Digital Art

Week 1

Introduction to the Brief:

For our final digital project, we will be taking the characters we've developed in the last block iteratively and finalise their design with a 3/4 turnaround and detailed rendering, including material reads and convincing form. Having 7 weeks to develop this polished artwork will give us necessary time to fully bring it to fruition, as long as we stick to a good pace and stay disciplined.

During Easter, I made sure I was fully prepared to jump into the detailed artwork by creating an orthographic turnaround of the character to gauge the linear view for a strong reference point, along with flat colour. I also made material callouts on the sides to reflect what each component is made of, meaning I have strong references for how to render/photobash these.

Also, I finally decided on a name for her! Vondartxen Andrartven Loernsertnen, also known as V.A.L!

Left: Before, Above: After

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Final Design Feedback:

Before working on the final artwork's 3/4 turnaround, I got some extra feedback on polishing the base design to finalise it.

Add secondary detail of patterns in the clothing to make it more sci-fi and less simple.
Make the orange lighter for visual contrast in values, adding this bright value to the tech stuff too to distinguish it from the darkness of skirt, really break it up.
Make the belt tech bigger and add antennae for more consistency.
Also the foot lol, the back foot is forgotten about so it has the front details, need to fix it.

For the order machine, block it out in 3D since we're making it there anyway, then paint over digitally!

Here is the finished mat callout sheet with the lecturers' feedback adapted to the design. I added sharp details in the form of panelling on the latex suit for secondary detail, a slit in the dress for a suggestion of her mature fashion taste, a lighter value for the belt to benefit separation, and "V" motifs in the panelling and belt to reflect her name.

Finally, Kras helped me in kickstarting the 3/4 turnaround since I expressed trouble with doing it in Easter. For starters, we used a gestural skeleton that reflects her sassy personality with contraposto elements. I worked independently from here to complete the flat colour version of the front and back.

Dev Log Evaluation:

This felt like a strong start to block 4, as I made sure to have the iterative stages all complete and the orthographic turnaround complete for an easier time creating the 3/4 with an established reference. This meant I was able to get straight into developing the final artwork which is a great benefit as I see myself as having a particular issue with digital art that I linger too long on the experimenting phase instead jumping into developing the final work. While, I tend to get it complete in time, it doesn't leave enough time to receive feedback and push my work even further. Now that I have this opportunity, I really look forward to creating strong artwork for this character.

Week 2

Laying Out the Forms:

Above: Flat values, Right: Kras' Feedback.

In retrospect I didn't really get up to much this lesson.. I was warming up by painting some material studies for what V.A.L's skin would look like as she has transitions from smooth and froglike to bumpy and toadlike. I also tried to incorporate the slightly painterly aspect of Dishonored II's art style.

Next, Kras showed me a way to start off the rendering with laying out 3D forms, using values to imply planes and gradually building up softer forms with Gaussian Blur; I will take what I've learned and apply it to complete the basic lighting.

Week 3

Developing the Base Render:

Last week, I had the completed version of the 3/4 turnaround sketch and Kras' demonstration of laying down the values. My goal was to develop the rendering of these values on the head and focus on developing its detail. From here, I can work on photobashing and developing other areas' values.

Feedback:

When I start photobashing elements like the skin, I can use match colour to unify it with the hand-painting.
Use the cutout filter to remove detail and match the painterly style of Dishonored II.
With the cutout filter, you can add the original version over the top to bring back in the granular detail if it becomes too subtle or stylised.
We've elected to move the ordering gadget to other arm so we can see it better.

Dev Log Evaluation:

I believe I've done well with the hand-painting so far, rendering in the values and base tones well enough. However, I think it's time to start pushing towards the more realistic elements of the Dishonored II style more. Xena has started photobashing in the clothes, so I believe it's a good idea for me to do the same - this tackles multiple goals of reaching more realistic visuals, and unifying the current appearances of both our works.

Also, it's been noted that our designs are diverging and looking less consistent so I've been considering some pivots in design. I think the best route to go is changing smaller elements like props and clothing/accessories since most of my design is pretty developed; areas like the tech belt and gadgets can be adjusted to more of a retro, rustic feel to soften the sci-fi elements, drawing it back with materials like leather to better match Xena's design. Photobashing in elements like leather belts and straps may be just what is necessary. I will also be exploring design choices for the props so all areas of the design are well-considered and iterated upon.

Week 4

Photobashing:

This week, I wanted to focus on photobashing all the major elements like clothing in so I have a solid establishment of texture and detail - from here, I will be able to handpaint in lighting and fix any wonky details.

Extracting from my references and mood boards, I chose suitable images to apply to my drawing such as these latex leggings which I puppet warped into place to capture the correct shape. I had some trouble with the shirt as it was a super quick mockup while I was weighing material options, but the lecturers helped me by working on the final version using puppet warp again to pull the shapes into the correct places after establishing the right perspective with the transform tool.

Week 5

Formative Feedback:

As we had formative feedback this week, we would be taking a critical look at our artwork's current progress and also presenting our slides once again.

For feedback of my artwork, my only gripe was my struggle with rendering the back of the head so I asked for Kras' help.

Kras made a point that completely slipped my mind - I literally have a 3D sculpted version of her to reference for this stuff.. just having that knowledge gave this much more clarity but he still helped establish the right forms for me to continue with!

Next, I made a start on rendering the back side's thighs, both sets of feet, and added in the front strand of hair that was a recent addition to the design. I also started mapping out where the ordering gizmo would lay on her arm so I could photobash that in.

Presentation Feedback:

Just do 3-4 prop iterations to show exploration and consideration for it.
Make sure the tertiary detail on her uniform is evident, it's great in the orthographic turnaround so it'll strengthen the design on the final piece.
Have a light background to highlight silhouettes better, such as on the clothing iterations where the deep colour of the latex stockings were lost in the background.

I worked on designing the props, envisioning both the order gizmo and the utility belt. I imagine she has leather belts/buckles on both areas to feel consistent in the design, and my group peers agreed on the far right design for the gizmo thanks to its retro phone design.

From left to right, each function of belt is a strap that holds a spare ordering gadget as they often malfunction thanks to the low hardware budget, a buckle that's placed for the strap, a crest that's seen on the collar too, supporting the inverted triangle motif, some metal cuffs, and a metal pocket to hold tips and change.

Week 6

Incorporating Textures with Photobashing:

Most of the assets themselves have been photo-bashed in as objects, so I decided to focus on bringing in material reads with photo-bashing in a different method using filters and blending modes to seamlessly integrate.

I started to remove the pattern with masks and gaussian blur as it was initially just plain cloth with no gingham, but this would've just left me more work as I'd have to paint the folds and details back in where I already had them before. In the end, I stuck with the original pattern because it actually works design wise!

Some areas like the leather cuffs were hand-painted in and required a more realistic touch to blend in with the rest of the details. I started by implying lighting with a lighter tone, and then grabbing a flat leather texture image and placing it on an overlay blend layer to imprint the pattern, finally using puppet warp to have it follow the contour of the shape.

I also started to work on polishing the photo-bashed areas as they already had a strong impression of detail, but they needed plausible 3D form with the lighting interacting correctly. I hand-painted on multiply and linear dodge layers to bring in shadow and highlights that made the shape feel more believable.

Grabbing a toadskin image, I applied a gradient map matching the colour scheme of VAL's skintone with hue shifts to avoid a monochromatic look.

As Craig suggested in a previous session, I can incorporate textures without hyper-realism by adding filters to stylise them and have it fit better with hand-painted areas. I started to investigate these in the filter gallery, starting with "cutout" as he suggested which worked great, but I felt stylised the image too much.

I can't remember what filter I used next, but it worked similar to cutout but retained a little more detail. It made the image appear less intensely granular, but retained a stylised level of detail. Therefore, I started working it into my hand-painting by using puppet warp to wrap it around the face, followed by content-aware fill to expand it out. Next, I lowered the opacity slightly and used the hard light blend mode which worked it into the colours previously laid down.

Kras also showed me how the transform tool has unique warp styles like cylinder which is demonstrated here, using it to wrap the texture around the thigh.

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Dev Log Evaluation:

I made a decent amount of progress in today's session starting off with the basic photo-bashed details and hand-painted areas, ending with a colour pass using gradient maps, and a better incorporation of the photo-bashing thanks to a mix of hand-painting and filters.

I tackled the skin's texture which felt intimidating, but the use of puppet and perspective warp mixed with opacity and blend modes helped integrate it well.

I also used retro TV imagery to build up the gizmo, hand-painting the screen and other details like the leather on the skirt/stockings.

My main goal for the final session is to do the same for the backside, and then paint in the hands/feet, and finally polish with final details like cast shadows and rim lights.

Week 7

Polishing & Finalising:

With the final session for block 4, I had to complete the rendering and touch up the overall piece for presentation's sake to get a clean, striking outcome.

To start, I received some feedback in changing the lighting on the shirt from top-lit to side-lit as is demonstrated with the face and legs along with deeper shadows, to properly unify all areas lighting-wise. I was also suggested to add extra skin specularity and add the same granular detail to the hair.

I tackled these points of feedback by starting with the shirt. I already had multiply and linear dodge layers as part of my typical rendering process, which I was able to manipulate with brush strokes to add light/shadow and change where the light appeared to hit, along with adding extra cast shadows from the sleeve. Next, I used a similar speckle brush to the eyeshadow shimmer to increase the glossiness and specularity of the skin, along with the teal hue shifts. Finally, I repeated the photobashing process of using the cylinder warp tool to add the toady texture to the hair.

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Finally, I repeated all processes for the backside as to not neglect its level of detail, making both sides feel unified rather than two separate images tacked together.

After strengthening the rim lights on areas like the latex, it was complete!

Finished Outcome:

Post-Mortem:

I have to say, this project was so so much fun. Working in a group was an inviting challenge as I cooperated and communicated with peers to create a game concept with fleshed out characters and environments. It definitely took decent deliberation and a few pivots throughout block 3 and 4, but I believe we've ended up with something enjoyable and clear in theme.

In terms of developing the character, I believe I did a good job to contain the majority of that in block 3 as intended. By the end of it, I had a material callout sheet and orthographic turnaround of my character in flat colour to jumpstart by work on the rendered 3/4 turnaround. This was great to have as I could start swiftly, but it didn't stop a few design changes occurring. I didn't want this to happen in block 4, but sometimes it's inevitable and also necessary to ensure a strong, recognisable concept that meshes well with the other designs!

The issue that occurred was my design leaning too far towards sci-fi rather than dingy and rustic, as we'd intend to combine both ideas. This was because my design felt too simplistic, so I added hard-surface tech and glowing areas to enhance the intergalactic theme which drifted it away from the retro/vintage style of our bar's setting. I reeled it back in with changes to the hair, clothing materials, and gadgets themselves after discussion with my peers which strengthened our ability to work together as we solved the problem cooperatively, agreeing on what fit our concept best.

I also feel steadily comfortable with photo-bashing now, as I came over a large learning curve with it in block 2 as I expanded my skillset of the ability by reaching out to using puppet warp and free transform. This time, I just reinforced those skills by enforcing the correct perspective in items I'd extracted from images, manipulating their values and lighting with blend modes, and using my hand-painting skills to incorporate it properly.

Something I feel when it comes to my digital art submissions is that if I look long enough I could bring up a million things to nitpick on and criticise (for the sake of improvement of course) but I will keep it to the main, important ones. Immediately, I find that I didn't capture the style of Dishonored II well enough as it has that exaggerated realism in the alien anatomy and realistic textures achieved with photo-bashing and granular rendering, but I believe the addition of painterly brush strokes as seen in their concept art could've helped to further the evidence of that being the style we chose to emulate. I also wanted to do a cool teal rim light as I'd seen in their concept art, and I gave it a go, but I just felt it appeared to cel-shaded and comic-like so I got rid of it - I could've done with blending out the edges of softer forms to have it incorporate better. I also think I could've added bounce light to the skin as it has specular elements, and also local colours interacting in each area such as the gadget's light, the latex's reflective surface, and the skin's glossiness. This would've added extra depth and plausibility to the piece by including the realism of each component properly interacting. The backside also feels less polished like how the hand has less contrast compared to the legs.. yada yada.... I've noticed lots of things to be fixed which is a good thing really! It's good to be able to recognise mistakes.

Overall though, I've had a really fun time painting V.A.L. into fruition with a detailed style, and all her sassy personality. I do feel proud in retrospect and I love her as a character. One thing I would like to do for something in my spare time is creating the OG Rhonda... shoutout to her.

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