Sunil Kainth MA Concept art dissertation by Sunil Kainth

School of Computing University of Teesside Middlesbrough TS1 3BA

Art Of The Gods The process of creating a concept art portfolio based on the novel “American Gods”

Submitted in partial requirements for the degree of MA Concept Art For Games And Animation

14th September 2011 Sunil Kainth Herb Wiersma

Acknowledgements

First and foremost I thank my tutors Herb Wiersma and Nigel Kitching For their advice, time and experience which has helped me during the project and through out the MA Concept art course. I would also like to thank my talented peers who it has been a pleasure to learn with, and all the guest lecturers whose professional advice has been invaluable. Finally I must thank my mom and family for their continued support.

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Abstract

Figure 1. American Gods book A Concept Artists job is to design a world for an entertainment product such as a videogame or film. With this in mind I decided to base my final project on Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods” as it is a novel that would provide me with profiles of characters, mythology and locations to base my concept art on. To view the results please go to my blog – http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/ For me the objective of this final project is to show the skills, ideas and knowledge I have developed in the last year and also as a former teacher I want the experience of creating this report to aid in future student journeys. I have used industry standard tools to create the “Art Of The Gods” portfolio. These include Photoshop CS5, Illustrator Cs5, Corel Painter 12, and Art Rage along with traditional media. Over the year of studying towards my master’s degree, I’ve come to realise that focus and time are paramount in producing quality professional work. In the research period I looked at a lot of concept artists in art books, websites and journals, such as Imagine FX. It showcases artists working in the entertainment industries today and so I can compare and contrast my portfolio with theirs. It also has links to other websites, which I have used for custom brushes and to learn from digital painting tutorials. As for environments, I have watched the free tutorials on “ Design Cinema” by the concept artist Feng Zhu. For creature design, I looked at industry veteran Aaron Simms Gnomon workshop DVD, and for product design I read various tutorials in books and magazines. I also researched concept art studios in the UK and abroad. I used Atom Hawk’s design time lines and Leading Light conceptual design’s process to assist with my work. I started off with a grand vision, but soon realised this was unachievable as my work rate affected the quality of work. I then developed my anatomy skills and finally produced a handful of images to showcase my skills. The following dissertation describes my journey…

Table of contents

Chapter 1- Introduction…………………………….……………...… 6 1.1 Project Objectives…………………………………………….………...6 1.2 The Journey Begins………………………………………….………....6 1.3 The Areas of Concept Art. …………………………………………….8 1.4 Gods Of War………………………………………………….………..11 1.5 The Artefact…………………………………………………………....12 1.6 Concept Art Studios…………………………………………………....13 1.7 Concept Design Process……….………………………………;.….……14 1.8 Realism VS. Cartoon VS. Stylized…………………...…………….……..15

Chapter 2 - Addressing the anatomy problem 2.1 Dynamic Anatomy……………………………………………………..17. 2.2 Foreshortening and Characters in Perspective…………………………19

Chapter 3 - Character design 3.1 Imagine FX ……………………………………………………..……..20 3.2 Traditional versus Digital……………………………………………...21 3.3 The Usual Suspects……………………………………………..……...21 3.4 Shadows………………………………………………………..………21 3.5 Eastern Concepts……………………………………………...………..23 3.6 The Byronic Hero …………………………………………..…………23 3.7 The Femme Fatale………………………………...………..………….26

Chapter 4 – Digital Techniques, Custom Brushes and textures 4.1 The Round Tablet………………………………………………………27 4.2 Burn and Dodge…………………………………………..……………29 4.3 Living in a Material World……………………………………………..29 4.4 Custom Brush Guide……………………………………………...……30

Chapter 5 - Environment Design 5.1 Environment design………………………………………………………31

5.2 Heavy Rain………………………………………………………………31 5.3 Dark City…………………………………………………………………31 5.4 Perspective……………………………………………………………….32 5.5 Beauty and the Beast……………………………………………………..32 5.6 Establish your elements………………………………………………….33 5.7 Color and Light…………………………………………………………..33

Chapter 6 – Creature design 6.1 Animals Real and Imagined……………………………………………...35 6.2 ILMS Robots in Disguise………………………………………………...36 6.3 Aaron Simms Monster Methods………………...………………………..36 6.4 Loki……………………………………………………………………….38 6.5 Face Values…………………………………………………….…………39

Chapter 7 - Product design 7.1 Drive…………………………………………………………………….41 7.2 Pick and Mix………………………………………………………….…41 7.3 To Infinity and Beyond…………………………………………….……41 7.4 Product Placement……………………………………………………….43

Chapter 8 - Key moment illustration 8.1 The Art of Visual Storytelling…………………………………….…….45 8.2 Remember……………………………………………………………….45 8.3 The Descent……………………………………………………………..47 8.4 The Last Kiss……………………………………………………………48 8.5 Possessed…………………………………………………………………49 8.6 The Negotiator…………………………………..………………………50 8.7 War Of The Gods……………………………………………………….51

Chapter 9 – Conclusion…………………..………………… …54 References…………………………………………..…………..55 Bibliography…………………………………………………….68

Table of figures

No. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Fig ure12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18 Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21 Figure 22 Figure 23 Figure 24 Figure 25 Figure 26 Figure 27 Figure 28 Figure 29 Figure 30 Figure 31 Figure 32 Figure 33 Figure 34 Figure 35 Figure 36 Figure 37 Figure 38 Figure 39 Figure 40 Figure41 Figure 42 Figure 43 Figure 44

Image American Gods book Ryan Church city at night concept art. Leonardo Da Vinci Boat concept Leading Light design character concept Ralph Mcquarrie’s Darth Vader Poison Ivy’s lair concept art Stan Winston’s iconic creatures. American Gods initial designs Henning Ludvigson’s composition lines The War Room AtomHawk Design sketch to painting stages Image 2000 pixels wide - 1 day Image 3000 pixels wide - 4 days Image 5000 pixels wide – 7 days American Gods second stage ideas. Burne Hogarth’s Modern human proportions Andrew Loomis anatomy chart Gottfried Bammes chart of ages My anatomy sketches A few of my Imagine FX Magazines Shadow initial ideas Shadow second stage ideas Shadow Moon second pass designs. Avatar Villain Shadow Moon final line Process AtomHawk Design Character concept art Shadow moon painting process Laura Moon painting process Adonhis a.k.a Dan Luvisi’ brush pack When and how to use custom brushes Doug Chaing’s Stand off finished painting Fabric and costume guide Heavy Rain outdoor environment concept art Painting process for outdoor environment. Red State Gamut masks The Diner Leading light design “Killzone 2” concept art Birdman concept by James Gurney National Geographic bionic advancement research Aaron Simm’s concept method 1 Aaron Simms concept method 2 Aaron Simms concept method 3 The finished hybrid concept 4

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Figure 45 Figure 46 Figure 47 Figure 48 Figure 49 Figure 50 Figure 51 Figure 52 Figure 53 Figure 54 Figure 55 Figure 56 Figure 57 Figure 58 Figure 59 Figure 60 Figure 61 Figure 62 Figure 63 Figure 64 Figure 65 Figure 66

Book featuring creature concept art. Photograph reference for Loki concept Loki Painting stages Jay Shuster pencils: evolution of a cow tractor in PIXAR’S “Cars” animation Christian Bravery stages of design for a bug - based assault copter. Christian Bravery final painted version of the bug - based assault copter. Line drawing vehicle concept stages Flight of the navigator concept process Massive Black Key moment concept art Ralph McQuarrie’s epic duel between father and son sketches and painting Atom Hawk Key moment - conversation Leading Light key moment concept art The Descent pencil to painting process The Descent “values” check The Last Kiss painting process Possessed painting process The Negotiator painting process Corel Painter12 Fibonacci spiral grid War of the gods concept process part 1 War Of The Gods painting stages part 2 Albert Dorne - the master Learning Concepts article featuring my peers concept art

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1 Introduction 1.1 Project Objectives 1 - To research the areas of concept art and companies. 2 - To adapt an existing piece of literature. 3 - To use my knowledge and skills and to develop them. 4 - To use industry standard tools and timeframes to create the work. 5 - To critically evaluate my decisions and to tackle my weaknesses. 1.2 The Journey begins To create art one must be inspired and motivated, truth is I take it from life, comics, travelling, but it all started with a film. The film that changed the way we view films today. “In a galaxy far, far away…” are the words that began the saga known to millions as Star Wars. Twenty years ago I watched episode 4 “ a new hope” on VHS tape on an analogue television. My mouth and eyes were wide open for 120 minutes of drama and pyrotechnics, but most importantly art. You may laugh but Star Wars is art, along with every film I have watched since. Whether it is a fantasy, historical epic, horror or even a romantic comedy, these films and videogames have art flowing through the matte paintings to the costumes. Every minute is made from hours of artists work from different areas but it all starts with an idea that is then visualised by the Concept Artist. The director of Star Wars, George Lucas says without the concept artists vision Star Wars would not have been the same.

Figure 2 - Ryan Church city at night concept art

A Concept is an idea and Art is an expression of emotions that we all feel, a product of its time. Look at http://www.googleartproject.com/ for Van Gogh, Monet or Picasso to see that a period of time is reflected in their art. Art is a visual storytelling device that artists use for universal themes such as love, morality tales and religion. Concept art is about expressing emotion and mood, but for a product. This product could be in the form of a videogame, theatre production or a film. The difference is that the art is about the design. The designs are just the beginning of a huge (or small) production that ends up with us in the front row with a pair of 3D glasses watching in awe, as giant blue people fly kimono dragons. James Cameron’s Avatar was another step further down the rabbit hole. But how far we have gone is not the question, but how we got to this place is. It started with a man called Leonardo Da Vinci, he painted some painting called “The Mona Lisa”, but Leonardo was not just a gifted painter, Da Vinci was more concerned with the how things worked. The internal organs of the human body and his drawings of our bodies were ground breaking. Da Vinci was an artist, designer, scientist and mathematician. He questioned the world around him and wanted to understand it scientifically so as to aid his designs.

Figure 3 - Leonardo Da Vinci Boat concept His discoveries and designs are fundamental to the idea of a concept artist. As a concept artist’s job is to design the world around them, be it our planet or a fantasy planet with its own ecological system. The concept artist must use the knowledge of all subjects not just their technical skill to design the product . For example the most popular game today is “Call of Duty”. Based in different time periods from World War 2 to the modern wars of today, the artist must research military weaponry and environments for the player to believe in the world the developer wants them to play in. My point is to draw a man with a gun, no matter how nicely rendered is not enough. We live in a world where the Internet has made us aware of everything so it is the concept artist’s job to research, and then design a range of plausible solutions to make the viewer believe. George Lucas says in his documentary “visual effects” on the Star Wars Episode 3 bonus features “ Film is an illusion, the gifted artists at I. L. M create the illusion of planets, creatures and special effects with the tools of the digital age” Concept art can be split into the following areas with big companies having employees specialise in one area such as character design and small indie developers having an artist do all tasks.

1.3 The areas of Concept art The following requires the artist to design whatever the director of the product needs for the project. Typically the director will need these essential designs –

Figure 4 - Leading Light design character concept Character Designs – This can be in the form of costume drawings or character mood paintings. McQuarrie (2009, pp. 5) explains the design of Darth Vader in Star Wars was created from referencing Japanese samurai helmets to create his iconic look.

Figure 5 -. Ralph Mcquarrie’s Darth Vader Darth Vader has a strong character arc. Deemed the chosen one from an early age as Anakin Skywalker, he goes against the Jedi code, slaughters his mother’s murderers, falls in love and tragically becomes a Sith lord, betraying his mentor Obi Wan Kenobi. Finally coming full circle, and with the help of his son he finds redemption and peace. The Characters are either good or evil and films work, as our knowledge of stereotypes is universal. Having an actor in a black costume instantly communicates villain. Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Voldemort from Harry Potter, Venom from Spiderman, the list goes on and the opposite applies to the protagonists, with bright primary colours usually featured-Superman, Mickey Mouse, Woody, etc.

Environment designs – probably the most important as a painting visualises the world the character inhabits. Imagine Harry Potter without the Hogwarts School of Secrets and Magic or Arkham Asylum’s finest villains without their underground hideouts (figure 6).

Figure 6 - Poison Ivy’s lair concept art

Creature designFor me the reason I love fantasy films is the escapism and, growing up E.T was one of my favourite films because of the alien. Industrial Light and Magic artists design of that character was perfect, big eyes is all it took to make my eyes well up with water. The art form “Manga” comes to mind, as the artists design characters to be cute starting with the bulbous eyes. At the other end the orc’s in Lord of the rings are savage merciless creatures bought to life by the “ Weta Workshop”. A special effects company. This used to be all traditional hand sculptured or electronic animatronics, but now we have moved into the digital revolution. Creatures can be sculpted using the latest software such as Zbrush or Maya. Then imported to Photoshop to be rendered. Stan Winston Studios creates creatures, having bought to life films such as Alien, Predator, Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park.

Figure 7 - Stan Winston’s iconic creatures.

Product Design - weapons, vehicles, buildings all need conception. After looking at Matt Allsop’s concept art in Digital Painting Techniques and reading Christian Bravery’s workshop in “Sci - Fi and Fantasy Essentials” I realised product design can be orthographic line art or a painted marketing piece. Key moment / Production illustration - this encompasses all that has gone before in the process and is usually a scene lifted from the storyboard or script that best represents the vision of the game / film. For my key moments I want to take the main characters and show them in their battles with the new gods.

1.4 Gods Of War This project is the result of many years of watching TV, movies and playing video games. The visual media that entertains us all inspired me to come on this course and develop my skills as an artist to design a world for the novel. “American Gods” The book revolves around the story of ex - convict Shadow Moon and his journey across North America with the mysterious Mr Wednesday in search of the old gods of religion to wage a war against the new gods of technology. Duality is a major theme in the story as every character has a secret identity and turns out to be a god. The author Neil Gaiman mines a range of mythology from Norse, Indian, Irish and Egyptian to name a few. After reading the story several times and making pages of notes on character profiles and key scenes. I set out ambitiously to draw all 40 characters. To view them all go to (http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/american-godsdesigns-2/). In hindsight this was too much and resulted in flawed anatomy and unconvincing drapery drawing.

Figure 8 - American Gods initial designs My problem was I was working too fast. The designs were full of ideas and experimentation, but the fundamental core drawing was flawed. I always thought my speed was my biggest strength but in hindsight it has been holding me back. So after feedback from my tutors I set about going back to basics. I researched artists and art that could aid me in my journey to become technically more adept at designing the human form in any situation. I read books by Burne Hogarth such as ”Dynamic Anatomy” and learnt how to draw convincing wrinkles and drapery.

Jean Sebastien Rossbach explains my error in his workshop “ Look to Frazetta for inspiration”. “Don’t be too quick – take the time to think about composition. What big shape will you use to build your scene? A triangle, a square or a circle maybe? And inside this big shape, what lines of movement will you choose? Composition is the first step and the most important decision you will have to make.” (Rossbach, 2011,pp 41).

Figure 9 -.Henning Ludvigson’s composition lines

I also read up on drawing figures in perspective as Feng ZHU, Concept artist for films such Transformers, TMNT and Star Wars Episode 3 states: “Our job requires a strong understanding of the fundamentals: perspective, lighting, composition, values etc., we must have a very imaginative mind and the ability to construct new and believable worlds. If you can combine the above two points with strong drawing abilities, then you have the makings of a professional designer” (Zhu, 2011,pp. 124) 1.5 The Artefact The end product will be a portfolio to apply for jobs in the entertainment industries. So I also looked at the current job market in professional concept art for games and animation with the UK market currently having three main studios that compete for outsourced work from the entertainment industry.

1.6 Concept Art Studios • • •

Atom Hawk Design - based in Gateshead, Newcastle. Worked on Pottermore and Vin Diesel’s Wheelman. Leading Light conceptual design – worked on Killzone 2, Fable 2, and Facebreaker. Opus Artz design. – based in London, worked on Dead Space 2 and Star Trek

Internationally two concept art companies have good portfolios• •

Massive Black – based in San Francisco and is the biggest concept art company. Volta – head office based in Quebec, Canada with offices in Singapore.

I will critically evaluate my own progress against their respected portfolios and assess my own work and its success on their professional standards. To get my work to a professional standard I have turned my bedroom into “The War Room” and have put professional concept art everywhere so I can stay inspired and focused.

Figure 10 - The War Room

1.7 The Concept design process

Figure 11 - AtomHawk Design sketch to painting stages

Atom Hawk’s design timelines. After going on Atom Hawk Design’s website, I read their concept art process. In industry everything needs to be done yesterday so speed is important but so is quality. An image is more detailed the more pixels.

Fig 12 - Image 2000 pixels wide – 1 day

Fig 13 - Image 3000 pixels wide - 4 days

Fig 14 - Image 5000 pixels wide – 7 days

I have looked at all the mentioned concept art studio’s work and will be mirroring the industry standard process. This will make me focus on the four main areas of concept art. It will also give me realistic deadlines to complete the work to a high quality professional standard for my portfolio. The character, environment and product designs will then inform the marketing image – The Key moment, as it features all of the aforementioned to tell the story.

1.8 Realism VS Cartoon VS Stylised This is a debate I have found myself in from the beginning of the course. My fellow peers all have their own preferences, and after speaking to visitors from storyboard artists, to children’s book illustrators and art directors it seems everyone has a different opinion. However in Concept Art the product governs the style. Is it is aimed at children or adults, male or female? These questions affect the style. However for the purpose of a portfolio to gain employment this has made me realise that style is not what is important, but communicating the idea clearly is. Concept Artists have to be able to design well with a pencil, Photoshop, Painter or traditional media in a range of styles as the client list will vary from the Disney to adult videogames. Being stuck on one-style limits the possibilities, but on the other hand having a style can make you stand out from the crowd. Andrew Jones co founder of Massive Black, face of Corel Painter is an example of this. I think everyone’s opinion is valid, but in the end it depends what the client’s needs are.

For this project I experimented with a range of styles and media before settling on one style, see examples below -

Figure 15 - American Gods second stage ideas. However as you can see the characters anatomy is not good enough for this level. I needed to go back to basics and understand the fundamentals to progress. In many ways this was a blessing in disguise as I learned to reflect and be more critical of my drawing.

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Chapter 2 – Addressing the anatomy problem. My biggest problem has always been the visualisation of the human form. In today’s digital age where we have 3D programs such as “Poser” and “ Z brush”, one might ask what is the point in trying to master the problem. Aaron Simms (creature designer for the film industry) uses 3D sculpture programs for his whole process. However in his Gnomon workshop DVD, he explains that you still need to understand anatomy so this became the reasoning behind a month of drawing basic skeleton mannequins in every position thinkable. I read the book “ How to draw comic’s the Marvel Way”. This book is good for drawing expressive poses and drawing the figure in perspective and various compositions. However as it was published in the 70’s I needed a more recent study of the anatomy so after listening to Director of Atomhawk design “ Cumron Ashtiani” do a presentation, he advised that I look at the books by Burne Hogarth. I had never heard of Hogarth, but got all six of his books as they cover the fundamentals I needed to learn. 2.1 Dynamic Anatomy Burne Hogarth showed me that one should have an open mind when it comes to the human proportions. In the image below he believes the modern man is 8 and ¾ tall due to human evolution.

Figure 16 - Burne Hogarth’s Modern human proportions Whereas the Andrew Loomis diagram shows the normal height at 7 /2 heads and some other anatomists show the adult figure is only 6/12 heads. The human just like the animal and landscapes they inhabit come in different shapes and sizes. To give the human an exact number of heads is very difficult.

I researched a lot of concept art characters and most of them use Loomis’s “idealistic” height of 8 heads.

Figure 17 -Andrew Loomis anatomy chart

Hogarth rules “ more than ever, the new needs in art contradict the old figure. To maintain a fixed canon of proportion is to continue to believe in the fixed stars, the finite universe and zero at the end of a quantity.” (Hogarth 2003,pp70). For the artist who wants to ground the fantasy in reality an ideal “8 heads” for all characters is not realistic, so after my tutor “Herb Wiersma” showed me a book by German anatomist Gottfried Bammes, I was able to see the importance of photo references. The book is filled with photos of the range of people, young to old, slim to big, male and female in a variety of positions all measured by the heads system.

Figure 18 - Gottfried Bammes chart of ages

I also found that another way of measuring whether a figure is in proportion is by measuring from the top of the head to the crotch and then using this distance to work out the length from the crotch to the ankle. 2.2 Foreshortening and Characters in Perspective I have looked at Andrew Loomis’s method of drawing the mannequin in any position and Burne Hogarth’s method for this too. I have found both helpful for drawing the figure in a space such as an interior and exterior. I spent a month drawing skeletons and figures in a variety of poses. Below are a few drawings from the hundreds of poses I illustrated. I think this was worth sacrificing the time, as it is fundamental to drawing characters convincingly.

Figure 19 - My anatomy sketches

Chapter 3 Character design “Whatever may be said of the historical development of art generally, the human figure presents the deepest insight into the social – cultural concepts of art, from aboriginal tribal culture to the most advanced civilisations, past or present” (Hogarth, 2003, pp. 43) Hogarth’s sentiment is reinforced after I watch David Attenborough’s BBC series “The Human Planet”. This was a documentary that covered the earth to bring us an insight into the different civilizations of the 21st Century. American Gods protagonists ethnicity is questioned several times throughout the novel, so researching a range of cultures was important in aiding my design. 3.1 Imagine FX I had always viewed drawing and painting as a 2D medium. Ignorance is bliss, but when I picked up the magazine “Imagine FX ” in September 2006, I was hooked. The art was digital but painted not with a mouse but with a graphics tablet with a pen, and digital software such as Photoshop or Corel Painter. Imagine FX is filled with tutorials, professional advice and tips on how to improve your art and go to the next level. Each issue has a theme from fantasy to game art or creature design. It has been an invaluable resource for me during my time on this course and I will continue to use it in the future. The standard of work inspires me to draw and paint each day.

Figure 20 - A few of my Imagine FX Magazines

3.2 Traditional vs. Digital Concept artists in the 1980s had pencils, paper and paint as the three tools of the trade but then Industrial Light and Magic began experimenting with computers as a way of creating visual effects. Artists were trained to use Adobe Photoshop and the first movies to use the software such as The Abyss and Tron showed potential. However Syd Mead (2011, pp85) a concept designer for the film industry argues that “ Remember, a million dollar computer coupled with a dumb ideas, results in a million dollar dumb idea.” Syd Mead’s comments I believe are true as whether a piece of art is created digitally or with traditional materials will not affect the outcome only the artist’s skill and knowledge can change this.

3.3 The Usual Suspects To start with after reading the book “ American Gods” I wrote character descriptions of all 40 characters. Due to time constraints I knew that conceiving every character was not realistic. So I chose the main characters Shadow Moon and his deceased wife to concept and also the villain Loki. This would challenge my anatomy skills and rendering skills too. The Protagonist - Shadow Moon is a living character, The love interest - Laura Moon is in limbo trapped between worlds The Antagonist - Loki is a god of technology and can change into male and female forms. 3.4 Shadows I started by drawing silhouette designs and then grey scale variations on the character.

Figure 21 - Shadow initial ideas

Figure 22 - Shadow second stage ideas These generated ideas but my results were too broad and littered with anatomical flaws. So I refined the design and came up with the prisoner design, which is closer, but the facial anatomy could be more accurate. See figure 23.

Figure 23 -, Shadow Moon second pass designs. So I stopped drawing and watched some tutorial videosâ&#x20AC;Ś

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3.5 Eastern concepts On Feng Zhu’s website www.Fengzhudesign.com He has a page called “Design Cinema”. Here he has uploaded tutorials that show his working process and has videos on how to concept videogame characters, production paintings and creature paintings. Zhu reasons in the video “ Character silhouettes” that silhouette character designs force the designer not to get caught up in the details and focus on the shape of the character. As shape is really important when it comes to varying a cast of characters. A good recent example is Avatar. The human soldiers in their huge robots versus the creatures of Pandora and the Navi race. All three have different heights, shapes and weights. The audience can relate to each one without being confused who is the hero, and who is the villain.

Figure 24 - Avatar Villain 3.6 The Byronic Hero – Shadow Moon “From those early Gothic novels to modern computer games, the Byronic hero is an outsider, wanting to be virtuousm but dragged into darker realms by his irrepressible passions” (Hartas, 2005,pp58) Leo Hartas goes on to give examples of Byronic heroes such as Max Payne and Batman. Torn apart by his family’s brutal murder, Max Payne goes around hunting down those responsible for the murder. Shadow Moon is such a character and when designing him I take into account the loss of his wife and his journey through the story going from an ex - convict to bodyguard and his transformation into the god Balder. I go back to line drawing and concept Shadow Moon. I want to show him in an action pose, as he is the hero.

Figure 25 - Shadow Moon final line Process

For the videogame Uncharted, the hero Nathan Drake needed to look like your everyman. This is nothing ground breaking or original, but it is very relatable. Think of all the movies where the hero is just your average person, like you or me. Indiana Jones, part time teacher full time action hero. So for Uncharted the art team looked to the movies past heroes for facial features they could use for their main character Nathan Drake. “We use lots of photo references when we’re designing characters” says Naughty Dog’s Amy Henning. It’s funny how often-specific actors get called out as the person one of our leads is modelled on, but there are always dozens of different people in there. With Drake we were looking at everyone from Cary Grant on up. You want to use people where the personality really comes through in the face. Every character is an amalgam” (Donlan, 2010, pp.60). I looked at current concept art for characters on Atom Hawk, Opus Artz, and Leading Light websites.

Figure 26 -AtomHawk Design Character concept art As you can see each character is drawn in a pose to show their personality and some are given backgrounds or props to add more story. I decide I want to convey Shadow Moon’s power and his physicality. So after a few skeleton poses I chose the running man pose (figure 25) as you will see his face clearly, and all other features of his clothing. I take inspiration from Drew Struzan and Ralph Mcquarrie’s artwork for Indiana Jones. As like Indy Shadow has stubble but instead of the whip he unleashes light from his palms to ward off the evil new gods. Below is the finished artwork, which took one week. The tentacles of an unknown god were added instead of the falling man as a character-marketing image. I want to show the epic battle that the player, audience will witness. This also works as a teaser as the whole creature is not revealed. I took photos of myself for reference on the foreshortening and hand composition.

Figure 27 - Shadow moon painting process

3.7 The Femme fatale – Laura Moon “She is a honey trap. She lures foolish, love-struck men into doing her evil bidding. The men come, hypnotised by her feminine, erotic guile. Their will crumbled to dust behind them, as she guides them to their doom” (Hartas, 2005, pp. 68). Laura Moon died at the beginning of the novel “American Gods”. She has come back from the grave and is in a state of limbo stuck between our world and heaven. Her mission is to protect her husband Shadow Moon from the new gods. In the novel she takes pleasure in dispatching the new gods henchmen without hesitation. I want to show her vulnerability but also her power in the character design. For this deceased wife I took inspiration from George A. Romero’s zombie movies and Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride animation. Originally the background was the same intensity as the character but after reflecting I realised that I should tone down the background to make the character stand out. Another important aspect of the character is her accessories, imagine Indiana Jones without his whip, Red Riding Hood without the hood or Mary Poppins without her umbrella. Clothes and weapons are accessories that flesh out the character and give them a cultural grounding and place in time. Neil Gaiman describes her as having worms seep out her broken skin so I kept this and having died in a car accident she would naturally be bruised and bloody. In the novel she is a travel agent.

Figure 28 -. Laura Moon painitng process To see the full process and higher resolution images please go to http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/laura-moon-process/

Chapter 4 – Digital Techniques, Custom Brushes and textures I have used two brushes through the year, but this is a limit and gives the end result a “Photoshop” effect. I started to use photographs as textures and “overlay” them on top of the painting. This still did not give me the finished look I desired, I read “The Art Of AtomHawk Design volume1 “. (Thompson, 2011, pp. 25) states he uses a round chalk brush and chisel brush. Whereas (Kruger, 2011, pp. 96) reveals that he does layer photograph textures over the images to give them a realistic look. I then looked at artists who work in concept art and digital illustration. I came across http://conceptartworld.com/ which showcases the best in the world today and then stumbled upon a link to a website barely 3 months old – 4.1 The Round Tablet The website contains the professional brushes and tutorials to some of the best concept artists working in the entertainment industries today. The website comes with the warning that “skill is still required to make art this good!” below are the brushes I downloaded from the round tablet by Dan Luvisi.

Figure 29 -,Adonhis a.k.a Dan Luvisi’ brush pack

Reading and watching tutorials is a good way to learn how professional artists approach the task and where to use custom brushes. The Imagine FX advice section helped me by explaining when and where to use custom brushes to enhance the painting. See below.

Figure 30 - When and how to use custom brushes

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4.2 Living in a material world In the journal “Fantasy Art Essentials” Fantasy artist Henning Ludvigsen explains to improve my art I need to examine how different materials work visually. Ludvigsen states the four categories – • • • •

Matt – clothing, rocks, wood, trees, skin, rusty metal Glossy and Transparent – plastics, glass, slime, silk Shiny and Reflective – shiny/ brushed metal, gold, Latex, Organic – Hair, fur, scale (Ludvigsen. 2011, pp.223 -225)

4.3 Burn and Dodge In the book “Mechanika – creating the art of science fiction”, (Chiang, 2008, pp79) explains one way to do this is to block in the colour of the object and use the burn and dodge tools to add shadows and highlights. Then get photographs on another layer, change to overlay, soft light or colour dodge depending on the effect. “Ever so slightly, I drop texture details from http://texturez.com across the different materials within the piece.” (Swanland, 2011, pp.171)

Figure 31 - Doug Chaing’s Stand off finished painting

4.4 Custom Brush guides Marta Dahlig is a freelance illustrator and created these guides for Imagine FX website. I used the custom brush guides for “skin and hair, and “fabric and costume” to paint the different elements within the character designs. I then used the “nature and environment” guide for the key moment, and interior/exterior paintings. All three-guide links are in the References.

Figure 32 - Fabric and costume guide

Chapter 5 5.1 Environment Design “ A scene is like a character. It has its own personality and makes us feel emotions. A setting is as important as the people and figures in it.” (Lacoste, 2011, pp.59) So the whole projects visual aesthetic revolves around the environment that the characters will occupy. After obtaining a lot of photo references for the North America states in which the story takes place I looked at films and games that had realistic environments but interesting aesthetics. 5.2 Heavy Rain

Figure 33 - Heavy Rain outdoor environment concept art The first game that came to mind was Heavy Rain. For the uninitiated Heavy Rain is a modern noir thriller video game where the player has to stop a serial killer. The whole mood of the game is reflected in the visuals. The palette is made up of murky browns, greens and blacks. This game is heavily influenced in story and visuals by the David Fincher film “Seven”. However “American Gods” has a lot of mythological characters. I want to strike a balance between the fantasy elements and the realism of the American background. 5.3 Dark city Then I watched Batman Begins. This film shows us a gritty and dark city. The last half an hour when the outbreak spreads across Arkham, the smoke and darkness that descends is the style I am looking for.

5.4 Perspective Feng Zhu’s video tutorial “Shot design” explains how to use perspective to sell your environment, as even the coolest idea can look boring if it isn’t viewed from the right angle. 5.5 Beauty and the Beast The shot Zhu uses the most is 2-point perspective, as 3-point perspective is used for extreme views so I use 2-point perspective for my exterior environment. I want to also tell some of the story, as the characters make the environment more believable. Mr Hinzelmann transforms and sacrifices a girl to the gods. The following shows my process. I took inspiration from Heavy Rain and the film Seven.

Figure 34 - Painting process for outdoor environment.

For this I used the lessons I learnt from the previous modules in concept generation and concept art practice where I learnt how to draw environments in 1, 2,and 3 point perspective.

Kekai Kotaki a concept artist has this tip. 5.6 Establish your Elements “When doing a landscape I like to use atmospheric perspective. One thing to keep in mind for depth is to establish foreground, mid- ground and background elements. (Kotaki, 2011, pp.70) I have used this in the image “Red State”. Shadow is in the foreground so will have the darkest value; the mid ground is the mountain of skulls which recede into the atmosphere. The lightest value is the crosses and mist that descends on the scene.

Figure 35 - Red State 5.7 Color and Light James Gurney also helped me when choosing colours and rendering surfaces and textures for the environments. I found Gurney insightful when painting the environments as they consist of different elements that the chapters covered. The book is expansive and I learnt how to use gamut masks to control my colour palette. http://www.livepaintinglessons.com/gamutmask.php

Figure 36 - Gamut mask The Science behind Visual Perception is another area covered by James Gurney, He explains that faces or people grab the eye, no matter what design elements you use to try to influence eye movement (Gurney, 2011, pp. 69). He also says that because faces

and people receive the most attention from the viewer; make sure that they’re right. And downplay other areas of the picture. In the interior environment I wanted to use the faces to guide the viewer around the picture.

Figure 37 The Diner When comparing my image above with the Kill zone 2 concept art below, I think the lines are stronger in the professional artists work and they use the lighting to focus on the villain. I think my image tells a story but could do with more flat areas. This comes down to my enthusiasm to over render at times.

Figure 38 -Leading light design “Killzone 2” concept art

Chapter 6 – Creature Design 6.1 Animals Real and Imagined “ A creature, as it relates to the entertainment industry, most often refers to those animals that exist in the realms of mythology, fantasy and science fiction. As a creature designer I am responsible for the invention of imaginary life forms believable enough that the audience is ready to accept that they must have seen it, on this planet, in a universe far, far, away, or perhaps in another time or dimension” (Whitlach, 2011, pp.21) Below is James Gurneys traditional painting “Birdman” which anthropomorphises it’s subject.

Figure 39 - Birdman concept by James Gurney As for Loki, the man/female/ creature with a million identities according to Norse mythology the options were endless. This was a good character to choose as unlike the specifics and focus of the first two characters Loki is open to interpretation and being the “new god of technology” this was a chance to use my imagination coupled with the advancements in technology today. A National Geographic article inspired me.

Figure 40 - National Geographic bionic advancement research

6.2 ILMs Robots in disguise I watched the “Transformers” movie again, as it brings the art and science of technology to life in the depiction of its computer generated cast of autobots versus decepticons. Industrial Light and Magic were responsible for the creations and this helped me to design the god of technology. After going on Concept art world.com I saw the concept art for Transformers 3: Dark of the moon by the Aaron Simms Company. Aaron Simms worked under the late Stan Winston (the special effects guru behind the terminator, predator, aliens and Jurassic Park). Simms work is a blend of 2d digital painting and 3d modelling. His company specialises in character design and creature design. They have worked on Clash of the titans, Constantine, Transformers 3 and Doom to name but a few.

6.3 Aaron Simms Monster Methods.

After watching “ Designing creatures in Adobe Photoshop with Aaron Simms” I decided to use his methods for the creation of Loki- an American God. Simms techniques are innovative and very easy to apply. He has 3 methods, 1- To have a textured background, then digitally sketch shapes from the background, then after the initial grey scale value study he adds photographs for texture then works into them with a chalk brush.

Figure 41 – Aaron Simm’s concept method 1

2- To take a photograph of a cloud then divide it down the middle, flip one half to make a symmetrical image, then paint into the new pattern and make a creatures face out of something abstract.

Figure 42 – Aaron Simms concept method 2 3-To take a photo of a human and one of an animal, Superimpose the human over the animal, using the warp tool align the two and then paint out the excess. We now have two textures merged, the human and animal, this is the canvas to paint a new creature/ human hybrid perfect for the idea I have for Loki.

n Fig 43 - Aaron Simms concept method 3

Below is Aaron Simms finished painting, as you can see it does not resemble its original beginning? He has used the photo as a basis for the values and shapes. All the detailed painting is the skill of the artist.

Figure 44 - The finished hybrid concept 6.4 Loki – human, animal, god of technology hybrid. So as I have said Loki can change from human form, to animal and in American Gods he is the god of Technology so I want to combine all three in an image that shows his transformation. I read the book “ Designing Movie Creatures and Characters” by Richard Rickitt and went on to the website of Aaron Simms and Carlos Huante.

Figure 45 - Book featuring creature concept art.

I found that the majority of creature designs are paintings from the waist upward or just the headshot. This was strange as all character designs are usually the full figure and from multiple angles to give the most information to the modeller. Simms explains that from his experiences with Film directors the audience connects with the face first no matter how abstract or alien the creature. This is because as humans we connect with faces as they express emotion unlike any other body part. 6.5 Face values So I decide to focus on the face, Loki is the enemy so I need an expression that will convey this, so I open up Photo booth on my mac and say cheese! Actually I roared like a lion!

Figure 46 - Photograph references for Loki concept If I were an animal I would be a bird so I could fly all over the world, but Loki is a god so he doesn’t need to fly. If Loki was in animal form what better animal to transform in than the King of the jungle. With this in mind I get a photo of a lion. I open this in Photoshop and have it as my base layer. I open the photo of me roaring, flip it horizontally to match the lion and warp it to roughly fit the face of the lion. Now I don’t want it to look too obvious otherwise it will just look like “ Thundercats” (1980’s animated cartoon). I use the liquefy tool Simms explained in the video. I tweak the face structure and add another layer. Using the chalk brush with pen pressure and opacity set to 20% I start painting. I use the colours from the photographs to add details such as the teeth, scarring and metal piping. I also add an eyepiece to show although he is a god to be feared he is also intelligent and sees with an all seeing eye! Metal has a shiny surface and reflects the surfaces surrounding it so I could use custom brushes here, but as I have used photo elements I decide to use photos of metal pipes and electric wires. On the last image you can see I have darkened the majority of the image, which is a trick I learnt off Liverpool, based concept artist Paul Gerrard.

(Gerrard, 2007, pp. 40) argues that leaving the creature in darkness leaves the viewer contemplating the horrors in the dark.

Figure 47. Loki Painting stages On another layer I flatten the image and up the resolution from 2000 to 4000 pixels. I double press “F” on the keyboard to go to full screen. This makes the painting the full size and with the option to “res” up this is where digital painting comes into its own. The digital canvas has no limit, well maybe the ram of the computer! I zoom in and see all the broad brushstrokes and they look messy, it would be easy to detail this for weeks on end. However I read in Imagine FX and other websites that you should always see the bigger picture. So I am constantly zooming out and squinting my eyes to make sure the values and shapes are still working. Detailing can make a picture or break it. In the end I lighten the image up a bit to show more detail, for me this feels right. Aaron’s techniques have served me well. It has definitely given me results I do not think would have arisen, if I had continued with my normal methods.

Chapter 7– Product Design 7.1 Drive Product design can be anything from designing vehicles to weapons to buildings. Gnomon Workshop – These DVD’s feature artist’s from the entertainment industries. So for product design I watched the fundamentals of perspective with Scott Robertson. Scott talks about the rules of perspective and how as a concept artist everything exists in a three dimensional space so whether is be a character, creature, building or vehicle/ weapon. We should draw them in 1, 2 or 3-point perspective. This starts with vanishing points and then drawing basic shapes as a starting point to build upon. Scott is a concept artist who specialises in vehicle design, his book “Drive” shows how to visualise cars and render them. 7.2 Pick and Mix After initially doing line drawings of the VW campervan for Mr Wednesday and Shadows flight I want the vehicle to be more mythology based than the standard military weapons I originally illustrated. 7.3 To Infinity and Beyond I dig through my art collection for ideas and inspiration, and then after flicking through the pages of Pixar’s art book I find the solution. Pixar thinks outside the box and the cattle tractor is one of their examples.

Figure 48 - Jay Shuster pencils: evolution of a cow tractor in PIXAR’S “Cars” animation

For this project I also look at a realistic approach. Christian Bravery showed me how he concepts a helicopter based on a wasp from start to finish.

Figure 49 - Christian Bravery stages of design for a bug - based assault copter.

As you can see Christian starts off with a reference photo and then does a line drawing, moving onto the computer and making a 3D render of his vehicle. Finally he paints the vehicle paying attention to the fundamentals such as lighting and how different materials react to light. See below.

Figure 50 - Christian Bravery final painted version of the bug - based assault copter. Mr Wednesday is described in a scene as turning into a wolf and is also the weather god so with these two seeds planted, I set out to concept a hybrid vehicle that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional.

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I start off with line drawings using Art Rage studio 3 for the first time.

Figure 51 - Line drawing vehicle concept stages

I think its natural media tools and interface are very easy to use. It also has an option to have my photo references along my work, which is not available in Photoshop or Painter. 7.4 Product placement In Digital Painting Techniques Christians “right hand man” Matt Allsop says “My contribution to vehicle design begins by taking something real and common place, and pushing it towards something more unusual. Here an incredible creative process begins, where anything can happen from fully functional real world automobiles, to organic alien star destroyers that are completely abstract. After the entire initial sketches its great to exhibit my final design. As shown here one of my key favourite ideals is to really sell that vehicle, by displaying the craft in it’s “natural” atmospheric environment” (Allsop, 2011, pp.141). Matt Allsop’s product placement presentation reminds me of the scene when the VW camper van takes flight and escape the agents in the book. So I add the background and blur it to add a sense of speed. Syd Mead, the famous designer behind Ridley Scott’s science fiction classic ” Blade Runner”, always added the environments to his product designs.

Below is my design process. I think the final image turned out well fusing fantasy and realistic elements.

Figure 52 - Flight of the navigator concept process

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Chapter 8 -Key Moment Concept Art 8.1 The art of visual storytelling

Figure 53 - Massive Black Key moment concept art For me the most interesting part of the concept art process, this is where we take the characters, environments and products we have designed in the previous chapters and put them together, in a story based key scene usually taken from a storyboard. Think of any of your favourite movies or video games, what is your favourite scene? There are iconic scenes such as Luke Skywalker flying solo in the depths of the death star to fire his last shot, or the stampede in the Lion King, the end of The Shawshank Redemption, The Matrix bullet time fights, E.T flying over the moon, Indiana Jones running from the huge concrete ball, James Bond saving the world again, the first time you see the Alien, the terminator 2 ending. The list could go on… 8.2 Remember Below is probably the most important emotional scene in Star Wars film history. The concept art shows the moment when Darth Vader reveals to Luke Skywalker “ I am your FATHER!”

Figure 54 -Ralph McQuarrie’s epic duels between father and son sketches and painting. “Art comes from within. It’s the ideas, the concept and the emotional connection to the visual that are the vital components to the art process”. (Gerrard 2011, pp.61).

A film or game is made up of dialogue, character development and revelations but when you walk out of the cinema or put down the controller, it’s the scenes that took your breath away which are the ones that are forever etched in your memory and some in your heart. This is the reason Key moment concept art is my favourite part of the process. In Atomhawk’s “Art of Atomhawk design volume 1” book they show that a key moment can be an action set piece, a creature attack or an intimate conversation between friends or enemies.

Fig 55 - Atom Hawk Key moment - conversation

I read my notes on American Gods and choose some scenes that I can visualise action, horror and romance “A set of good quality production images will tell the project’s story, attract investors, inspire the imagination of your team and tantalise your public.” (Allsop, 2010, pp96).

Fig 56 - Leading Light key moment concept art

8.3 The Descent So after picking the Key moments that feature the characters I have developed, I do some quick compositional sketches. Then I go into Photoshop and rough out the values in grey scale. I then get some photo reference, which is usually my self-posing in whatever angle is needed.

. Figure 57- The Descent pencil to painting process An agent of Mr World is interrogating Shadow Moon. On reflection when comparing this to my other finished pieces the background is too busy and competes for attention with the foreground characters. The values are also too similar and it needs more contrast to read better.

Figure 58 - The Descent “values” check

8.4 The Last kiss Emotion is a key element of believable storytelling whether it is written or visual. I read the story of American Gods; the journey of the character Bilquis engaged me. She disguises herself as a prostitute but takes the lives of men for revenge. She is actually the queen of Sheba. I knew I wanted a tight composition and placed my camera within the action. This was to focus on the faces and the opposite reactions to the kiss. Bilquis is clearly enjoying sucking the life out of her victim. In contrast the client has the look of disbelief and fear of being dominated and ultimately murdered. To create believable facial expressions I read Gary Faigin’s book “ The Artist’s complete guide to Facial Expression”.

I think this image has developed well and made me focus on a difficult subject matter. Whilst also developing my skills in drawing and painting believable characters.

Figure 59 - The Last Kiss painting process

8.5 Possessed I love the human invasion scenes in movies. For example the moment in Steven Spielbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s War Of the Worlds when Tom Cruise runs for his life when everyone around him evaporates after the aliens emerge. With this in mind I decide to have the concept art be a still from a news feed. All the monster movies have the mass annihilation of the human race. In the American Gods finale Neil Gaiman describes how the gods come to earth and possess the humans. I use foreground, mid ground and background to make the image read. The focus is on the god in the background.

Figure 60 -Possessed painting process

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8.6 The Negotiator. After the god’s have possessed humans and animals they come down from the heavens and march forward to war. In the book Shadow negotiates and reveals the truth. Due to time constraints this image had less time spent on it than other work but I think it communicates the concept. I started with grey scale shapes and added colour with the “colour” layer mode in Photoshop.

Figure 61 - The Negotiator painting process

8.7 War of The Gods A tale as old as time retold over the years as the story of the little man versus the big corporation, the tortoise versus the hare or the game character versus the end boss. It makes for an exciting composition, as the two figures will be different sizes with a face off so epic it will make you want to play as the hero. I used all my knowledge, skills and tricks in this key moment; everything I have learnt over the duration of this course is encompassed in this image. I open up Corel Painter 12, which has the Fibonacci composition grid so I can compose my image.

Figure 62 - Corel Painter12 Fibonacci spiral grid I pick some colours from the palette that will evoke the scale and emotion I think a final image should have. This is the moment we all wait for at the end of a movie, book or game. This should be epic and exciting. I feel the pressure to visualise the ideas in my head into one cohesive image. In hindsight I could have experimented with more compositions. Different angles, viewpoints, but sometimes instinct is just as important. “In the beginning I had no idea what I was doing. I did some clouds, then I would add an eye” (Giger, 2011, pp12). I quickly lay down the major shape, a spiral; this will lead the eye from the left side into the picture, deeper and descend into an explosion. I know the spiral will be Loki’s transformed body, as the enemy he should look formidable. This is also a link to the mythology that surrounds Loki, as he is believed to have acquired his scarred smile from the venom of a snake. Gurney (pp. 69) explains that lines that converge to a single point in a picture are like spokes around the hub of a wheel. They pull the eye toward the centre point. I use Gurney’s method to make the primary focus of the image Loki. I think this works as Shadows arm and the falling debris all point to Loki.

I want the protagonist Shadow to slide down the body. My original sketch is not far off, this I am sure is down to the anatomy drawing I embarked upon at the beginning of the project. So I get my mom to take some photos of me in the pose. This is not exact and so I have to reference parts from each of the photos to create a plausible pose.

Figure 63 - War of the god’s concept process part 1

Figure 64 - War Of The Gods painting stages part 2 I think the image turned out really well. When comparing it with the professional key moments from companies I think I have been successful in matching the action dynamics and realistic rendering that they produce.

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Conclusion To conclude this project I must reflect on my journey from the beginning. I will say that over the past year I feel I have grown not only as an artist but also as a person. Before I started this course I was naive and if I am honest a little arrogant with my skillset. Art is like any thing we get to a certain level and are satisfied with the result, but having made the mistake that I had no more to learn I stopped developing for years. I have been drawing the same way for years, never critical of my own flaws or trying to correct them. My works had energy and ideas but were littered with anatomical flaws. Furthermore the colour theory and perspective were non-existent. Every colour in the spectrum would be painted without care or thought. My composition was to fill every inch of every drawing with figures and after seeing the work of Albert Dorne this can be done, but he arranged the figures with thought and reason. The clothes moved and character expressions reacted to one another. The picture told a story.

Figure 65 - Albert Dorne - the master Dorne had learnt the fundamentals before moving on to complicated compositions. I have tried to go back to the basics and learn the fundamentals before attempting the final project. In my head I thought my speed was my biggest asset, over the year I have discovered it is my biggest weakness. When I was teaching Art and Design to secondary school children I would always say itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the quality not the quantity, but its easy to criticise others, but much harder to look inside and see the flaws holding me back. I think that the weekly feedback and constructive criticism I have received from my tutors Herb Wiersma and Nigel Kitching has been the catalyst to confronting my Â

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flaws. It has made me stronger and definitely a better more all rounded artist now capable of meeting the specifications of the job market. I now question each step I take in the process of creating an image, the lighting, form, composition and perspective are all important to me now in realising the ideas that occupy my mind.. I have learnt to look at other professional artists and their techniques, to watch and learn from their tutorials. Feng Zhu (2011,pp81) says working on several images at once; it keeps the brain and eyes refreshed. Whenever I get bored of looking at the same one image, I’ll switch over to another. This keeps the workflow interesting – no matter how long the project lasts. My plans for the future are to continue developing my portfolio and make goals to keep me focused. I am thankful to the amazing tutors and humbled by my peers whom I was lucky enough to share this experience with. Sharing art with others aids growth and having just put my work on Deviant art and CG hub I hope to grow more.

Figure 66 - Learning Concepts article featuring my peer’s concept art

When comparing the final images and the professional work in concept art studios I think that I am not far off their standards. I will keep trying and will never give up. To conclude I will not be making the mistake of thinking I have stopped learning. As I understand more today than yesterday but tomorrow is another day.

(9752-word count)

References

Books Allsop, M (2010) Digital Painting Techniques: Volume ed2. UK: Focal Press. pp.141 Chiang, D. (2008) Mechanika: How to Create Science Fiction Art; Devon: IMPACT Books, pp. 43,79,134 - 139 Gaiman, N (2004) American Gods, Great Britain, Headline publishing. Gurney, J (2010) Imaginative Realism: How To Paint What Doesn’t Exist. Kansas City, London: Andrews McNeel Publishing. pp. 172- 173. Hartas, L. (2005) The Art of Game Characters. United Kingdom: The Ilex Press Limited. pp. 48, 52, 58, 68. Hogarth, B. (2003) Dynamic Anatomy Revised and Expanded. New York : Watson – Guptill publications. pp. 43, 70. Kruger, C and Thompson, P. (2011) The Art Of Atomhawk Design - Volume 1: UK , Focal Press. pp. 25, 96. Whitlach, T . (2010) Animals Real And Imagined: Culver City, Design Studio Press. pp. 21.

Journals Allsop, M. (2010) Production Design For Games - Story Developer, Imagine FX (62), pp. 96. Anonymous (2010) Merging man and machine- The Bionic Age, National Geographic, pp. 32- 51. Donlan, C. (2010) Get In The Game: Computer Arts Projects (139) pp. 60. Gerrard, P (2007) Imagine Nation Artist Q & A : Imagine FX (23) , pp. 40. Gerrard, P (2011) Artist Portfolio Paul Gerrard, Imagine FX (72), pp. 61. Giger, H (2011) Gallery: Hans Rudolf Giger, Fantasy Art Essentials Volume 1 , pp. 12. Gurney, J (2011) Workshop: Science Of Visual Perception, Fantasy Art Essentials Volume 1, pp.68 – 69.

Kotaki, K and Lacoste, R. (2011) The New Legends Of Epic Landscapes. Imagine FX, (69), pp.59, 70. Mead, S. (2011) Interview Syd Mead : Fantasy Art Volume 2 – pp. 85. Neale, B (2011) Learning Concepts: Imagine FX (70).pp21. Rossbach, S. (2011) Look To Frazetta For Inspiration. Fantasy Art Essentials Volume 1, pp.41. Scott, D (2011) Interview Dan Scott. Fantasy Art Essentials Volume 1, pp140. Swanland, R. (2011) Photoshop Face The Wrath Of Medusa: Fantasy Art Essentials Volume 1. pp.171. Troost, R. (2011) when and how should I use custom brushes: Imagine FX, (67) 2011, pp. 41. Zhu, F. (2011) An Interview with Feng Zhu Design. Fantasy Art Volume 2, pp. 124.

Illustrations In A Book Bammes, G (2010) Die Gestalt des Menschen: Lehr – und Handbuch der Kunstleranatomie . Germany. Englisch Verlag Gmbh, pp.126.ills. Bravery, C 2010) Sci fi Art Essentials. United Kingdom, Future PLC, pp. 202 206.ills. Chiang, D (2008) Mechanika: creating the art of science fiction with Doug Chiang. China: Impact books,pp 138-139.ills. Gurney, J (2010) Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter; Kansas City, London: Andrews McMeel. pp.125.ills. Hogarth, B (2003) Dynamic Anatomy Revised and Expanded: New York : Watson – Guptill publications, pp71.ills. Mc Quarrie, R. (2009) Star Wars –The Complete Vader. Great Britain: Simon & Schuster UK ltd, pp.4.ills. Mc Quarrie, R. (2009) Star Wars –The Complete Vader. Great Britain: Simon & Schuster UK ltd, pp.54.ills. Greenberger, Manning, R, M. (2009) The Batman Vault. Running Press Book Publishers, pp142.ills. Shuster, J (2007) To Infinity and Beyond! : The Story of Pixar Animation Studios. Great Britain: Virgin books Ltd, pp. 272.ills. Thompson, P (2011) The Art Of AtomHawk Design: Volume 1:3dtotal,pp72-73.ills.

Tutorial videos Zhu, F. (2011) http://www.artbyfeng.com/tutorials.htm (accessed July 7th- September 10th 2011)

Websites

Kainth , S . (2011) Art Of The Gods http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/ (accessed 10th September 2011

Google, Art Project (2011) http://www.googleartproject.com/ (accessed September 10th 2011)

AtomHawk Design, (2011) , http://atomhawk.com/ (accessed June 9th 2011)

Drawings of Leonardo.org (1994) http://www.drawingsofleonardo.org/images/fly1.jpg (accessed 10th September 2011)

Imagine fx.com/home http://www.imaginefx.com/ (accessed June 10th 2010)

Leading Light Conceptual Design (2010) http://www.leadinglightdesign.com/ (accessed June 9th 2011)

Massive Black, Inc. (2010) http://www.massiveblack.com/MBwebolution/illustration.php

Oil and Painting Lessons – FREE painting lesson videos |(2010) http://www.livepaintinglessons.com/gamutmask.php (Accessed June 15th 2011)

Ryan Church – Concept Design, Art Direction, Illustration (2010) http://ryanchurch.com/ (Accessed June 18th 2011)

The Round Tablet (2011) http://theroundtablet.com/ (Accessed September 10th 2011)

Electronic Books (e- books/ PDF)

Dahlig, M (2007) The custom brush guide: fabric and costume [online] http://www.imaginefx.com/02287754333250766838/the-custom-brush-guide-fabricand-costume.html [Accessed 17th July 2011] Dahlig, M (2007) The custom brush guide: nature and environment [online] http://www.imaginefx.com/02287754331613849577/the-custom-brush-guide-natureand-environment.html [Accessed 17th September 2011] Dahlig, M (2007) The custom brush guide: skin and hair costume [online] http://www.imaginefx.com/02287754332606896693/the-custom-brush-guide-skinand-hair.html

[accessed 17th September 2011]

Kutsche, M (2007) Concept to character costume [online] (http://www.imaginefx.com/02287754333139796948/concept-to-character.html [Accessed 1st August 2011]

Loomis, A (1943) Figure Drawing For All It’s Worth. Fineart.sk [online]. http://fineart.sk/photo-‐references/figure-‐drawing-‐all-‐its-‐worth-‐andrew-‐ loomis/014 [accessed 10th September 2011] Ludvigson, H (2008) Hennings 1010: Colour [online] http://www.imaginefx.com/02287754329488438333/henning-s-101-colour.html [Accessed 10th September 2011]

Online Images

Adonihs (2009) My Brush Pack [online] http://adonihs.deviantart.com/gallery/9827508#/d1ytm3r (Accessed 11th September 2011) Sunday Mercury (2011) roaring lion [online] http://blogs.sundaymercury.net/weirdscience/Lion.jpg (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Atom Hawk Design ( 2011) male character concept [online] http://www.atomhawk.com/character02.html (Accessed 10th September 2011)

Atom Hawk Design ( 2011) female character concept [online] http://www.atomhawk.com/character03.html (Accessed 10th September 2011)

Atom Hawk Design (2011) Concept Pass 3 Finalising The Design [online] http://www.atomhawk.com/conceptualprocess.html (scroll down to bottom) (Accessed 10th September 2011) Twentieth Century Fox (2009) Avatar photo, [online] http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2009_avatar_035.html (Accessed 10th September 2011) Baranger, F (2011) hr_taxid_facade.jpg [online] http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2011/08/hr_taxid_facade.jpg (Accessed 10th September 2011) Church, R. (2005) Untitled [online image] http://www.ryanchurch.com/sw3/?currentPage=2 [Accessed 11th September 2011]

Da Vinci, L . (1994) Design for a flying machine c, 1488 [online] http://www.drawingsofleonardo.org/images/fly1.jpg (Accessed 10th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) American Gods initial designs [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/american-gods-designs-2/ (Accessed 19th August 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) American Gods 2nd Stage Designs [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/american-gods-designs/ (Accessed 19th August 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) Anatomy 101 – back to basics [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/anatomy-101/ (Accessed 10th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) Beauty and the beast process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/beauty-and-the-beast/ (Accessed 10th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) Flight of the navigator [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/the-vehicle-process/ (Accessed 10th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) Laura Moon process [online ] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/laura-moon-process/ (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) Loki Process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/loki-process/ (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) Possessed Process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/taken/ (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) Red State Process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/shadows-dream-process/ (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) Shadow Moon Process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/protagonist-process/ (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) The Descent Process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/the-rescue-process/ (Accessed 10th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) The Diner Process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/the-diner-process/ (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) The Last Kiss Process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/irresistable/ (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) The Negotiator process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/the-negotiator-process/ (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Kainth, S (2011) War of the god’s process [online] http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/war-of-the-gods/ (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Leading Light Conceptual Design (2011) Key moment [online ]. http://www.leadinglightdesign.com/services_keyMoment.php (Accessed 11th September 2011)

Leading Light Conceptual Design (2011) Killzone 2 [online]. http://www.leadinglightdesign.com/projects_killzone.php (Accessed 27 August 2011)

Leading Light Conceptual Design (2011) Rafter [online]. http://www.leadinglightdesign.com/services_characterDesign.php (Accessed 27 August 2011)

Loomis, A (1943) Various Standards Of Proportion [online] http://fineart.sk/photo-references/figure-drawing-all-its-worth-andrew-loomis/014 (Accessed 10th September 2011)

Ludvigsen, H (2010) Building a piece [online image] http://www.henningludvigsen.com/index.php/henning/tutorial_text/049_ifx_tutorial_c omposition (Accessed 11 September 2011) Massive Black.com ( 2011) Illustration [online image] http://www.massiveblack.com/MBwebolution/illustration/ Simms, A. (2011) Designing creatures in Photoshop [online image]

http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/466/Designing-Creatures-inAdobe-Photoshop [Accessed 11th September 2011]

Sunday Mercury (2011) roaring lion [online] http://blogs.sundaymercury.net/weirdscience/Lion.jpg (Accessed 11th September 2011) Blogs

Kainth, S . (2011) Art Of The Gods http://sunilkainthfinalproject.wordpress.com/ [online] (accessed 10th September 2011) Kainth , S . (2011) Sunil Live To Draw http://sunilkainth.blogspot.com/ [online] (accessed 10th September 2011)

Computer Programs

Ambient Design Ltd (2011) Art Rage (Studio Pro) [computer program] http://www.artrage.com/

Adobe (2010) Creative Suite (CS5) [computer program] http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite.html

Corel (2011) Painter (12) [computer program] http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/gb/en/Product/1166553885783#versionTabvie w=tab0&tabview=tab0

65 Â

Photographs

Kainth, S (2011) The War Room.[Photograph]

Kainth, S (2011) A few of my Imagine FX magazines. [Photograph]

Kainth, S (2011) Photos of myself for reference. [Photograph]

Kainth, S (2011) Photo of my Stan Winston art and history book. [Photograph

Film / DVD 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968] Directed by Stanley Kubrick, (DVD) Shepperton, UK, Warner Home Video Akira [1988] Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, (DVD) Japan, Manga Entertainment Alien [1979] Directed by Ridley Scott, (FILM) Shepperton, Surrey, UK, 20th Century Fox. Avatar [2009] Directed by James Cameron, (FILM) Hamakua coast, Hawaii, USA, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Back to the Future Trilogy (1985) Directed by Robert Zemekis , (FILM) South Pasadena, California Universal Pictures UK Batman [1989] Directed by Tim Burton ,(DVD) London, England, Warner Home Video Batman Begins (2005) Directed by Christopher Nolan, (DVD) London, England, Warner Bros Video Blade Runner [1982] Directed by Ridley Scott (FILM) Los Angeles, California, Warner Bros Pictures The Faculty [1999] Directed by Robert Rodriguez, (FILM) Austin, Texas USA, Dimension Films Fantastic Mr Fox [2009] Directed by Wes Anderson , (FILM) Three Mills Studios, London , UK,20th Century Fox Home Entertainment The Fly [1986] Directed by David Cronenburg, Toronto, (DVD) Ontario, Canada, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets (2002) Directed by Chris Columbus, (FILM) Northumberland, UK, 1492 Pictures Independence Day [1996] Directed by Roland Emmerich, (FILM) Los Angeles, California, 20th Century Fox Entertainment Jurassic Park [1993] Directed by Steven Spielberg, (FILM) Hawaii, Universal Pictures The Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King (2003) Directed by Peter Jackson, (FILM) Wellington, New Zealand, New Line Cinema Mars Attacks! [1996] Directed by Tim Burton, (FILM) Buenos Aires, Argentina, Warner Bros Pictures The Matrix [1999] Directed by Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski, (FILM) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Warner Bros Pictures Monsters (2010) Directed by Gareth Edwards, (FILM) Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Vertigo Films Monsters Inc. [2002] Directed by Pete Docter, (DVD) Pixar Animation Studios, Buena Vista Home Entertainment Persepolis [2008] Directed by Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi, (DVD) France, USA,Optimum Home Entertainment Spider-Man 2 [2004] Directed by Sam Raimi, (FILM) Brooklyn, New York, USA, Columbia Pictures Corporation Star Wars – The Empire Strikes Back [1983] Directed by Irwin Kershner, (DVD) Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, California,20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Steamboy [2004] Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, (DVD) Japan, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Superman [1978] Directed by Richard Donner, (FILM) Pinewood studios, UK, Warner Home Video Terminator Salvation Skull Box [Blu-Ray] [2009] Directed by MCG , (DVD) New Mexico, Sony Pictures Home Ent. UK Transformers (2007) Directed by Michael Bay, (FILM) Los Angeles, Californina,Dreamworks Home Entertainment Tron Legacy [2010] Directed by Joseph Kosinski , (FILM) Los Angeles, California, Walt Disney Studios Entertainment War of the Worlds (2 Disc Special Edition) [2005] Directed by Steven Spielberg, (DVD) Athens, New York, Paramount Home Entertainment (UK)

X-Men, X-Men 2,Directed by Bryan Singer [DVD] Burlington, Ontario, Canada,20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Video Games Heavy Rain (PS3) (2010) Designed by David Cage {Video Game}. Quantic Dream, Sony Computer Entertainment

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