CDDA - Evaluation

Overall I feel that I did well in this module. I had to create a 2D digital character design model and facial expression sheet, a 2D digital environment and a 2D digital prop model sheet. The learning outcomes of the module were to demonstrate and understand the connection between the traditional and digital artwork, apply appropriate techniques and process in the development of a character, prop and environment concept and to critically evaluate new concepts and evidence from a range of sources. Again I think that I did well on all these points.

This module showed me how artists might start work on a game, working from the initial concepts up to finished designs which are ready to be turned into 3D art. From the initial concepts I had to develop colour schemes, outfits and feel for the characters and the world they would interact with. I had to make the design complete from all angles so it would be ready to be made into a 3D model. One important thing stressed in the brief is about translating work from a traditional medium to a digital medium as this enables artists to manipulate the art and use it to its full effect.

My initial design was simply of a Dwarf that was not any kind of fighter. From this I built up a character history about him which helped me develop him on paper and in my head. From this I got the idea of what kind of Dwarf he would be, what he would do for a living and how he reacts to the world. Following this I began to refine my initial idea, changing the outfit to be appropriate to his character and life, start developing what his face would look like and move him towards what he would finally look like.

I also began designing his prop and environment after doing some more work on the character himself. The prop, a cross between a pickaxe and a war hammer, reflected his job as a blacksmith and environment of a cave. I started this by making lots of initial designs and then using thumbnail images to quickly develop them further. The initial environment was defined a lot by the character history and it was only really what filled the environment left to design. Again I turned to his job as a Blacksmith to help here, filling it with anvils and taking real world machines and turning them into a slightly more fantastical version of themselves. I made a photo manipulation of one of my initial ideas to help give me an idea of what that environment would look like.

With a solid idea of my Dwarf and world in mind, I began to finalise my designs. I looked at artists such as Bao Pham and Mathias Kollros to learn more of colours and textures. I experimented with colour schemes and defined his final costume. I created my turnaround board of my character to give me the full likeness of him. I found textures which would be present on the character and in his world, giving the work a much more lifelike look. And finally I looked at all the design work and created the final beauty shots, showcasing the design in its best light and trying to get across everything of the Dwarf and his world in a few images. Frank Franzetta’s work was incredibly helpful regarding composition.

Despite being happy with my end product, there are many things I would change if I was to do a similar project again. At the start of the project I was very slow at work and tried to make the majority of my pictures look as good as possible, taking up lots of time. I would be more confident in my work and less afraid of making a design that I would not use. I found that the initial stages of a project should consist of lots of rough, quick designs which can then be evaluated for their potential. Also, I would like to have created more initial designs for the environment specifically as I changed its design partway through the project after spending some time developing another idea which resulted in wasted time.

I would balance my time more fairly between all aspects of the project depending on the workload. In this project I spent a lot of time working on my prop and character whilst not doing a whole lot of work on my environment. I should have spent much less time on my prop and more on my environment, as a prop doesn’t take too long to design from initial idea to finished product if you have a well-defined environment and character, whilst an environment will take a while to complete regardless of how much work you have done. It is simply a bigger idea to show in your artwork. This could also have helped with the quality of the work as I would not have felt rushed to finish my beauty shots at the end if I had spent less time developing the designs and had more time to make them look their best.

I would have liked to spend more of my initial time experimenting with different styles and mediums. In this project I kept to mediums such as pencils that I felt were ‘safe’ and used a realistic style as it was the style I am most comfortable with. Even if I did end up using that style in my finished product it would have been nice to try more styles, one could have created an interesting idea to use in my project or could have looked much more interesting to the eye.

I learnt many skills and techniques during the length of this module that will help me with much of my work in my future industry. Possibly the most important is confidence in my work. At the beginning of the project I considered myself a bad artist and was rarely happy with my work. Now at the end of the module I feel really proud of my final beauty shots and can appreciate what is good and bad in the works.

Leading on from my past point, I have learnt a lot about analysing work. During the initial stages of work I became better at picking out any positives and negatives with each design, helping develop my final design using the positive points and avoiding the negatives. Not only does this apply to my work, but other artists too. This got me researching into artists’ work and seeing what makes their art so good. I’ve started using websites such as DeviantART and reading art magazines and concept art books more regularly since the start of this project and that has really helped me find what makes a piece of art work.

I learnt a lot about perspective and composition in this module. I did have a basic understanding of perspective at the start of the semester but I wouldn’t have had the confidence or skills to produce an image which was all in the correct perspective. My final beauty shots all feature some kind of perspective and that can really make artwork look ‘right’ to the eye. As for composition, I learned about the rule of three and how art can be divided into 3 areas. My environment can roughly fit the rule though it doesn’t fit perfectly with it. Frank Franzetta’s work taught me about composition in my work and, whilst not really being used in this project, how to attract the eye and make a focal point in an image.

Colour theory is something I had next to no knowledge about. I now understand the difference between complementary and analogous colour schemes and I understand how these different types of colours work together and to what affect. Learning about how to use contrasting colours and lighting to create interest really helped me when creating my environment and was a key point I considered whilst coming up with the design. Bao Pham’s work was very inspiring, featuring a mixture of colour schemes and how they apply to not just characters and environments but mixing between them.

One of the most useful things I have learnt is how to use many more of the different tools and methods in Photoshop to create digital art and make it look great. From more simple tools like the Pen tool to the different blend modes in the Layer system, all of these have helped me create my final work and make them look as good as they do. There are still countless things I don’t know about Photoshop but I have learnt most of the basic tools and filters used to create digital artwork and photo manipulations. Using photos as an overlay on my work showed one of the biggest improvements to my work, really pushing the realism on the objects. Mathias Kollros has some great textures in his work which I love; these were very inspiring to look at it.

Overall I’m very happy with my work on the project and feel that if I were to do something of a similar sort of nature then I would have a better and more efficient work pipeline that would end with me creating even better art work.