8 Apply
professional techniques to a range of commercial problems
There are a number of techniques that can be employed to
speed up the production process of artwork for commercial projects that have a
very limited deadline date.
A technique I use to aid in speeding up the creation process
is to create basic 3D representations of my subject matter for example If I am
creating a character and I want to pose him/her in an interesting pose
utilizing interesting perspective and maybe even contained within an enclosed environment
with specific lighting for the scene. I will create a basic model of the
character and the environment he/she is occupying including any important
nearby background objects and props. Then set up the appropriate lighting for
the scene, once all these aspects are in place I can explore my scene for the
best possible angle to display the character. Once the image has been rendered
and saved it is a simple matter of painting over the 3D render until it
accurately represents the character. having the form, lighting, shadows and
perspective calculated in 3d saves allot of time that may be spent trying to
fix these issues that you might incorrectly render if you started from a simple sketch.
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7 Apply practice
based research to the development of original ideas.
I employ a number of techniques for the development of original
concepts and ideas ranging from the most tried and true methods such as
sketching simple and quick thumbnails utilising loose and gestural strokes to
until an image or concept begins to emerge from the scribbled lines.
Another form of idea generation involving lines is too great
a page full of random lines in any fashion desired on a separate layer from the
background. This layer is then duplicated, morphed, stretched rotated, and
skewed into obscurity. This process is repeated several times until the page is
completely filled with random shapes, of course the level of density is
completely up to the artist.
from here I use a small hard round brush to start penning in
shapes and patterns I see within the jungle of mess this is a very powerful way
of using semi procedural chaos in producing a design that would not naturally
occur through natural inspiration and can lead to very original designs.
Another very resent technique I employ to help formulate
ideas and concepts is to use the freehand lasso tool. With the lasso tool
selected I either very quickly draw a vague shape I am trying to achieve such
as the entire figure or perhaps an arm, leg
or part of the attire then paint in the selected region. The other is to
let my hand and arm randomly draw out any shape then fill the selection with a
gradient or paint freehand and see what shapes are produced. These can even be
re arranged cut and re pasted to further randomise the design and lead to
further erratic sources of inspiration.
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6 Demonstrate use of appropriate tools and techniques to
achieve a professional result.
To create this final concept artwork I started from a
thumbnail image that successfully captured the appropriate mood, attitude and
atmosphere I desired for the final piece.
I blew up the thumbnail image to a 300dpi A3 canvas to allow
for plenty of detailing and form building to occur successfully.
Using a large custom speckled
brush I designed for building form and adding details when used at a smaller
radius. I began to block in the forms of her anatomy and clothing while keeping
the lighting setup in the back of my mind. The hair was intentionally omitted
from an early stage to allow for an anatomically correct torso to be painted
underneath before applying the hair. Each element was separated using the
layers system in Photoshop this allows me to work on each individual piece
while hiding the other elements such as the hair while at the same time keeping
the other layers safe and protected from any changes I make to the body or
clothing.
Once the body and ragged clothing was taken to a level of
rendering deemed appropriate for this mid stage of the painting a new layer was
created for the hair to keep it separate from the rest of the image and easily
manageable and editable.
Once all the separate elements where in place a new layer
was created named rendering. On this layer the image was taken to the next
level of rendering by using circular, diagonal, horizontal or even crossed
hatched strokes to carefully blend the surface forms to a polished result. This
stage also attempts to tie in the forms with the background and lighting present
in the scene.
The final layer created contained the details such as
individual hair strands created using a hard edged brush with shape dynamics
applied to allow for tapering based upon pressure strength with a very small
radius ranging from 2 - 4 in pixels. This stage also made use of textured
brushes to add little details to the skin and clothing to break up the
smoothness but also to suggest surface texture and not forgetting everyday wear
and tear such as the ripped and ragged fabric adorned by the witch.
The next phase involved applying colour to the image. This
was achieved by painting skin tones and other colours on various layers at low
to mid opacity. This technique was used create the appearance of sub-dermal
layers to the witches skin.
The final techniques used to complete the image involved
applying a smart sharpen affect to pop the finer details. finely a noise filter
was applied to the entire image and set to the appropriate level to give the
appearance of a move poster.
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5 Analyse and interpret visual situations in order to
represent them effectively
In life drawing class we
are presented with a nude model who is positioned in various poses to allow us to observe the human form
from a variety of angles and lighting situations.
Here I used black and white charcoal to convey form and
light based upon the live subject matter.
accurately representing tonal gradation from light to dark
was very important to accurately convey a sense of form and anatomy lit
primarily from a strong light source originating from the ceiling window.
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4. Synthesise observation, existing and acquired knowledge
in the production of original imagery
For the creation of the Victorian doctors bag image I
sourced a number of reference images of a desired doctor's bag medicine tubes
and other Victorian medical equipment.
I then used these images to create basic 3D objects that successfully
represented the items I wanted to be present in the final image. From here I
arranged the 3D objects in the scene
until I was happy with the composition and relative scale of the objects in
respect to each other.
Once the scene was constructed and the appropriate lighting
applied I began to block in the colours of the objects based upon their
reference images. Once their basic colours were established I further refined
the image and edited the lighting of the objects to accurately reflect the
candle light and dark night time environment.
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3 Evaluate historical and contemporary practice in drawing.
Fen Zhu will often start with quick gestural strokes to
quickly convey form and perspective. He also uses a number of drawing
techniques for various individual tasks such as drawing with a light brad brush
to capture a vague shape of something then he will take a dark pen liner and
start sketching forms he sees within the light doodle. Another technique he
employs for keeping the energy and flow going in his sketch phase, is to simply
start with very loose and sketchy lines in pen or pencil and erase the lines he
does not need as he progresses through the image until a resolved drawing is
achieved.
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2 Identify Resources and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding
of techniques required for a range of drawing tasks.
These images created in life drawing class demonstrate a use
of various media from Pen and ink to watery paint solutions to charcoal tonal
drawings. All applied in various ways using very finally controlled strokes to
broad sweeping lines and even quick stippling and streaking affects for hair
and cloth to successfully capture form, light and shape.
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1 Appraise and Demonstrate a breadth of knowledge relating to
contemporary drawing practice
This image was created for a project to re-design OMAC a
1980's comic book character for a modern movie setting.
I began by sketching out very rough and quick designs using
pen and paper. I explored many different ideas from dark Gothic fantasy
settings to extremes high end Sci-Fi.
Once I had ideas I liked I started to create loose
sketches in Photoshop exploring my thoughts further and trying out any alternative
sparks of inspiration that might jump out at me from my deliberately messy
sketches.
After pinning my idea down to a cybernetic
"Cyborg" version of OMAC I create a series of rough but resolved
alternate designs until I begin to feel one of the designs was leaning in the
direction I want to take the character visually.
To create the main image I began loosely sketching very
quick thumbnail images of the scene I had envisioned, I wanted OMAC
to be falling to earth fighting an infected Brother Eye satellite
"NERO"
Once I had chosen an initial sketch I worked it
up to a resolved drawing that would include all my visual elements and their
relation to each other within the scene. Making sure the imaged worked compositionally
and the emotion in OMAC's face and the glowing eye of NERO were both readable
before moving on to the next phase.
With my resolved drawing complete I use an edited chalk
brush to roughly block in the shapes and light sources of the scene fixing any
mistakes and logical impossibilities that may have arisen in the resolved
sketch.
Once the lines are no longer visible I bring the image together
tonally making sure the image reads correctly in respect to form, tone and
light.
From this point on it is mostly about using pacific brush strokes
to achieve the suggestion of surface quality and texture making sure metal
looks metallic and making sure the clouds of the earth in the background resemble
clouds seen from space.
Finally careful brush strokes are applied universally across
the image refining areas up to a more polished standard, however I wished to
keep an aspect of painterly strokes in the image so polishing was
controlled and not overdone.
Overall I am happy with the outcome of this piece however I
feel the painting did fall-down in a number of areas.
The piece lacks grit and a sense of texture it looks far to
sterile especially for what are essentially two hunks of metal burning up in
earth's atmosphere. Further emphasis on the burning and heated metal could have
been applied here. I could have also used photos or textured brushes to bring
texture and surface quality to the image and help enhance the sense of
believability.
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