Colours in War

War is a part of every cultures history future and present, in both sci-fi and real life. It is especially predominant in fantasy games, with lore and mythology and the birth of the civilizations characters we play rising from these stories of fights.

Although the theme of good/bad is always there, something as dirty and complex as war can never be black/white. In the same way we as humans will support our nation and troops and fight for what we believe is right and justice, our enemies will the same way, so good/bad can be a matter of perception, or simply there is no good/bad, when both sides are shedding blood for a reason that cannot be the same value as human lives.

Without getting too lost in the reasons of war, I want to find out if colour, shapes and compositions play the part in good and bad. First example is Gears of War (2006). The Locusts and humans are both native inhabitants of  Sera, and a fight for an energy source amongst humans awakened and begun a war with Locusts, and now the two are determined for genocide of the others race. There is no right species here, only survival.

The original game was criticized for it's use of dull grey and brown colours. The more I research the locusts however I slowly find them to be of soft hues with hints of colours (yellows, blues, reds), and the humans to be mostly of grey and earthy (and sometimes white/blue) shades.

A brighter and holier representation of 'good' is The Sanctum in Final Fantasy XIII (2009). They are always represented in bright, white and contrasting colours (as well as regal purples and holy golden yellows), to the point where it's too eeire and you realize that they don't have a shred of good intention and that everything is painted to seem good about the organization.

Final example for war is the God of War franchise (2005). The brutal game is constantly screaming 'fight!' with it's muted tones and unavoidable red tones. And while this should be the norm with all wars in fantasy, I find it fresher to have decietful 'pretending to be squeaky clean' white-clad soliders in Final Fantasy XIII than to show constant barbaric scenes of dirt, dull, grey and red.

I hope to incorporate my findings on war into my angels and demons in my fantasy world. I would love them to be predominant figures in my world. Next step is to focus on moodboards for these fantasy creatures! Phew!

Concept Art Study Results

Finally finished 'Clarity Pause'. It's taken awhile! The purpose of this painting was to illustrate something with free flow and with little to no research. "How does this effect an illustration? Is there still a present story? Is the image interpreted and given a story from the viewer?" I personally drew this picture on a whim (to practice perspective originally), with no regards to the characters, their names/personalities, what they are doing/mission, clothes, their surroundings, etc. I personally am unhappy with the results, and know the picture would have been infinitely better if I had properly researched clothing, armour, terrain and had 'bonded' better with the characters.

Using Bryan Tillman's "Creative Character Design" and the available CGCookie tutorials (and other relevant tidbits) I have revisited my girls in hopes to breathe some proper life into them, and to shape them into characters with a purpose, rather than a pretty face with no reason.

My characters already exist, I've painted them. But I know they can be so much better. How I envision, them, I've created a moodboard in hopes of laying out my initial thoughts into their personalities.

In the next step, I created simple silhouettes as well as giving them names and back story at the same time. The mix of both resulted in a better idea of the stance or poses my girls might take. I take inspiration from my moodboard, as I transfer my silhouettes to a digital medium. I was impressed at how much the silhouetting process can help define the core of a character, literally setting personality through shape.

Even though I was happy with my silhouettes  to progress my personal development I followed CGCookies various versions of it. Solid, Sketchy Line, Bold Lines, Contrasted, Value Shading. The results were interesting and varied, but I found XXX to be the most comfortable for me. I may use these different methods in the future for different reasons however.

While I have no intention of repainting 'Clarity Pause', I now have two fleshed out characters I'm happy enough to paint if I wanted to illustrate their stories. Maybe one day I'll revisit Tamira and Kara... :)

Quotes

"... A strong pose just from the start. Cause, If you can get an emotion displayed in the first few seconds of looking at it, then you know you succeeded in creating a successful silhouette"
"The driving force behind a character's personality is what it wants to achieve."　
　
References:
Tillman, B. 2011. Creative character design. 2nd ed. Focal Press
http://cgcookie.com/concept/cgc-series/training-course-character-concept-art-natalia/

http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/drawing/witch-doctor/
http://www.computerarts.co.uk/features/20-character-design-tips

Heaven and Hell, Angels and Demons

Time to look at holy beings in media!

Some of my favourite creatures are angels. Constantine (2005) shows the interaction between a select few humans, and the war between powerful angels and demons. What's interesting is there is no good/bad, but rather power intentions between the two creatures. Even John Constantine is of selfish intent and despises both creatures. 

What's interesting is the colour scheme for heaven, holding soft blue and orange hues. Both Heaven and Hell are shown as is commonly known in Holy scripts - a beautiful cloud haven and deathly fiery land - but looks very similar to a man-made city. I personally find these interpretations of heaven and hell very cliche. What's slightly fresher is the show of angels and demons.

Angels are shown to be more uncaring than a human would originally perceive, and the demons are of unique design too. But even still, the demons are one visual creature, grotesque, show nothing but bad intentions (while angels seem to have good and bad), why is it that these demons cannot talk or share their desire? The Devil for a change however is clad in white.

Heavenly Garden in Tekken TTT2 (2012)

Contrasting the above, Fallen Garden in Tekken TTT2 (2012)

Paradiso in Bayonetta (2009)

"The Farplane. The place that unites the living with their memory of the dead" - Yuna, Final Fantasy X (2001)

"The Garden" is the core of Heaven in TV series Supernatural (2005) The idea that Heaven is actually one of flourishing nature and connected to the Garden of Eden is an over used concept. Instead, a fresh twist would be ideal, but must also have the good interest of humans (as Heaven is supposedly the grand resting place/the highest achievement after life). Why is it that humans have created Heaven to look like either a garden, clouds, or Earth? Where has this imprint come from? Do other cultures/faiths impact how different Heaven is in different medias?

One of the first levels of Supernatural's Hell

El Shaddai (2011) features unique artwork all with heavenly and warm glowing colours. The concept for good/evil is not apparent and instead it is Light creatures mixed up with what is right/wrong. The Angels you are to retrieve (therefore making you 'good' and them 'bad') are of bright, light and warm colours. So is the human/playable character. How does this effect the players perception and judgement of the angels? Who is truly the 'bad guy' here?

The good/bad of angels and demons are always debatable. Angels never seem to be of caring towards humans, but this does not mean they don't particularly empathize with humans. It is just that an angels faith to God or higher powers are unquestioned and therefore they can come across as cold and uncaring. This is the case with Castiel (Supernatural), the Composer/Joshua/CAT (The World Ends With You), Angels in Bayonetta, The Angel of Death (Hellboy II), Metatron (Dogma), Gabriel (Constantine) and so forth. Why has this become cliche? Could a creature of pure heart and one that existed for the good intentions of humans exist? What if they governed like public servants, or has their higher status/divinity corrupted them?

All of the angels above are shown in light colours, minus The Angel of Death from Hellboy II, which is a fantastic representation of dark, horror and twist ugliness to portray a neutrual stance character. This method is seen rarely in demons however, as I struggle to find demons whom have slight to pure good intentions that are of no selfish act. Examples I can instantly name would be Lilith and Crowley (Supernatural) who both had separate selfish agendas, or the Reapers of The World Ends With You. The anime Chrono Crusade shows a young demon boy aiding good in hopes of redeeming his bloody past. Hellsing, Kuroshitsuji, and XXXHolic are other animes featuring demon-esque characters who help to aid humans but they are all plagued with dark secrets or secretly wish the humans to fail. Devil May Cry's Dante kills demons and inadvertently helps Earth/humans, but again that is a by-product of his selfish desire of revenge, or money.

A Step Back

After a meeting with Ryan today, I've found myself doing far too much in depth research into politics and religion in social circles. Today has been a good reminder to start focusing more on colours, compositions, settings, shapes of these characters I'm studying rather than focusing on the narrative too heavily. I'm certain my research will help me later when I'm trying to bring these characters to life and add them backstory, but for now, I should focus my research more on the look and feel of the characters and faces, rather than the interactions they're having.

I'm really glad I had the meeting today; I almost forgot I was doing an arts project!

I will be continuing my media tests, and my list of games, tv shows and movies, but start looking at the characters and surroundings, rather than their relations.

Next steps:
- Research human cultures (clothes, environments, faiths, perception of others)
- Research games/characters made by different cultures and compare them (e.g Japan to USA)

Poltics/Religion/History - Guild Wars I & II (Humans & Charrs)

Guild Wars I & II (the relationship between Charrs and Humans)

Humans

Humans are of religion - They are devote to their 6 God's. Their faith is strong even in the absence of the human Gods.

Their government is one of monarchy. Queen Jennah is loved by the people (for having an egalitarian rule/promotes equality) but has a rocky relationship with the other nobles who disagree with this rule. Humans are rich in different cultures due to separation of time and distance, unlike the other races available in the world of Tyria. Humans have social circles and issues of poor and rich. Humans once ruled most of the (continent) Tyria. Over the year, their numbers have declined. Many other races view Humans to be a doomed race, but strong willed to keep their spirits high and to keep fighting.




Charrs

Charrs acknowledge the human God's but do not think they are worth worshiping.  They view them as a challenge/fight/to kill that power. They live with 4 Legions of Ash, Blood, Iron and Fire. Fire shaman's were once regarded as the highest power of Charrs for their magic abilities and task of protecting fire torches in temples as a sign of worship to the fire God. However this balance has shifted, with Charrs now disregarding the God of fire, and the Fire Legion now mockingly called the Gold Legion is the weakest outcasts, and at Civil War with the other Legions.

The government is of kratocratic oligarchy. They live military style lives, war drives them, and they view all living creatures with a harsh eye, where the weak are worthless. The government is a chain of power. No one is crowned the current Khan-Ur, as no one holds the artificat, and instead the 4 Legions of Charrs are divided with 4 leaders, with more structures within the Legions.


Human and Charr Relations

Since the introduction of humans, charrs relations have not been good. Humans drove out the Charr inhabitants of Ascalon during their spread amongst Tyria, and had been defending it for roughly 250 years, during a bloody time of war between the two. 'The Searing' came first putting the humans at a major disadvantage in the war, and the 'Foefire' spell cast by the human King Adelbern was 20 years later, and was the final spell to end the Ascalon Wars, in a desperate act. The Charr reclaimed their original land, which was once grand and full of life and humans.

Despite being enemies, there have been subtle hints of truce and friendly helping. Although the two races never interact outside of war relations, there have been individual humans and charrs that have set about examples of temporary alliance to achieve something greater, such as defending Tyria or defeating a greater power.

Individuals with significant roles (Guild Wars I only) : 

x King Adelbern (Clashed with the Claw holder, the last spell 'Foefire' was dealt was a result)
x Prince Rurik (Son of Adelburn, lead the Ascalon Vangard)
x Queen Jennah (Human queen who took the first steps towards the truce)
x Pyre Fierceshot (rebellion of Chaar Flame Legion)
x Bonfaaz Burntfur (The Charr leader in the Ascalon assault)

Some references:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Charr
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Charr
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Human
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Human
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/races/charr/
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Lore
http://www.guildwarsinsider.com/lore-school-human-charr-peace-treat/
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tyria
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/The_Searing
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Charr_invasion

Illustration and Story Study - Results

For this study, I asked fellow Computer Artist Eilis to write me a short paragraph for illustrating. The purpose of this study was to see how closely the picture drawn will illustrate the story written according to the public, and if not, why? Did my twists obscure the original meaning of the passage given?

Originally given paragraph:

"Once there lived a girl, who found it difficult to relate to other people. she had mouse brown hair that covered her eyes, and spent most of her time hiding away in a nearby forest. She befriended an owl, who she had trained to be her night eyes." 

Question to viewers:

"Without analyzing it too deeply, I want you to tell me what kind of person you think the character is, and briefly what is happening in the picture."

Final Illustration:

Feedback on image from initial thought:

"She looks like someone who lacks confidence, a person that keeps their true feelings locked up inside of them. She finds it hard to talk and interact with others (thus she has a owl for companionship). Her long hair covering her face gives me the impression that she is very timid and shy thus uses her hair to cover her face..."

"She is sad because she's alone and lost and a guy she likes is off with someone else to a warm and cozy place. The owl is a symbol for herself. She sees herself as a loner, staying up all night, missing this guy.
Maybe she's like a huntress, she can see through the darkness and knows what she wants and how to get it. She just need to understand how to realize this and get passed her sadness."

"Shes obviously hurt by the two in the background being together and the owl kinda suggests shes good with animals."

"some kind of forest girl, who has just had her heart broken by someone who is with another person. The owl may be her friend?"

"The girl seems sad, and the couple walking away in the background would indicate that she likes one of them but got rejected. She definitely seems like shes heard some bad news and is consoling herself. The owl could be judging the others..."

"That she grew up in the forest and befriended animals but didnt know how to interact with people She seems sensitive, and has animals for friends."

Results:

I'm impressed by how similar the feedback and the original passage was, given that I was worried the composition and overall image could have been portrayed much better. Because of this insecurity, I tweaked the original story to portray a couple in the distance entering a warm welcoming house, rather than having a bunch of people interacting and her isolated from the event. This I feel was my own twist to the story shown through my art.

- To practise thumbnails/composition to get better truer results

- To think of different angles/twists that could still show the original concept

I believe this study will heavily influence how I tackle my "Story Study" with portraying two different angles of the same story.

Beliefs/Religion/Spiritual - Star Trek: The Original Series - Plato's Stepchildren s3ep10

Wrongly cited as the first inter-racial kiss on television (between Captian Kirk and Uhura), but my main interest was the culture of the Platonians. Humanoids who live on an Earth-esque planet which resembles Ancient Greece. The Platonians are said to follow the ancient civilization and named themselves after the philosophers Socrates and Plato.

However the entire episode shows how the small number race betray Plato's beliefs. An unfair system of telekinesis power, rather than of monarch/principality rules.

If they truly valued Plato's insights, why was justice so misplaced? Why did the Platonians culture have very little in common with treating guests in a Greek culture? This is a great example of a corrupt government.

"Don't save him. Let him die. The others will all kill each other trying to take his place."

-Alexander, about Parmen

Inter-racial Politics and Relations - Hellboy II: The Golden Army

The royal family are Elf. The king Balor is ruler of Elfland, and all bethmoran (fantasy creatures). Conflict amongst the elves...The king was a great warrior and sympathetic during the war. Princess Nuala does not mind her people to fade away quietly if it upholds treaty peace. Prince Nuada however wants recognition and war, and pride for his hiding clan. All of the environments for the fantasy creatures are man-made. Such as a butchers, mechanical things, sewers. This is one of the conflict points for the Prince, a reason for him to fight/start war.

The Elf's feelings for the humans all vary. The King respects the peace treaty but thinks of humans as a destructive race (find source/research more). Princess also respects the peace treaty, but her feelings towards humans are unknown. The Prince does not respect or care for humans. He is focused on ridding the world of humans.

History of the conflict: It was a time of peace. The humans are the ones who begun the wars, by trying to claim the forests of fantasy creatures. Humans were winning the war until King Balor regretably (and convinced by his son) created the Golden Army, who with no remorse, slaughtered more humans than the fantasy creatures slain. Rather than taking it as a victory, he sympathized with humans and was the one to offer the treaty.

"He wanted to create a world that was very rich, very textural so you could come back more than once and still see more detail going on in the background.”

- Eamonn Butler, on Guillermo Del Toro’s designs for Hellboy II

Some sources:

http://hellboy.wikia.com/wiki/Balor

http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/hellboy_ii

Jellyfish gets smaller...

As the title says! After week 4 Pitch, I feel much more comfortable and excited with where I'm going to go with my studies. I will still conduct my media tests, but will go about achieving results in different methods other than group/focus studies.

I'm going to go down the Concept Art route, and hope to create different races/species who interact and live on in a fantasy world I'll have created.

For this, I'll be doing lengthy research into different medias that incorporate politics and hierarchy of power amongst different species' in fantasy and sci-fi.

Time for Star Trek!

For awhile I will be updating my blog with research notes and findings from my media studies (e.g. Star Trekking.)

Study Cases

To demonstrate research in my top three areas of interest, I hope to narrow down my jellyfish and settle on an aim I'm 100% sure of:

 x Ask fellow computer artist Eilis to write me a paragraph detailing something original, which I will then draw. This will by a "Illustration & Story Study".

x Finish "Clarity Pause" painting, and redo the girls using proper character creation development. Compare the original to my study case. Show people, ask questions, gather answers. This will be my "Concept Art Study".

x The perspective of story telling is important. Come up with 2 species' with a relationship and tell both sides of the same story. This will be my "Story Study".

x Illustrate a word/emotion. This will be my "Illustration Study".

Definitions and Perception

After my most recent meeting with Lynn, I've realized my definition for certain art forms is a bit skewered. The more and more I describe what 'illustration' and 'concept art' is, the more I started to question myself. In order to clear out my jellyfish, I've compared my own opinion of illustration:

A piece of final art used to 'wow' people, tell them a story, or make them want to purchase it's related product.

 And concept art:

The process of research and development to create a final item.

 So I naturally assume, I could merge the two. A start point and end product.

 Not exactly the case, and I've been abusing the word illustration. I simply mean an awe-inspiring digital painting as apposed to creating a marketable product. Concept art also doesn't need to be part of this process, as it contributes to areas not necessary needed for a painting.

So finally - I've determined 'illustration/digital painting' will NOT be a large part of my project (still in there though!), and so my jellyfish shrinks.

I will still be continuing with an illustrative piece of study to demonstrate my skills and as a learning experience :)

06/10/2012 Edit - Was lucky enough to interview two Illustration students at DoJ. I asked what illustration meant to them, and we surprised one another with our answers.

Illustration to me is being able to show something about yourself through an art medium. We can tell an original story with our own individual and unique twists.

We even got to talk about the link between concept art and illustration. It was lovely to get a fresh perspective.

Words can mean different things...

To follow my previous post about "definitions and perspective", I've written a glossary of words and their definitions to remind me of what these words ACTUALLY mean by definition (literally, using http://dictionary.reference.com/). Refer back here for Proposal and Dissertation!!

Race -

1.

a group of persons related by common descent or heredity.

2.

a population so related.

3.

Anthropology .

a.

any of the traditional divisions of humankind, thecommonest being the caucasian, Mongoloid, and Negro,characterized by supposedly distinctive and universalphysical characteristics: no longer in technical use.

b.

an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes,especially formerly, based on any or a combination ofvarious physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form,or eye shape, and now frequently based on such geneticmarkers as blood groups.

c.

a human population partially isolated reproductively fromother populations, whose members share a greater degreeof physical and genetic similarity with one another thanwith other humans.

4.

a group of tribes or peoples forming an ethnic stock: the Slavicrace.

5.

any people united by common history, language, cultural traits,etc.: the Dutch race. 

Inter-racial - of, involving, or for members of different races: interracial amity.

Species - a class of individuals having some common characteristics orqualities; distinct sort or kind.
Culture - 

1.

the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern forwhat is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarlypursuits, etc.

2.

that which is excellent in the arts, manners, etc.

3.

a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certainnation or period: Greek culture.

4.

development or improvement of the mind by education ortraining.

5.

the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social,ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.

Religion - 

1.

a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose ofthe universe, especially when considered as the creation of asuperhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional andritual observances, and often containing a moral code governingthe conduct of human affairs.

2.

a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

Cult - a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
Government - the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies,and states; direction of the affairs of a state, community, etc.;political administration: Government is necessary to the existence of civilized society.
Community - a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
Interaction - a mutual or reciprocal action or influence
Communication - the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, orinformation by speech, writing, or signs.
Relationship - a connection, association, or involvement.
Fantasy - imagination unrestricted by reality
Fashion - a prevailing custom or style of dress, etiquette, socializing, etc.:the latest fashion in dresses.
Illustration - a comparison or an example intended for explanation orcorroboration.
Visual - of or pertaining to seeing or sight: a visual image.
Advertisement - a public notice, especially in print.

From wikipedia, as the term "Concept Art" does not have a dictionary definition:

Concept Art - is a form of illustration where the main goal is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea, and/or mood for use in films,video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product. Concept art is also referred to as visual development and/or concept design. This term can also be applied to retail design, set design, fashion design and architectural design.

Practise Time

My first personal development post!! I really struggle with painting afew body parts, such as hands, noses, and especially lips. I can never seem to get a good colour combination going, or they always look either flat or painted on top of the face.

I'm also working on a perspective piece at the moment which I hope to turn into a study case. Here's the reference, my perspective drawing and an initial mock-up for my illustration:

Personally, I'm happy with my progress, and with my improvement into perspective. Obviously loads more practice is needed, but as silly as it sounds, I've learnt alot just looking at photos and going "her head is so small!" haha. Colours as well, I'm excited to make the red a prominent piece in this picture. :)

I'll update with the final piece soon...hopefully :)

Skills/knowledge development planning! (Personal Improvement List)

Just want to clearly post this, mostly for me, but also as an idea of what I hope to achieve.

Things I want to personally improve and concentrate on through out 4th year. I hope by studying and refining my skills, I'll improve as an observer and artist, and convey better my understandings and research in visual form.

Listy List:

Software: Photoshop - My primary software for digital art. I'm certain as the year goes on I'll become more familiar with it, and will push myself to use unfamiliar tools to me as to create new interesting accidents and improve!
Life drawing - To practice full bodies, in motion, stationary, need to understand proportions and perspective, muscles
Individual anatomy/weak points - Hands, lips, feet, male muscles, legs/thighs, wrists, etc.
Perspective - In reference to life drawing. I am too comfortable with flat 2D anime perspective. Going to challenge myself with new angles.
Poses - Fits all of the above, again, very comfortable with the same repetitive poses. Will practice poses with silhouetting for character design!
Character Concept Design - This one I'm very excited for. Tutorials online showing step-by-steps to create a character the "right way" e.g silhouetting, research, development, story, personality, etc.
Staging - Crucial to telling a story, illustration/marketing, evoking emotion, bringing life/connection to a visual piece.
Colour & Light - Correct uses, harmony/contrast, evoking emotion.
Style - I have a style of 2D cartoony-anime. I want to refine it, evolve it, and better it/myself. I love and am not ashamed of my anime style of art, but always love to mix it up and make it more realistic/beautiful, and try to stay away from the generic "big eyes, blush lines, slender bodies" stereotypical anime styles. I opt for the more realistic styles. :)


I'll add as I think of more!