Mar 22 - Mar 28: Concept artist research, Proposal Feedback and project development after Grad camp

Improving the Project after the Grad Camp

 Mar 22 - Mar 28

By Christopher Sutton

Technique and Concept artists

After the work we did at the grad camp, there are a lots of holes in my project that have become somewhat obvious. The way I was designing concept pieces wasn't bad per say, but it wasn't up to a professional standard. There are also a lot of drawing/painting techniques to learn and incorporate into my style/work, but that will take time and practice. As a place to start, I have been looking at Artstation profiles of professional concept artist and art developers working in the industry. I started with Brain Matyas, which Paul suggested to us during the camp. While I am going over his work and trying to understand what he does and why, I have compiled a small list from those Matyas follows. During the meeting on Tuesday, I will try go over the list with Paul and Lee to find additional suitable technique references.

The goal/purpose of this is to improve my skill set now so future work on the project will be to a higher standard. None of the artist listed below will be used for anything other than technique and style references.

Concept artist references

Greg Danton: https://www.artstation.com/fivejupiter

Jedd Chevrier: https://www.artstation.com/jeddchevrier

Diogo Costa: https://www.artstation.com/diogocosta

Brain Matyas: https://www.artstation.com/bmatyas

Gavin O'Donnell: https://www.artstation.com/gavinodonnell

Jeremy Fenske: https://www.artstation.com/jandrew

Szymon Biernacki: https://www.artstation.com/biernac

Robin Tran: https://www.artstation.com/robin_tran

Maximilian Degen: https://www.artstation.com/maximiliandegen

Eytan Zana: https://www.artstation.com/eytan

Jama Jurabaev: https://www.artstation.com/jama

Michael Shinde: https://www.artstation.com/michaelshinde

Pablo Carpio: https://www.artstation.com/pablocarpio

Maybes

Jason Sadler: https://www.artstation.com/jsadler

Jan Urschel: https://www.artstation.com/janurschel/albums/all

Taras Susak: https://www.artstation.com/sustarik

Brock Grossman: https://www.artstation.com/brockag

Kevin Jick: https://www.artstation.com/kevinjick

Concept inspiration

I had a look at the work of Rory Bjorkman, a 3D artist from... Something that really interested me in his work was that instead of taking his robots to the typical inspirations and design, he pushed it into a Elizabethan design space. More than anything, its a great example of how trying something different can really pay off.

Rory Bjorkman: https://www.artstation.com/bjorkman

Idea for improvement from course advert - 26 Mar

While going through my Facebook messages and new popups, I found a advert for an online concept/art development course. The course is listed on the "Schoolism" website as "A frame a day Workout course with Helen Mingjue Chen". Chen is listed in the course brief as a visual development artist for Sony Pictures Animation. I have had a look at the preview for the course, and while I decided fairly quickly that it probably wasn't worth paying for (Its not cheap for a student budget), it did give me and interesting idea.

The main part of the course seems to revolve around painting keyshots from movies. This kind of exercise could be quite useful to get a handle on light, colour and composition. As a test, I'll look for some good relevant film shots to practice with for the next few days. Only I'm happy with the results, I suggest it to Paul, Jack and Mona.

https://www.schoolism.com/online-art-classes-workouts/a-frame-a-day-workout-with-helen-mingjue-chen

Painting Tutorials

Painting tutorial series- A quick 10 minute tutorial by Marco Bucci that goes over a lot of fundamentals 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LhcNbFMkTw

Locations of Inspiration

-Bradbury Building

-Prague Astrological clock

Story scope focus Idea

After a little chat with Jack on Mar 23, I had an idea that could help focus the project work. Typical a lot of older series were first released as pilots episodes. If the pilot did well, the production company would continue and make the whole series. While I'm not sure if that is the case nowadays, focusing on the pilot episode present a number of good opportunities.

Additional Media references

Gravity falls - Style and story reference 

The hit 2 season series from Alex Hirsch, Gravity falls focus on Dipper and Mabel Pines, twins sent to live with their great uncle Stan for their last summer before becoming teens. The pines twins quickly discover that Gravity falls is a very strange place, full of the unexplainable and eerie happenings.

Firefly - Concept and genre reference

A single season series by Joss Whedon, Firefly focus on the exploits of the crew of the Serenity, rogues and smugglers in a sci-fi western galaxy. However, when you're surrounded by enemies and underhanded thugs, things never go according to plan.