#art 348

[hybridbattery]

Art 348 Assignment #1 Part 2/3 and 3/3

Reference images for the various animal/plant combinations I posted earlier. Part of the Trittonia Silhouettes assignment.

Paragraph response below the divide.

I’ll be honest and say that the Trittonia silhouettes were really cool to play around with, and make for an interesting use of resources in creating quick character designs. The ability to bypass detail and create an iconic look with nothing more than a black form made it feel like I was able to quickly produce new products without exhausting my brain at the same time. Although with this assignment it was as simple as choosing an animal and a cool plant that’d compliment it well, I feel like some of these are viable options for further down the line when I decide to use or finalize some of them later on.

[codemanprojects]

For my project I was going to do 4 character sketches for a game I've been developing. The character sketches would involve examples of weapons they would use and the clothes they would wear. I also wanted to have them in various poses, walks, attack stances, defense and etc. I also included notes for myself and any others that would look at it, to help clarify anything.

[yeti-parade]

Character Descriptions

Ramón aka Patas Veloces

Ramón is a caracal Lucha Libre wrestler that fights under the name Patas Veloces, or "Swift Paws".  He is fun loving, easy going and definitely a goofy character.  He is a bit arrogant but is still a very likable chap.  He frequents the Pistola de Carne gym along with Beatriz, Carlotta and Petrov.  He is the polar opposite of Petrov, and consequently he likes to mess around with him.  However, there is no animosity involved, it is more of a friendly rivalry which they both actively participate in.  Ramón is on good terms with everyone that goes to the gym, but he spends most of his time with Beatriz and Canelo. 

Sterling

Sterling is a male British Shorthair wrestler that recently moved to Mexico.  Since he’s still pretty new to the area, he’s still in a bit of culture shock due to all the differences between his new home and his native England.  He gets a lot of help from Carlotta, which he really appreciates since he’s had a hard time adjusting.  His personality is very different from Ramon; he is more quiet and thoughtful, yet he is prideful like Ramon.   This is the main reason why both him and Ramon are rivals and are constantly butting heads.  They don’t wish each other harm or anything like that, but they are constantly trying to one-up each other.  They do occasionally hang out, but that is a rare occurrence. 

Carlotta

Carlotta is a Siamese female kickboxer at the gym. She’s girlier than Beatriz, but she’s also pretty kooky and wacky.  She has a tendency to be shy and quiet, so it’s a tad hard for make friends.  Thankfully Beatriz is super friendly and personable, so she quickly befriended her.  She's also dating Sterling the stud muffin.   When she’s not training or being social, Carlotta likes to spend her time gardening and going to the park to feed the little duckies at the pond. 

Beatriz

Beatriz is a calico female boxer that is a regular patron of the Pistole de Carne.  She’s a tomboy, but she isn’t a stereotypical tomboy in the sense that she’s bubbly and friendly rather than standoffish.  She’s a tough girl yet she doesn’t purposefully portray the “tough girl” attitude.  She normally wears just her paw wraps when she’s training, but when she’s in a boxing event, she uses her custom boxing gloves, “JK and LOL”.  Each glove has the letters “JK” or “LOL” embroidered on the top and have smiley faces on the knuckle surface of the gloves so that the last thing her opponents sees is a nice smiley face before she knocks them out cold is.  She is one of the top boxers in her category but she’s very humble about it, unlike Ramon.  She usually hangs out with Carlotta the kickboxer. 

Canelo

Canelo is a male Mexican hairless dog that is Ramon’s personal trainer/friend.  He is never seen without his cozy hoodie since his little naked dog body would get really chilly if he wasn't constantly covered up.  He’s a pretty chill and level-headed character and can handle Ramon’s antics in stride.  He’s very patient but won’t take much of Ramon’s crap and has no problem calling Ramon out on his tomfoolery.  He’s the voice of reason in Ramon’s life, but that doesn’t mean that Ramon will always take his advice.  Otherwise there would be no conflict, and that would be incredibly boring.  Canelo also has a huge but secret crush on the cute little Japanese Chin who works at the gym’s juice bar.  Ramon is the only person who knows this, and he’s constantly encouraging Canelo to ask her out, but of course Canelo is too timid. 

[yeti-parade]

Reflections on Character Studies

                I had a really difficult time when it came to making the character studies. I was ill for most of the weekend, so I didn't get to divvy up the workload as much as I usually do.   For some unforeseen reason the workflow was not as smooth as it usually is, and my art style felt a little off for most of the sketches.   The character poses themselves weren't too difficult to render, such as back and side views, what was mostly a challenge was keeping the art style steady.  It was also a little challenging to think of some of the poses, but I wasn't too worried about that. I noticed that the best thing for me to do when I was having a difficult time with the character studies was to take a little break.  When I came back to the studies, I felt like I was able to come back to the workload without feeling stagnant and I generally did better.   I did notice that some of my characters evolved a bit throughout the character study.  For starters, Carlotta's face became more heart shaped, and I decided to change Ramon from a regular tabby to a caracal with the exaggerated ear tufts.

[yeti-parade]

Reflections on Silohuettes

I have had no previous experience working with silhouettes, so this process was new and somewhat foreign to me.  I felt a little out of my element because of this, but it was more of a fun challenge than a frustrating one.  I have heard Matt Groening repeatedly say that a recognizable silhouette is a sign of good character design.  For this assignment I tried to think of elements that would make these characters visually distinct even in silhouette form.  I wanted to allow myself to be as creative as I could so I didn't instill too many rules on myself while working.  I basically approached this project with two factors in mind: posture and absurdity.

                When I normally sketch characters, they are in the 3/4 view or semi bunched up on themselves, so I mindfully made my character silhouettes have either a profile or head-on posture to the viewer.  I was consciously posing the characters in more exaggerated or emotive stances so their arms and legs could be clearly seen, as well as other distinguishing characteristics like hair, tails or horns.  I also wanted these characters to be pretty weird from a physical standpoint so they would be more recognizable, and I tried to not filter my creative process.  The result was some very bizarre creatures, like the leggy mouse, the scarab beetle girl and the weed intent on fisticuffs. I did bring in some preexisting characters, like the raptor cowboy and some additional creatures, but the majority of the characters are brand spanking new.