Exploration with Fiverr

Today I got the change to work briefly on a design for someone. They wanted a drawing of an Ethopian eskita dancer. The brief is below and I looked up some photos and videos to help with a starting point and what exactly to draw. 

Video of a girl dancing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PU_sdksFbU

I did a quick rough like sketch of the girl from the picture above, however, due to their time constraints I did not think I could complete it for my client in time, so I left it here for now. I may fully colour and finish this image for myself, however I am unsure yet as the outline was roughly traced from the above picture. 

Week 4, lecture with David

David mentioned that for our presentations we should present our work in backwards chronology, starting with the present and working back to week 1 to show where we're at and how we got there.

He also mentioned that we needed to find out what exactly interests us about our research questions. Why do I want to do it, what will I gain, what is my goal, what is going to be my outcome?

So for my research question, at this stage, I am really interested in exploring character design and character narrative in games and looking at which has the greater impact on the audience. I want to research this to further my understanding of what makes a good character, but also I want to find out how important the actual art of the character is, in terms of making an impact on the player.

Meeting with Ryan

I also had a meeting with Ryan today, which was very insightful and interesting.

When asked about what books he would recommend, Ryan appeared to feel strongly against suggesting books, as well as insisting to stay away from character design books, but rather look outside of that at other designs, for example fashion/ textiles, art in general, films. Generally, I already do this, but I get lost in the vast amount that is out there on the internet and I tend not to move forward with it. 

What came up was to ignore the standard overdone things and to analyse commercial art to see what is successful and what unique qualities they have. There is nothing completely original, what's out there is rehashing, taking something that already exists and presenting it in a new way, introducing a unique quality. Looking at MOBAs due to the detail and focus they have on character designs and animations. Looking at animation and how the need to animate affects the costume design.

Natural vs unnatural in art, juxtaposition. Metal on skin, organic materials, sharp, coarse materials, etc. 

The game APB came up and he was talking about the character controversy that arose there. Also the subject of culture, society and audience and how that affects the designs and clothing styles. Questions about designs, controversies, overly-sexualised characters, how to address the problems. Another subject was criticism of games, Bioshock in particular, where an instance led to a change, I need to research this for more detail. Here is a link that may be useful: http://www.popmatters.com/post/170863-/

Refer to film, game and animation, and also be aware of and understand the different genres. Take note of the character design process concerning films also. How film characters are written/ conceived and designed. The costume department and makeup and their role in forming the character's look.

The Bard's Tale, which is a parody of fantasy RPGs, such as Baldur's Gate. Below is text taken from the Wikipedia page on how it parodies fantasy games:

"There are many references and parodies to the common cliches of the fantasy RPG genre. These include:

• The first quest involves slaying rats in the cellar of a tavern (a cliche of Baldur's Gate fame). However, in this parody, instead of defeating small, harmless rats, the vermin in question turns out to be a gargantuan, fire-breathing rodent.

• When The Bard kills his first wolf, it drops a pile of treasure, parodying a common video game cliché of wild animals inexplicably having money and items. After that, enemies only drop items they may logically, albeit not always trivially, have. For example, a dead wolf may leave its hide, but also a red hood or picnic basket. The dead Druids often drop snow globes depicting Houton or keepsakes from Stonehenge. Zombies often drop self-help books.

• Early in the game, fun is also poked at the common looting of homes in RPG games. When The Bard takes said treasure, the Narrator accuses him of stealing. The Bard's defense is that he's providing a public service and that the chests would be cluttered if he didn't clear them out.

• The player can have The Bard smash a barrel early in the game, which prompts the barrel-maker to come out and chastise him for smashing his barrels. He does offer a deal: smash all other barrels The Bard sees so that the barrel-maker can sell more barrels. This is a parody of the common practice in RPGs of the players breaking containers for their goods, commonly including keys."

It is an interesting way to play on the archetypes and shift focus to a character that doesn't typically take centre stage.

Definitions:

• Stereotypes: Not literary. We avoid using this term to talk about classifying characters, settings, plot points, etc..
• Archetypes: The broad, all-encompassing norms of the stories humanity tells. The same archetypes can be found in all or nearly all cultures.
• Tropes: Culturally-specific norms in storytelling. Tropes are cultural classifications of archetypes. There can be many tropes found under the umbrella of one archetype. Literary devices are not tropes (i.e. narrators, foreshadowing, flashbacks, etc.).
• Clichés: Overused and hackneyed phrases, characters, settings, plot points, etc.. Archetypes do not become clichéd. Tropes can become clichés if they are used too often and readers get bored of them. Clichés are defined by a loss of the meaning or as a distraction from the story.

(Courtesy of http://writeworld.org/post/39905367141/stereotypes-tropes-and-archetypes)

Another important thing about characters is how they fit into their realm. They have to be believable in the realm to make sense and to be believable to the viewer.

Another piece of advice I was given is find problems and ask questions, this way I will find out what interests me on the topic. Also look up interviews and documentaries where the artist's discuss their work and process and what they have to say about their characters. On top of that, to improve my art, I will need a lot of self-reflection and analysis of my own work.

Below are the notes I took from both meetings.

Meeting with Robin

Today I met with Robin to discuss my project and see if I was going in the right direction, along with discussing ways to progress and general talk about the project.

Firstly I was informed that the honours project and dissertation did not necessarily have to be linked, so if I wanted to I could explore my other ideas I previously touched upon in this blog.

He also mentioned to look at other artists' work and their processes and try to follow and understand them. As well as deconstructing their characters, the process they followed in which to arrive at the end point, the form and function of the characters, what possible went through their heads whilst they were designing the character. There are lot of different artists out there who use different methods, especially in the initial concepting stage, for example use of brushes to create interesting shapes then working from there. I remember watching a video on youtube where a guy uses brushes to create random shapes then draws from there, but I cannot remember which particular video, it may be one from here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUQTqWAaSzhAKRanOpes1nA

Some books were recommended as well, Bryan Tillman's Creative Character Design which I will try to find in the library. It seems to focus more on the practical side and features a lot of images rather than text. Another is Katherine Isbister's Better Game Characters by Design.

Another book was Skillful Huntsman: Visual Development of a Grimm Tale at Art Center College of Design (https://kendalcollegeart.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/the_skillful_huntsman.pdf)

Finally Robin lent me his own book Virtual Character Design for Games and Interactive Media. I will take a look at all of these books listed at some point soon!

Looking at the artwork of Paul Kwon (Zeronis)

I found Paul Kwon aka Zeronis due to his work with Riot, doing character concept art for League of Legends. I absolutely love his style and his designs as they are very unique and some are really striking. 

For example, this piece below. The big weapon and head piece are like nothing I have seen before. Thinking about the silhouette of the character as well, it is very unique and striking. Whilst the outfit is reminiscent of a jester, the headpiece and weapon counter that and almost distract from the clothing, yet work harmoniously with it to create a complete look. I find this very interesting, looking at other character designs that feature this jester type dress.

I recently went to a Warhammer store in London and came across these Harlequin Warhammer figures. I really liked their design due to the colourful qualities mixed with the dark colours and steel type masks and accessories. Looking at Zeronis' artwork above reminded me of these below. However, the jester type pattern and hats are a lot more obvious in the Harlequins compared to Zeronis' piece. The focus in both is different. I suppose it is because there is only a small area featuring the diamond pattern in Zeronis' and the hat is not completely traditional in shape and colour. This brings my attention to the importance of balance in the design, where you want your focus. It seems obvious that Zeronis wanted the weapon and head to be the focus due to the scale but also they don't overshadow the figure, so the jester type skirt piece provides balance for the figure. The large headpiece and skirt just look right on the body. It does not feel as though that headpiece is far too large for her and will be weighing her head/neck down, because of everything else in the piece. 

A thought on some existing art

I was scrolling through a pinterest board (https://www.pinterest.com/u037/concept/) that featured a lot of character art and I found a couple of images that can be seen below, which reminded me of existing images.

The painting above is by Dleoblack and when I saw it I was instantly reminded of other art I had seen, particularly that of League of Legends and DotA, which can be seen below. This reminded me that so many ideas recur in art and it is really rather difficult to come up with something that is not reminiscent of something that already exists.

(Ashe from League of Legends)

(Drow Ranger from DotA)

 Below is a painting titled Two Edged Assassin on pinterest, however I cannot find the artist.
It reminded me of Katarina from League of Legends, due to the two swords and the pose.

Below is a Kukulkani character concept by Georgios Dimitriou. It reminded me of Kotal Khan from Mortal Kombat. The colouring is similar, as the skull imagery and cloth around the waist. On top of that the body markings are similar, and the arm accessories too.

Kotal Khan concept art by Hunter Schulz

There are definitely stereotypes in art, particularly game art and I feel that I need to work in the opposite direction to cultivate my creativity. I have always been one who copies and takes inspiration from existing game art, and whilst this can produce decent enough designs, I do not feel that they are particularly eye-catching or great. I need to find a way to expand and work outside of this to produce something different.

Exploring facial features and body language

Following on from talking about facial expressions and body language, I thought I would try some warm up sketches, just drawing rough pictures of three different people/ poses that I found on Pinterest. It is definitely clear that the poses and facial expressions suggest a great deal to the viewer of what kind of character the person might have. For example this first one, to me she looks quite neutral, as though waiting for something. The positioning of her feet makes me think she may be nervous in some way, or rather, shy, due to them almost facing each other, and her turning away from the viewer. Her hands in her pocket again suggest she may be shy, or just that she is comfortable.

 This second girl looks quite coy and shy, maybe even cheeky, her head is tilted down but she is looking up and smiling. Her hands behind her back also suggest some sense of shyness.

 This last one looks scared or worried as he clutches a blanket or towel. He looks like a scared child.

As my initial research into the importance of body language and facial expression seems to point in the direction of being very important to the first impression a viewer gets, I will work more on this. Practicing my drawing of other expressions and poses as I am a bit rusty. 

Practice painting/ commission work and what I took away from them

I started a Fiverr account (https://uk.fiverr.com/kamilot) during summer in the hope that it could help me with my university work, as I wanted to get more practice with being given a brief and following it, doing work for someone else. I managed to get a few things on it, but not enough character design/ portrait work yet. 

My first portrait order was from a guy that wanted a Boondocks style image. Below you can see an image from the show.

I was provided this image on the left, which is seemingly a sketch in the style of the show, and I produced a copy, to the best of my ability, on the right.

I was provided with pictures of the guy who wanted me to draw him in the style of the cartoon. This was my first attempt, I wanted to see if he was happy before I took it any further. However, it fell through and I didn't get to do the job. Ultimately Fiverr gives me the opportunity to apply for jobs, or be given a job, that require a specific styles or a specific request. I get to practice different styles as well as my own, this really helped me keep up with my art, and gave me more of an incentive as well. Sometimes I struggle to get inspiration and direct my own art, so this was a great way of getting me started. 

Below is another request I had just before the first week of uni, which was just to draw a picture of the buyer that I was provided with. This is something I would never naturally attempt, as I hate drawing feathers and rarely draw faces in such expressive facial expressions. However, this gave me a lot of good practice with trying to paint fairly quicker than I would usually. It was also good practice in painting bare skin, which I don't usually do either. I am generally pleased with this, however, I think it needs more time on the headdress, and a few details picked out on the face. 

The reason I included these in this blog is that they represent practice, as well as me trying out new styles as well as trying to figure out my own. The above painting, I just went straight in and tried to paint it so that it looked like the picture I was given. However, I wish I put more thought into how I could paint it so that it wasn't just a realistic painting, a way to incorporate more of my style. In some ways, I do see bits of my style creeping through, like the somewhat rough blending of colour to separate the painting from a photo-realistic one. 

Furthermore, both these images convey a sense of character, even if it is just a small amount. In both, the emphasis is in the face, this is an area I forget about when I draw full body characters. So this is the lesson I take away, that the face is an area of great importance alongside the pose and clothing to covey a sense of self. I feel that a great sense of the character is shown in the pose and the facial expression, more so than the clothes. I would like to explore this further, doing some initial character designs focusing on the posture and expressions of the characters, to see if my theory is correct. 

Referring to previous dissertations/projects to move forward

After coming across some dissertations from previous students on blackboard, it helped me to get a better idea of what is required. However, at this stage I am still a bit torn between two ideas, one is exploring character art, and I really want to do this to improve my own skills and to grow in my creativity for character design. I also think that this would be very beneficial to me, as I could branch out and improve my 3D, and learn Zbrush properly and become adept at both 2D and 3D character art. This would also help my portfolio. The other idea is to explore interactive narrative, following on from last year's Spatial Constructs module. I really enjoyed it in some way, despite not being an environment artist, I was very pleased with the outcome. I would love to develop a fully realised interactive story. I was thinking to create a completed interactive version of Othello, following on from what I did last year, however, introducing characters as well. There are a lot of games which I came across and some anime that also showed the kind of thing I wanted to do, which is have the environment, and then introduce the characters to the scene, including basic animations. An example of this I found recently, that  perfectly illustrates my vision, is Code Geass: Nunnally in Wonderland (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dRDhWE1ECc). Examples can be seen below of how the animation elements.

I really like the idea of doing something like that, and it feels like a complete project that is self-contained and can be presented as an interactive piece, however after uni I would really like to specialist in character design. So perhaps I should leave this for a side project and concentrate on developing my artistic skills further, improving my designs and furthering my learning. 

I will do this through practice, drawing as much as possible to improve my existing skills, as well as trying to develop my own style, which I feel has been somewhat a little lost lately, as I concentrate on realism. Case studies, looking at existing character art and analysing them to see what works well and what doesn't, along with trying to find out what makes for a good design. Establishing any patterns or what makes these characters particularly stand out. I could also carry out a form of research based on my designs, by posting them online in various places and getting responses/ critiques from others. Despite taking examples and inspiration from games I could also refer to people on the street with interesting fashion sense or paying particular attention to how they carry themselves, which will feed into their character and give an impression of the person. 

After reading a bit of Robin Ward's dissertation on the "relationship between form and function in creature design", it definitely helped me to form questions about my own project and get more perspective on areas to address and generally how to move forward. But, again, the question is more specific than just creature design, and this is something I need to address with my own question on character design. 

Week 2, William Huber lecture on Twitch Aesthetics

William Huber's part of the lecture was on Twitch aesthetics, accelerated attention and cognitive athleticism in digital games. What I was slightly unclear on was what it had to do with aesthetics or Twitch, for that matter.

The lecture touched mostly on the skills that were attained and what was going on with gamers in terms of learning these skills and how fast they learnt them. He presented a quote from David Sudnow's book Pilgrim in the Microworld (1983), stating that "it was five years at the piano before I looked down and saw my hands appearing to make music all by themselves. But within two weeks at breakout, I watch them handling fast slams, with no consciousness of guiding their movements." I found this to be a very profound statement, from someone who does not play games at all, as it shows how games can quickly become intuitive due to the repetitive tasks, and on top of that, leads into another topic, which is can games be for more than entertainment. Of course they can and there are numerous articles, talks and books about this. I quickly linked this topic to Jane McGonigal and her TED talk Gaming can make a better world and her book that I have read parts of, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make us Better and How they Can Change the World (2011). Jane definitely does present good evidence and arguments on how games can be beneficial to society, to medicine, to illnesses and so on. This is a topic I am greatly interested in, but there is so much out there already that if I tried to address this topic it wouldn't be unique, unless I thought hard and tried to narrow it down.

Whilst I was reading Jane's book, I skipped to a chapter called Fun with Strangers, and this is something that particularly interests me, as I really value online games and the experiences and friendships that can be made. I have had many personal experiences that have had big impacts on my life due to my interactions with these strangers on the internet that I have met through games such as Unreal Tournament and League. I feel that this is perhaps an area I can explore, however I am currently unsure of whether the dissertation has to be closely linked to the project portfolio. My artistic interests lie in character art, but my general interests lie elsewhere...

Going back to Sudnow and William's lecture, he continues by saying that in these games he experiences skills that he does not possess in real life, for example tennis, "I look at the screen. It so impersonates a real world setting, tennis, say, that I'm taken in by the illusion of adept motion, running all around that court, perfectly skilled at returning shots every which way coming at all angles. I never had such athletic skill before, not to that high a level, and I'd played a fair share of sports in my day. But two weeks?" This, to me, ties in with games being an escape, or providing something for more a person, allowing them to feel like they've really achieved something. Jane McGonigal touches on this as well, however more specifically when she talks about reward systems, it is a slightly different topic but it ties in with my point that when you do something well in a game, you feel a great sense of achievement. This is an important feeling in life, and again, it just really strikes something in me when I hear these statements, as so many people still look down on games. I have a lot of friends who do not understand that games can provide more than it's general outward appearance of being a sedentary activity. It is also something interesting to think about, that I never really have, as I don't tend to relate anything from games to my real life.

Another aspect of games that William touched on was professional gamers, e-sports, this is another phenomenon that interests me, as it is starting to get more recognition and be taken more seriously. Recently I saw on Twitter that the SportsCentre page tweeted about LCS (League of Legends Championship Series). I am not exactly sure what I could base my dissertation on regarding e-sports, but I suppose I could explore what makes pro gamers different to casual gamers and so on, and again, use Jane McGonigal as a big influence here.

Questions to explore

During the second week of Simone's lecture she mentioned that a good starting point to brainstorming ideas was to create a mind map. However, I do not like mind maps and much prefer lists, therefore I have started a list of questions that I could potentially explore. These questions are inspired by my initial reading and also my own interests and fascinations surrounding the subject:

What makes a character iconic?


What is good character design?


How does character design in games impact the player?


Exploration of the portrayal of male and female character design in games, from the old to the new, the stereotypes to the unconventional.


The importance of the character design in games.


How big of a part does the artistic design of a character play? Comparing the character design to the story or narrative given to a character.


Exploring character-driven game design.


Exploring the different types of emotional impact caused by different character designs. How much of an emotional impact do different types of character design create?


As can be seen some of these questions involve the feelings and impact on the player. I find this an interesting topic, particularly because I love to see good character development in films and TV series', as well as games, however I have found that some games lack actual character development and mostly just play to stereotypes and run with that throughout the game. Recently, I have been watching playthroughs of the game Until Dawn and this has made me start thinking about the relationship between the character and the player, as well as the development and personality of each character and how that affects the player's feelings for them. However, I feel that the emotional response to a character is mostly stirred by the narrative assigned to the character, that the way the character behaves and talks is what is most important. I feel that the artistic design plays a minor role in comparison. It is true that the clothes or the looks of a character affects the initial thoughts and feelings of the player, however that can be easily overlooked when it comes to the character actually coming to life and showing who they really are as a person. This also lends credibility and realness to the character, more so than the actual design, in my opinion.

Initial research: gathering books and ideas for character design

As I am greatly interested in drawing characters, I decided that my project could go down the route of character exploration of some sort. I started off by taking a few books out of the library, one such being Digital Character Design and Painting by Don Seegmiller, published in 2003 by Jenifer Niles.

One point raised straight from the get-go is that "Some of these characters [in games] are so strong that they actually become cultural icons." (page 4) Seegmiller uses Frankenstein's monster and Lara Croft as examples of iconic characters. He also states that "nowadays, there is less and less room for our imagination to create unique images within our heads when we are presented with such visually stunning creations. More and more characters are so well designed that the images and ideas they convey are relatively the same regardless of each viewer's background." (page 5) This idea of there being so many creative ideas already out there is something I struggle with constantly, in that I find it very difficult to challenge my own creativity to create something that is entirely unique. I see so many rehashed designs over and over on art websites, and it unnerves me because I wonder when it will get to a point where it becomes really difficult to create something new and unique. However, it is of course still possible to do so, yet it is sometimes hard to find and is somewhat rare in games, in my opinion. I find myself taking just as much inspiration, or perhaps even more, from film than games. Particularly finding the works of H. R. Giger and Guillermo Del Toro inspiring. 

I feel that one possible question I could explore is "how to make an effective, or even iconic, character design", as it is something I have never done. I do so much portrait work that I tend to forget to flesh out the characters that I do design, and on top of that they are always influenced to a rather large degree by existing characters, pulling pieces from other artworks or fashion and piecing them together to form my design. Whilst I know this is not entirely a bad thing, I also know it does not result in completely unique designs from me. I definitely need to broaden my designs, and one way I can do this is by practicing and pushing myself further and experiment no matter the outcome, as perhaps fear of putting in the time and not appreciating the outcome may be something that holds me back. 

"Most of us just assume that because we can draw a dragon or an elf, we are character designers. After all, we have been drawing monsters, villains, soldiers, and heroes for as long as we can remember. The sad fact is, however, that artists, even good ones, are not necessarily good character designers." (page 6) This poses the question, what makes a good character designer. I hope to find out the answer to this question so that I can strengthen my designs and add to my existing skills and knowledge. In the book Seegmiller also addresses "What is good character design? For that  matter, what is character design? The art of character design is no more and no less than creating someone or something that, taken in the context of its environment, will elicit a belief, reaction, or expectation from the audience about the physical makeup, disposition, and personality of the creation." So it seems that character design needs to have a relationship with the audience, it has to be believable to that audience and evoke emotion of some kind in them.

Things to consider as can be seen on pages 9-12:

How will the character be used? 
This affects the level of detail needed, e.g. if the character is the centre of focus they will require more detail than a background character.

How will the character be displayed?
Considering the platform which the character will be presented, e.g. TV or games.

How close or distant the camera will be to the character.
This will affect the level of detail necessary.

The size of the character in relation to others.

Will the character be animated?

How many angles will the character be viewed from?

Who does the character need to appeal to visually?
The design of the character needs to be appropriate for the intended audience e.g. a character aimed at adults will be different from one aimed at children.

Can the character stand on its own design if taken out of its environment?
If so this will suggest that it is a strong character design.

Is the character's silhouette or profile readable on its own? 
 Again, this will suggest that the character design is strong.

Working within the platform's constraints.
For example, there was a time flowing hair or clothing was not possible to render in real time. To simplify a design, "look for the most basic general shapes that make up the character. Use the basic shapes that remain as the basis of your simplification process.

How the character will animate.