Mortal Engine Project - Update # 1

 Well here are a few mood-boards of my image research.

Victorian, Gothic and Steam Punk fashion #2

Victorian, Gothic and Steam Punk fashion #1

Victorian, Gothic and Steam Punk fashion #3

Phantasy Star Universe Clothing design
and Colours

Phantasy Star Online 2
Character Design and concept

Well here are just five mood-boards for now, just had a fast research because I want my ideas to generate freshly and not spend too much time gathering references.




I got a reference from one of my favourite games, Phantasy Star Universe with images of how the models, fashion, colour, look and as well the artwork of the newer game Phantasy Star Online 2 game how the artist went about visually showing his character artwork

 Since I don't really understand good approaches to character designing. I thought to try sketch out and use the lasso tool to colour in.

I'm not going to further these pieces they were just practise, but I was understanding a process of Line work and then Colour work, that by neatening up the lines and filling in colour, could achieve a quick block out. Well It was a good practise to expand myself into other techniques.

Again trying to learn and understand other approaches.

• First I did just a solid black silhouette,
• Second removed a bit of the black to create pattern and design
• Third: I thought to add mid-tone grey into the mix. 

They all seemed pretty good approaches and maybe a good step if working from a black Silhouette then build up by adding white, greys and darks, when finalizing the chosen designs.

These were just playing with shapes with the Lasso Tool then using paint. 

I will do a bit more of these and put much more effort into it.

I think looking into more design of tech/ mech fashion with keeping in mind of Victorian fabric and clothing, combining them both, just like how steam punk is combined with Victorian fashion. I will expand myself by improving the visual reality of the concept in a better way with line, tonal and colour. I can achieve this from drawing and painting with the brush or combining it with the lasso and fill technique I was learning. I could approach as well using simplistic toning and values like cel-shading and other styles.

Mortal Engines Project - Starting

Okay 2012 has ended and all that old baggage, so I embark into a new dimension, feeling that new upliftment, transition of pure light energy and now I am an Super SaiYan, :D which the power up will help me greatly :D In this new semester of love and hate times of projects that seems a bit of a challenge but without challenge there isn't growth, so I accept it.!

Mortal Engines is our next project, Mortal Engines you say? Well it the first of four novels by Philip Reeves , I really should of read the book a while back when I had more of a chance, though at least I feel it's more of a purpose now.

The good thing a bout this project is the Visual Design caters two weeks of this project which it inter crate nicely by planning, concepting that aid our Game Production project which to build the mesh of our self base from the Mortal Engine world, not to mention we have to do a high poly model and then a low poly model, level of detail and then rig them.

So where do I begin?

Well I had a read through the brief and asked question of what Mortal Engines world consist, since I didn't read the book yet, I thought to do some brief research to get an understanding.

Victorian, Gothic, Steam Punk, Tech (throwing that one in :P), theme that I presume the world consists in it's theme/ style. So I will base my self as a character from the world.

I research a list of the main  character classes, so I believe there are;

Historian, Fierce Young Women, Fraud Historian. Asian Pilot, African Aviator member of the order of Engineers, Solidure, Engineer, Pirate. There are slightly other characters but the classes seemed the same.

However none of them really take much interest, so I am going to invent my own into the world but still keep it consistence. I am thinking of a Mage, Wizard tech class.

What I have to keep in mind-eye is the materials, texture, anatomy, modelling efficient, specific role or theme of myself with good Art and Visual Direction. I would consider in my project, Strong Character Silhouette, back packs, guns, tech, accessories,Good design and document, research, concept work anatomical accurate


Visual Design and Game Production - Here be a list of 'things to achieve' for both since they all are intertwined.

• Research reference
• Fashion: Victorian, Gothic, Steam Punk, Tech
• Artist work of Mortal Engine
• Design process and techniques
• Other games, clothing, fashion, character models, art work.
• Model characters

• Reference Images of self/other
• Portrait
• Orthographical View
• Clothes and Texture

• Research Programs and Software guides and help; 
• Level of Detail, 
• Z brush, 
• Character Modelling.
• Photoshop

• Mood-Boards
• All the above collab together on separate board sheets of references

• Drawing
• Sketches, Silhouettes, Painting

• Colour Palettes
• Consistency of colour, meaning of colours,
• Design, 
• Logos

• Texture and Materials Sheets
• Metal, 
• Plastic, 
• Silicon, 
• Fabrics,
•  Lights, 
• Patterns
• Accessories 
• Assets
•  Colour Specular,
•  Normal maps,
•  Ambient

• Self portrait
• Understanding my own anatomy and proportions

• Othograpical images
• Photographs of my self for reference

• Final image in situation
• Perspective
• Artwork of environments
• Source primary and secondary reference to create environment from.

If I can think of anything else to add to list, I will add to it.

 When breaking it down in a linear pattern, it can look overwhelming and you think, how can I achieve all this? I really haven't planned my projects in this fashion like this for a good while and not leaving it to the end. I always think of it all but it helps a great detail to see it in words because you can forget. Well to me what important is good strong reference and direction of your theme and ideas, but sometimes it's hard to reach that if you have not understood, practise and learnt ways of achieving it. So having the time and effort to research your weakness to make it into your strengths, will save a lot of time trying to guess work it all and then from start to finish would be much more successful.

Destination Leicester Storyboard : Week 3

This week we had an interesting one, we had to go out in our lovely city, capturing Leicester in a storyboard feature which consisted drawing that visually communicated this.

Weather report:

Another miss from the sun and same old skies hahah ^___________^ oh well it's all good and fun and atleast were out and our course rocks for exploration :D Then in some boring academic lesson listening to some 'authority called teacher' repeating what he was told, to then repeat this upon you, without questions or no other version, that this is the only.

 Thank god I don't get doctrinated from this bullshit anymore. 

(not like I ever bothered in school anyway lol)

 Leicester is a beautiful and interesting city, it has some old and modern architect buildings. Which is awesome for us artist to see this characteristic.

These are just some of my pictures, not many but the ones I thought are very interesting. The shapes, patterns, structure, just so intriguing and very different :) I also got a bunch of textures whist I was out there as well, yummy ^_^!

Here are some of my thumbnail drawings of Leicester. I think I didn't really capture a 'storyboard' kind of feature, but what I done is have a go and practise drawing buildings and perspective.

I thought to try and attempt my drawings in a marker pen, it was challenging to keep it accurate but felt a lot better then pencil. I am thinking I could add colour over these in Photoshop or do a set of new ones maybe with a story to it and then finish it off with a final. I just enjoy learning and developing with these thumbs, even though I should break out and try different styles and mark-making to expand my creativity.

This was some quick interior drawings from inside this theatre building. Then I used some markers to give the page a quick wash of tone. Those simple gestural lines are really nice.

Destination Bradgate Park: Week 4

We are back, back to the land of Bradgate Park. Really is a beautiful place, the scenary is amazing, it has nice diversity of hills, forestry, landscapes and wildlife. I really do feel like to have a good run to explore the place in excitment and get into my own child-heart of fun and adventure, specially as the weather was 'dull' (yeah no sun again lol) but also the dazzle of rain and fog, was beautiful conscious feeling and sight, abosorbing all the harvest of energy from the earth. Shame I was tide down by my coat, bag and equipment, but I remember my experience and feeling haha.

 Here are some images once again :) showing some beauitful landscapes of Bradgate park.

We have an old building that we can't go around anymore, shame :( but seeing it still great.

Then you can find some deers potting a bout and this time I saw a big bunch of these guys a bout, was nice and interesting, to see how they interact :) then we got the streams and the road path you can follow down.

However here, with the Game Art crew, we went 'off road' to find our selfs ha :D

(or probably finding the way back, "help were lost, anyone?")

Here is my first set of thumb-nails of Bradgate park. It was hard due to the weather, but I got as much as I could, untill I had to do the rest by reference.

 I think I have improved on my accuracy in some areas and I was trying to do some different mark-making, but meh, I am not liking my thumb-nails at the moment seems a bit dry and bland? But I am still happy with my work and progress so, not to worry a bout it, I will eventually get the improvement I am looking for.

 My other set of thumb-nails, I thought to give some isolation on some objects and to study them and I thought to try some variation of shading. I quite like some of my good results in these set of thumbs :)

Here some bradgate digital thumbnails, I was trying to capture and put in my own light source, capture the essence of nature and the place.











This was a semi-final I was painting, I did a quick thumbnail and to understand the lighting, the roundness of the building and the perspective since I believe it's three point perspective.

I did really quite like the lighting conditions and the overall composition but I didn't really feel this was a final but good investment in my time and what I got from it.

My Bradgate Digital Final processes

Just screen captures of my work, I approached this with silhouette of value then apply paint on top. I found it pretty useful way of approaching. I made a lot of correctness and improvement of the image as the process goes on, specially the deer, since he looked a bit awkard but looks much better. I feel that I could of spent a lot more of my time, rendering the grass properly and a lot more overall. 

My grey scale and colour finals, really like the outcome , I believe I captured great values on the grey scale and the environment around, trying to get it as much detail I can within good time. The colour version I used the colour layer and painted onto  with a multiply layer and overlay, just trying different methods and ways to approach colouring after grey scale

Destination Loughborough Trainstation : Week 2

The Game Art teletubbies crew, (we may as well be called that) beause were all a bout fun and games and ready to work our a$$es off for mondays visual design lesson the paradox of that, we are still half and the only fun and games, is to stay in bed haha ^____^

Nah I kid, we all "playfully" adventured to the land of Loughborough Trainstation for the second week of drawing out in the open virtual air.

First off the weather was dry and a slight drizzle at times, we was prepared but there wasn't no Mr.Sun :( so not much to capture the lights and shadows in our drawing, We keep missing those days lol.

Here are just some images I taken on the day of the place, thought it be nice for the viewers to see what type of place it is. It was a very interesting place, it is a museum kind of place, where it has the old traditional platforms and rooms, with some items a bout and of course stationary trains.

We were able to go walk this path and cross some tracks that led to the garage of 'men at work' I am suprise they were okay having students not only from our university and there was some from a college near Loughborough, near the area or inside the massive garage.

 that 'the health and safety' personal would have a fit hah :D
There was some massive trains inside and other interesting objects a bout, the people didn't speak to us but more so looked like we didn't existed ha, but atleast we were able to go inside and around the place without no trouble, it was very intriguing, looking at different kind of shapes, objects and the details on them

Here is my first page of thumb-nails, it was a bit tricky to understand the perspective on things and mark-making on some objects to give outsome destint forms. Felt my drawings lacked the imporants of information, detail and the variation of value. 

However, it was a good practise step to understand and problem solve in my drawing, I did have a quick attempt in some water colours but not really committed well but what I got from is that I section out certain objects which was good, just need to be more careful but expressive ;)

 This was just practising on different ways and approach that can give much more drammic difference. Same object but ones at 1pp and the other at 3pp.

(the first one poorely drawn sorry lol)

I took in what I learn't from my previous page of thumb-nails and I thought to give much more time and care but still consider pace. However I used some of my markers to give in some value and hue mixed with my pencil markings. I quite like the effect and it was a lot faster to place down and it gives good results.

I really like this page of thumb drawings, because to me it has some diversity to it, with different mark-making, perspective and variation of objects.

My Digital Thumbnails

 Here are some digital thumbnails, a bout 15 minutes on each one. It was useful to understand the surfaces, materials, textures, to try to capture and paint this in speedy amount of time and also maintaining as much correctness and accuracy I can. I notice I was learning different painting styles and process which was useful.

 My Lough Borough, this took a bout 4-6 hours to paint. I wanted to do something a bit different for my Lough Borough final, it was also interesting to understand lights, dark and tonal value, reflectiveness and atmosphere. I wanted to try and capture the whole thing as best as I can and took a while to get things in the right perspective and angle, I believe things maybe a bit off still but happy with the result.

Pretty proud with this result, much better final from my Abby Park. I had a good critique from my peers and it was a bout the background the trees is in the wrong angle and there should be a bit more interest and the guy looks a bit sketchy and fluffy. I will commit these changes as soon as I got time to correct but for now, move onto the next!