed my beauty renders right...

I spent the entire day struggling to unwrap my model, with things just not working how they should with no explanation. After achieving nothing after an at least 8 hour day I decided to give it a rest and come back to it the next day. I eventually realised that I had in actual fact modelled it slightly differently to the example video and my unwraps wouldn't work in the same way so I infact needed to restart my model. So that was two days straight up wasted.. I was a little bit frustrated to say the least but knew that I really needed to up my game.

But after a very long week I achieved what I set out to do!

Beauty render of my crate

Copy of my conclusion of the project because I've already summarised it once!

" Overall I’m generally pleased with what I have produced although I feel like having learnt so much along the way I could probably start it again and do a much better job. 

I think I could probably make the model itself more interesting rather than following the example; I had originally tried to do it myself first time around but ran into some trouble unwrapping and didn’t know how to work with the model I had made so had to restart which was quite frustrating as I had wasted a good two days of my time. Although now that I understand unwrapping better I know I could do a more interesting model and have a better knowledge of how to unwrap it on my own.

As well as this I spent a considerable time experimenting with different textures and different looks; I didn’t decide on exactly how I wanted it to look in terms of metal and how worn it was going to be so I was learning as I went along too which took up a lot more of my time.

Due to the amount of time I essentially spent messing around putting different types of textures on my map I ended up running out of time to come up with a really interesting design. I had decided to do my own design rather than follow the concept which we were told was acceptable but I didn’t spend any time actually designing it so in my opinion it turned out pretty bland in terms of design, although I am pleased with the textures and effects I was able to get onto it and I feel like I learned a lot over the duration of the project.

Also I was introduced to various maps such as bump and specular. I was only able to create a bump map and apply it but if I had more time I’d do some more looking into the different maps so that I could improve my work.

But generally with the complications that I came across I’m glad I achieved this outcome and I know that I have learnt a lot from it so the skills will hopefully follow through to different projects."

Week 4: Visual design

This week in visual design we had quite a sparse day in terms of workload- the majority of digital art was a really interesting talk about idea generation and the use of silhouettes which will be really useful when we begin to generate our own ideas.

Life drawing was actually a struggle simply because we didn't have a teacher or any proper models- we simply had to draw each other which sounds easy enough but I think I actually struggled more.

I think because we all had to draw each other (I at least) found it hard to keep focused with the poses getting more comical as we went on. I think I will probably benefit drawing clothed people in a more public environment where I can focus better on my drawings rather than giggling at my peers struggling to hold their pose! One benefit we found as a group though is that we got a lot more drawings done; we did five minute poses and switched straight after rather than being taught inbetween.

Value studies using different pencils

Lastly we had a short seminar on value range and using your pencils effectively to get the correct range of values.

Week 3: Game production and critical studies

Game production

Our work on our cubee man continued over to our game production work as it served the purpose of helping us to understand texture unwrapping and such.

I'm really pleased with how my little superhero turned out although I think with more iterations I probably could have come up with a better design overall.

 Critical studies

In this week's critical studies we had to create a 3 minute presentation on our favourite character, following a lecture on what makes a good visual character.

I was quite unsure for a few days on what character I would want to present; should I go with my genuine favourite character or should I just pick a design that I really like? I had thought of going with a character from a TV show called Vikings, as I genuinely loved her design and her character, although I wasn't sure that I could say that much about her design as it was only really costume that constituted her design..

I brainstormed some other characters and came up with the idea of Godzilla. I did some really good research and found lots of things to cover on his design but at the last minute I changed my mind because I wasn't a 'true Godzilla fan' I was only really considering him because it was easier not because I adored his design.. Bit of a mistake! I wasn't really happy with how my presentation went. It was partly down to poor preparation and a bit of a weak design that I chose. I also let nerves get the better of me and ended up pretty much reading off my notes which I already knew wasn't a good idea!

But I know what I did wrong so I hope I can use this as a stepping stone to my next presentation (regardless of how much I'm not looking forward to it)

Week 3: Visual design

This week we had to continue our work with perspective but we had moved on to two point. I had found the thought of it a little intimidating at first but when I got down to it I actually found it quite straight forward.

Selection of some two point perspective thumnails, some were done from photos online due to weather!

I already feel like I'm starting to understand perspective a whole lot better than when we began and it really is down to practice, which makes me wonder what else I should look to focus on and improve on. I still have some issues finding the vanishing point but I often find I have a good enough understanding to draw some parts without the construction lines.

I really enjoyed life drawing this week especially as we were able to do longer poses!

Some warm up sketches- two minutes continuous line and two minutes of drawing with the opposite hand.

A seated pose sketch.

My fifteen minute sketch above went a lot quicker than I expected and I realised afterwards that I had exaggerated the perspective of the legs and made them a little too big in comparison to the torso. It was suggested that I stand away from my drawing especially on this scale (A3) so I could check on my scales. Its at this point I miss the digital art comforts of being able to easily re-scale!

In our digital class we had to do something a little different; we needed to design a superhero cubee man. We weren't given much time to design but I decided to go with an iridescent beetle-like design (with some insect controlling superpower perhaps). Rather than looking like a guy in a suit he looked more like a creature but I really liked the colours and shimmer I gave him. We were then told to have it finished and printed on card for the next day. 

Week 2: Other bits and pieces

Decided to put this into one post as it wasn't worth a whole post each!

Critical studies
Our second critical studies lecture/seminar focused on character design and what exactly makes up a good character, discussing things like silhouette, believability, readability etc. We were then tasked with creating a three minute presentation on our favourite character. I'm not a massive fan of presentations, and really like to know exactly what I need to do but we've been given a bit of lee-way in terms of the precise content so I am a little bit on edge but once I've chosen a strong character and got good content I should be fine! (Hopefully).

Game production
In game production we learned how to unwrap a model to add a texture. The process was relatively straightforward but I expect it will get trickier with more complex models.

Lapsing finals

One of my 'finals' for the one point perspective canal.

I didn't get the chance to do this final until later in the week but I decided I should do it digitally because that was what I needed more practice in. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and feel like it really helped me to focus on colours. I did work from a photo reference but I tried not to duplicate the colours exactly and make them more like they were in person as the colours are never exactly replicated in photography.
I think I will do most of my finals digitally now as I really enjoy doing them in colour and they look more like final/finished pieces to me with more effort than simply a pencil sketch.

Pencil version of my final.

Other work
During the week I also got the chance to do some of my own studies:

'The girl with the pearl earring'

I wanted to try and establish what exactly made this painting a 'master' painting or what made it so famous and although I wasn't really able to draw much from it I recognised the importance of her gaze and the lighting. I really enjoyed painting this and really like the way it turned out although I have considered going back over it and making the edges a lot softer as they're quite harsh in comparison to the original.

Looking at lighting and angles.

This study was a bit of an afterthought when I found the photograph and decided I wanted to try painting it. To make it a useful exercise I tried working in a different way; filling my canvas in black and working up the tone without using any base sketching. As I got part way through I noticed I wasn't getting the angle of her face right and that's something I've always struggled with. After working over it with no result I figured I better leave it and come back to it later. Although now looking back at it I can see some faults which I couldn't before (example the nose is too long).

Week 2: Visual design

Visual design this week was continued from last week in terms of one point perspective; we were tasked with drawing 'the archway' instead of drawing the canal. I initially wasn't too concerned but when I got down there I realised that it was actually a lot more difficult than I originally expected; the archway itself actually added a whole new dynamic to the simplistic one point perspective.

Selection of some of my archway thumbnails

I found finding the horizon line and vanishing point a lot harder than I did with the canal, usually because it was obstructed by anything from the canal to the pathway behind. I didn't worry too much about detail with these thumbnails as I was more concerned about getting the perspective correct.

Looking at the rule of thirds and using it to improve composition when cropping photos

 As well as the archway one point perspective task we were also advised to look at 'the rule of thirds' in composition. I put together a (kinda messy) work sheet to just compare photos from the original to a cropped version with better composition using the photoshop crop tool which provides the lines.

Looking at the rule of thirds in master paintings

I also looked at the rule of thirds and how it was used in master paintings too, helping me work out what 'worked' and what didn't.

Life drawing sketches

I quite enjoyed the life drawing class although I still struggled with measuring with the pencil.

'Cube' made of obsidian

Digital art we needed to practice making more material cubes if we felt comfortable enough with photoshop to not listen to the talk. This task was actually more challenging than I expected as there is no direct reference for cube shaped obsidian; I had to transfer the material into this shape and make up some of the lighting etc. It took me a good while to try and make it look relatively like obsidian and I'm not completely happy with the outcome but it was definitely good practice.

Week 1: Game production

Game production was essentially an introduction to the modelling programme 3DS Max. I have had a years worth of experience of Maya which I hoped would give me an edge on 3DSmax but I was quite horrified to find the interface was completely different!

We began by following our tutor step by step and making a basic table and accompanying chairs. I managed to grasp the gist of things but did fall behind a little and miss out a few steps. We then modelled a war hammer in a similar fashion (following step by step) but again I got caught up on one thing and missed a few steps, although I had started to get the hang of things.

Our stretch goal was to create a few low-poly weapons. I can comfortably admit that I was pretty nervous after our first lesson; I felt like I wasn't grasping the programme as quickly as I should be and thought that I was never ever going to understand it. After an evening of thinking it over I reminded myself that I felt exactly the same when I started using Maya and quickly picked that up.

This put my mind at ease and I knew I was going to have to concentrate and put in the time and effort to fully understand the programme. After a few unsuccessful weapons I came out with this hammer/mace/thing.. Not the most fantastic looking thing but I managed to grasp the basics and got something relatively okay looking out of it! With my new found knowledge I attempted a sword:

 

It's still not finished but I am finding myself much more comfortable with 3DS max! There's still a lot to learn but I know if I put in the extra time I will become far better at it.

Week 1: Visual design

My first day covered 'visual design' in various ways; my first class covered the basics of photoshop which I already feel pretty comfortable with so I was able to produce the 'shaded sphere' task and move onto creating some material spheres which was quite a fun task (although the lack of tablets in this lesson gave me a little nervous twitch). I'm really looking forward to doing more tasks like this though as it encourages me to work on rendering materials digitally that I wouldn't normally do.

I then had a life drawing class which I was particularly looking forward to as I had heard about the importance of it from various great artists but had never had the opportunity to go to any classes. To begin with we were taught how to use a pencil to measure the model and therefore be able to transfer her onto our page in proportion and without limbs not fitting on the page.

This approach was something that I'd never done before and I had a little bit of a tough time doing it as its much more technical than my usual way of sketching. Despite this I can really see the importance of this technique and intend to practice it outside of class so that I can then move on to mastering other things.

Two of my drawings from the life drawing class, done in 3-5 minutes.

We were only given 3-5 minutes to draw the model and I found myself probably spending more time than I should have getting my head around measuring with my pencil but I did feel like I was getting the hang of it the more I did it so that's always a good sign!

Our tutor also spoke about various things such as weight distribution in the body and encouraged the class to look at where the weight was placed which can make a big impact on the drawing. I found this really useful and insightful as we weren't just sitting and drawing what is in front of us we were actually learning important things about anatomy in general. Its also a wonderful feeling to trust your teachers and believe that they know what they're talking about and everything they are teaching you/getting you to do has a genuine reason that will help you to improve!

I then had a class on perspective in which we were taught the basics of one point perspective. Perspective has never really been a strong suite of mine and I was really pleased to hear we'd be going over things like this so I could really cement the basic understanding that I had and then build on that.

Some of my thumbnail sketches of the canal- practicing one point perspective.

We were sent to go and draw the canal and therefore put into practice what we'd just been taught and really get to grips with one point perspective and how it works in the real world. By being told to go outside and keep practicing the same thing (almost repetitively) genuinely helped me to understand perspective. After a few thumbnails I already felt comfortable with it and so I intend to take it to the next stages and start practicing two point in order to test myself further.

Overall I can happily say that I thoroughly enjoyed my first week, and although it was a little intimidating it encourages and inspires me to work harder to essentially achieve my potential!

Introduction to me

I'm Hazel Brown: A 19 year old aspiring concept artist just beginning a 3 year course at De Montfort University in Leicester studying Game Art Design.

I am fortunately starting this course with prior knowledge of photoshop and some 3D modelling software so I'm really looking forward to really expanding on those skills and pushing myself to produce work that I can be really proud of.

I currently feel like a little fish in an incredibly big pond, but coming to DMU was probably one of the best decisions I could have made- being dropped in at the deep end completely out of my comfort zone is really going to push me and encourage me to test myself and eventually improve to a standard that I may not have been able to achieve on my own!

I will be posting weekly with an overview of what I have produced/studied and I hope to document my progress in this adventure that is University!