This critique is a segment from the live Webinar recorded on October 16th, 2012. The purpose of the critique was to improve the drawing, design and composition of the character illustration. Topics covered include: gesture, structure, design, shape language, lighting, shading and rendering. To view the entire Webinar episode or to participate in upcoming webinars and live critiques, visit the webinar page.
Tifa Lockhart is a character fromt the Final Fantasy VII (FFVII) videogame. This illustration started as an assignment from my Character Design class last semester. This is the 3rd “final” iteration. It took several weeks, several attempts and hours of study and research to get a design that I was somewhat satisfied with. Sketches and groundwork included below as well.
“Tifa (from FFVII) Redesign”
Studies for Tifa’s costume, attitude and tools. Pen, markeer and white pencil on toned paper.
Costume studies for the “final” costume design. Pen, markeer and white pencil on toned paper.
At the end of July, I started a design for a dubstep inspired mech or robot. The idea began as a giant robot that can only be piloted by Dubstep DJs. Today I saw this interesting Deadmau5 video (see below) featuring giant robots piloted by Djs. Pretty cool huh.
This sketch is a WIP. Still needs a lot of work and finish. Character sketch and mechanical studies and sketches also included below.
“Skrillex Mech” sketch. Still a WIP. Pencil sketch rendered in Photoshop.
Quick character design of Skrillex the Dubstep producer. Pen and marker on toned paper.
Carlo Arellano is a world class Concept Artist and teacher who is known as a Character Design expert. I’ve had the fortune to study with Carlo @ Concept Design Academy and I was blown away by his knowledge and abilities. CGMW was kind enough to share a Q&A session where Carlo shared a lot of great insights about Character Design and his philosophy.
The assignment from my Character Design teachers was to create a new race for the game W.O.W. (World of Warcraft). I’ve personally never thought twice about the WOW universe, but it such a fun assignment. Stylized, over-the-top game designs are much less rigid and demanding than more naturalistic art styles. Which one would you want to play?
I’m currently studying Character Design with Carlo Arellano @ Concept Design Academy in Los Angeles. I’ve learned so much these last few weeks. This concept was a homework assignment where we had to redesign a creature from “Clash of Titans”. The Kraken from the original COT was my all time favorite monster as kid.
The concept below started in pencil and then rendered in Photoshop. Scroll down to see the iterations and sketchbook studies to get an idea of the process, studies and all the homework that went into this piece.
