With the character figured out it was time to dedicate myself to the model sheet which once again was a pain. I don’t understand why I struggle so much with model sheets but I need to sort it out.

I ended up doing some research on other artists’ model sheets and character sheets because, even the character sheet, which was so simple and the was also the part I was looking forward to the most, made me question myself a lot. I understand that it is supposed to show how the character behaves and reacts to world around her but the possibilities for those sketches are endless.

The in situ piece was also a struggle. Mostly because I was unsure of what side of the character I wanted to show. did I want to do an in situ that would portray her fierce warrior side or did I want to work on her kind side? In the end, I decided to go for something calm and gentle which should be approached with caution. That touches a little bit of both, doesn’t it?

I think I have figured out a way of making Mercy both native american and a pirate. So…in early 1800’s there were still a lot of native american tribes. The west of the United States was still being explored. What if Mercy was a bastard child? That would make her half native american and would explain how she ended up in the orphanage. She maintained a few of her customs though… Her village was burned down! (Tragic but things need to make sense)

Now. I know who she is and have her outfit more or less figured out. It was time to think about the details which was some more time spent on researching native american customs. I learned that they used symbols to communicate. One could know what a warrior has been through just by his tattoos and the feathers he wore.

I investigated these symbols and its meanings and selected a few that could match Mercy’s character. Most of the feathers she wears have meaning. She wears 4 painted eagle feathers from the picture above. She also wears owl feathers which were believed to protect the wearer, and simple eagle feathers because they believed that the eagle was the king of the birds and messenger of the gods. They used these feathers to feel connected with the spirit world as they believed that eagles were capable of connecting with divinities and spirits because they flew so high.

Her tattoos also have meanings. She has one for protection, one for alertness/awareness, freedom and a failed attempt to tattoo ‘never ending happiness’. This last one is the same she embroided on her trousers while in the orphanage. Symbol that came undone.

This is week I found out that pirates are so cool they made me struggle. I wanted the character to keep that cool pirate style but at the same time, a pirate with one of those super awesome coats that I love would look a little too wealthy for Mercy (I decided to get her a name because otherwise my brain couldn’t function). So I did struggle quite a lot trying to figure out the attire. Which then made me spend WAY too much time on  historical research. Good thing is, I remembered that native american tribes were a thing. How to mix them both was the question.

Pirates of the Caribbean, Black Sails and Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag were an important part of my research in terms of clothing. They were also great background noise.

We were given the final task this week which is designing a character. Super excited for it even though the time period is not my favourite (pirates are cool).

Working on the silhouettes for the characters was…interesting. Alchemy can be very useful to me in the future but at the moment I dread working with it. The silhouettes I did during the workshop didn’t have any previous historical research so I was a bit lost.

After the workshop I went to the library and did some research on 1800s America. There is very few info of the south during that time and the book I wanted to take to study was out unfortunately. However, I found out that in the early 1800s we had the end of the golden age of piracy. With that info, I decided to take my characters to the Caribbean and work around that. Here’s the iteration I did of one of the silhouettes.

I like it and am currently working on these iterations some more but I would also like to give another character a go and maybe do some more silhouettes. Not entirely happy with my results.

As I predicted, what I was planning to go for was not quite right. Sought out some guidance for the model sheet of the bridge and started working on it but I wasn’t happy. Decided to go back and iterate a different silhouette.

Did the model sheet and moved on to the in-situ piece. That was a challenge. I am not used to painting environments. Tried my best on it while experimenting with things we’ve learned throughout the week like colours – even though I am not sure if I managed to do it right – and played around with brushed to get different textures.

In the end, the piece is done. I am not very happy with it but I don’t have time for a new one right now and maybe it is just my overly critical side acting up. Or maybe I should have done some thumbnails.

Task No. 1 – Container (cont.)

Working on the model sheet was a challenge. The container I came up with was not exactly easy either which I regret it little bit. However, the main problem here – and maybe I wouldn’t have been able to understand this if I had a simple square container – was that doing the model sheet is a lot more complicated than it looks like. Literally!

A model sheet is supposed to be a clear explanation of what we created looks like and how it works. It has to be as clear as a sticky note on the fridge saying “take out the bins”. But doing that with something that is clear in your head it complicated. I might look at my model sheet and think it is clear but once I pass it on to the 3D artist, they will have many questions and won’t be so sure of how things work and where things are supposed to go. In this case, the model sheet is clear enough to me because I know what it is talking about. I created it. No one will know more about it than me. So what is obvious to me might not be so obvious to someone else. And trying to use the eyes of a newbie when you are looking at something you know so well doesn’t always work.

I found a simple solution to this though. Just ask someone completely unrelated to the project if it they understand what I want to say just by looking at it. If they have any doubts or questions it is because something is missing.

 

Task No. 2 – Bridge

In this same week I started the silhouettes for the bridge. I jumped straight into the lasso tool and started building my puzzles, trying to make them look somewhat like a bridge.

Worked on different perspectives and also found out that the lasso tool is great to create natural shapes. So it doesn’t only allow me to work on silhouettes faster, it made it look neater which is very satisfying. However, once I realized that the natural shapes looked so cool, I unconsciously started visualizing things in my head first. I need to work on that some more. It somehow feels like I am trying to run away from my own head.