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.

Task No. 1 – Container (cont.)

I really needed to get out of this frustrating loop hole. I was stuck on the process of visualizing things in my head – existing or not – and then trying to put on paper the same picture I have in my head. This is such a wrong, frustrating and draining process and I was finding it so hard to get out of it.

Thankfully my lecturers are so helpful that I finally understood that the techniques I was taught during the workshop  are nothing more than different tools to help me create something random on paper and from that image, which is not a visualization in my head but something real instead, I transform it into whatever I want it to be.

Now, the non-destructive way wasn’t working form me at all. So I tried creating random bits with the lasso tool – or loop tool as some would prefer – and putting them together like puzzle pieces. That allowed me so much more freedom that it did indeed release me from the narrow loop hole I was in.

Unfortunately I had to have things done by the end of this week so I didn’t have much time to keep playing around with this. However, this is definitely my favorite bit of the whole silhouette process and if I could hide everything previous to this and never look at it again – me or anyone else – I would.

Of course I had to chose the most complicated one to iterate because I wasn’t running out of time or anything (being ironic here) and I love a good challenge!

So here’s my iteration process for the container. I wanted to use the spiky bits it already had. It made it look somewhat dangerous and at the same time I wanted some round and soft edges. I didn’t worry too much about the fact that I had to do a model sheet and think about this porcupine in a 3D perspective after having funny iterating.

I copied, pasted and flipped things on top of each other, eliminated bits, did a “collage” of parts from previous iterations to create a new one. A very fun and interesting process. It is almost like trying all the possible combinations on your luggage lock because you forgot the code.

Task No. 1 – Container

The whole point of concept art is the generation of ideas but I should have something in mind already, right? To be fair, I am very confused – just barely started anyway – and am not sure of what to do. I feel too stuck on the idea of a simple box that allows me to put something in it. And when I try to think of something else, I view things in my head that already exist. Then I try to put it on paper saying “I will change it a little” but it still looks too similar if not the same and I hate it.

In a somewhat desperate attempt of running from that, I jumped on Pinterest to search for ideas but I ended up with more silhouettes of existing stuff. It just expanded my copy portfolio really. I used the different techniques that were given to me at the workshop to do this though. Which is great! I did learn them and can use them to copy stuff in a non-destructive way.

I also tried to sketch it out and then block it to look like a silhouette but it didn’t work either. My brain was still coming up with a bunch of stuff I have already seen.

The silhouette of the Overwatch loot-box is a great example of how much I was struggling with existing ideas.