> CONTENTS < . Definition . Media . Themes . Moodboards . Silhouette . Design . Final . Details . Zbrush . Tutorials . Goal . Reference
DEFINITION Fairy / fe : ri / Noun â&#x20AC;&#x153;A small imaginary being of human form that has magical powers, especially a female one.â&#x20AC;? Mythical being in European folklore, form of spirit. Can be described as an ethereal creature or sprite. Fairies aesthetically described as a human with magical powers and size varies from tiny as a pin to a human child. Most folklore describes fairies as evil or dangerous creatures; many tales describe protection from fairies by charms or herbs and avoiding places they inhabit. Modern fairy tales have written them in a good light.
Oracle / orek ( e ) l / Noun A priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advice prophecy was sought from the gods in classical antiquity. They would interpret signs sent by the gods through bird signs, animal entrails and other various methods. The origin of an oracle is from ancient Greece. The most important oracles of the Greek antiquity were Pythia, priestess to Apollo at Delphi, and Epirus.
MEDIA Cosplay
I chose to consider cosplay because the artist would naturally apply their own artistic skill into the costume. The costumes are intricate and eye catching. The gold details on her torso that is also hinted on her wings brings the costume together and makes it feel real.
3D Animation
Simplicity is important in 3D animation; character silhouettes should be easily recognisable and colour theory is used heavily in this show to separate the characters and their abilities.
Illustration
Detail in illustration can go both ways; simple or intricate. I chose this simple piece because it is readable and shows what the character is nicely. Her wings shine from the sunrays which then leads down to her simple translucent dress.
THEMES Winter Fairy
Urban Fairy
Merchant Fairy
Garden Fairy
Social Fairy
Oracle Fairy
Seamstress Fairy
Blood Fairy
I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t decide what kind of theme I wanted my fairy to be, I wanted to create a purpose for her. By using this theme list, I could sketch down my ideas and find what I was interested in and what looked exciting to create. I asked my peers to which they prefer; winter and oracle fairy was most favoured. I decided to create Moodboards from here.
MOOD BOARDS Elegance
I found a seamstress online who create gorgeous elegant dresses that I could see a fairy wear. (Fireflypath, n.d.) I want to take some of the details from these dresses and input them into my designs. The green and the blue to its left is my current favourite to make an â&#x20AC;&#x153;organic elegantâ&#x20AC;? design.
Simplicity
After looking over how much work there needs to be done to create a realistic gown, I decided to consider more simple yet stunning dresses. Here I took pictures from the red carpet because the models have a slimming figure which I am thinking for my character, and their dresses are quite unique.
Wings
I found a fairy wings designer, who creates a variety of wings (Jarman, 2015). I like the 2nd image on the top row, it’s simple and the detail glows. Also, the idea of the extra little wings coming out from the top like the 1st, 3rd and 4th image is quite interesting.
Prop
The prop that I wanted her to have is a crystal that floats around her, she uses it like a crystal ball, “associated with the performance of clairvoyance” (“Crystal ball,” 2016). I was also thinking of giving her a small knife to help her cut herbal plants or defend herself with.
SILHOUETTE
Style
I created 28 silhouettes that vary in sizes, wing shapes and dresses. I wanted to explore the type of wings that the character will have. By now I have decided that she will be an oracle fairy; isolated, blind and knowledgeable.
I sketched an â&#x20AC;&#x153;elvenâ&#x20AC;? like character, even though fairies are generally described as humans in appearance, I wanted to experiment a couple features such as the ears, freckles and long eyelashes. I asked my peers which silhouette stood out the most and these were the results. I picked no. 2 because I felt that it suited the character idea the most.
DESIGN Colour
I followed the design from the 3D animation piece and colour blocked the silhouette to get a feel of what colour would suit an â&#x20AC;&#x153;isolated, blind and smartâ&#x20AC;? character. My favourite design was between 1 and 2, also the colour blue would be the best choice to go for.
Design
Taking the colour block into detailing, I change the wing shape and dresses to see what looked best. I asked my peers, and the feedback that I got was to mix a little bit from each of them.
FINAL DESIGN
Turntable
Taking the feedback; I took the wings and torso from the 2nd design, skirt from the 1st and backless feature from the 3rd. I am currently happy with the outcome and will consider creating more details such as her hood brooch and props.
Visualise
I took this opportunity to visualise my idea in a pose. I took pictures of myself in a simple pose to get an idea of how it will look front and back. The design is quite simple with hints of detail on her torso and skirt design. I placed her on a grassy base, however being a small fairy the grass would be tall so I need to reconsider her base environment.
DETAILS Sketching a slim face helped bring the character together. I am already considering applying tattoos on her such as a simple “third eye” tattoo on her forehead. She is blind so her eyes will be frosted over and she’ll have messy light coloured hair. Her hood will be attached with a crystal prism brooch, there will be strings going across her torso to keep the hood attached, the backless design will make it easier for her to use her wings.
I experimented with “hovering” crystals; I chose the two halves with an organic metal work, she thought she found the crystal when it was broken and tried to piece it together with wire. Later found out that it was magical and started to float together. The knife has the same wiring around the handle to give her dents to where she should hold it, also it will be strapped around her thigh concealed.
TURNTABLE
ZBRUSH Here is my first attempt to quickly sculpt a face. I spent a lot of time on fixing her lips and nose, however I feel that I want to go towards a daintier look. My concept shows that she has a slim diamond face with a small nose and thicker upper lip. I need to spend more time on the eyes, the shape of it is not as defined as Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like it to be.
Here is my second attempt, I focused more on the nose and lips this time to get a daintier look. I prefer the previous lips but this current nose. I spent less time focusing on the details and adding more shape to her face, ears and tried to form her body.
For me to understand Rafael Grassettisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; process, I had to sketch down the shapes to train my memory. By starting with the rib cage and going upwards. I started to get a feel of how the muscles and fat forms around the body. From here I will practice more quick sculpts with Grassettisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; process.
TUTORIALS Here is the first episode of Rafael Grassetttisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; anatomy lesson. He teaches you the shapes that you will be making to create the torso. By moving and using the clay tool to create the shapes and mask to pull out from the model. (Grassetti, 2005)
He also shows an image of where the muscles and bones should be, this is so you can understand why he is creating the shapes on the model. It is a good idea to learn your anatomy for sculpting as it will make sure your models look proportionally correct and realistic.
This is where I stopped following his tutorial and started to experiment on my own by adding facial features and hips. Also, the character he is making is male, mine is a female which means I will need to look at my own visual references to get the proportions that I want.
GOAL
I want to create a realistic fairy for this project; I need to learn how to create realistic textures for skin and materials, anatomy and lighting. This will be beneficial to know for future work.
REFERENCES
Fireflypath. Fireflypathbridal. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from http://www. fireflypathbridal.com/ Jarman, A. (2015, January 24). FaeryAzarelle. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from DeviantArt, http://faeryazarelle.deviantart.com/ Crystal ball (2016). . In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Crystal_ball Grassetti, R. (2005). The art of Rafael Grassetti. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from Wordpress, https://grassetti.wordpress.com/