Week 06 - Tentacle Creature Assignment

This week's assignment was to design a creature with tentacles.

I began, as usual, by doing some research. I looked for interesting designs and pictures that might help me. There was a huge range of different tentacle creatures and was having a hard time finding just one type to stick with. I searched for the meaning of tentacles so that I knew what really classified and would be considered as tentacles so I knew what I was limited to.

I actually had a lot of trouble trying to come up with a design that I liked. I first tried the technique we learned for the crustacean creatures and start with silhouettes but as you can see above, I could not manage anything and kept giving up after a few tentacles.

I thought that sketching traditionally would be easier as that is what I'm more comfortable with but that actually turned out even worse.

I then remembered an art programme I had used before called Paint Tool SAI. It is not a professional programme but as I was having trouble making a rough, sleek silhouette with the hard brush in Photoshop I thought it was worth a shot. I opened a blank canvas and began with some sleek, smooth marks. The flow of SAI brushes made a huge difference and as you can see in the first image, I managed to think of a design.

I next went in to adding the detail in grey scale as I had done with the crustaceans. I then  added a layer of simple colours.

I don't really know how to do backgrounds so using a splatter brush to mimic water and an ocean texture set on a multiply layer, I added a block background.
I am relitively happy with my final design and feel I am finally getting the hang of painting digitally though I would like to learn how to add a simple yet effective background to my designs.

Week 06 - Perspective on Photoshop

In the last visual design lesson we looked perspective in Photoshop.

We were given a selection of pictures to look at the perspective of. We used the ruler to drag down a horizon line. We then used the pen tool to create a line from where we guessed the vanishing point was. We continued to copy and paste these lines and manipulated the ends to meet the edges in the picture as well as moving the horizon and vanishing point to make it as accurate as possible.

We then tried a picture with two point perspective. This was slightly different as even if the horizon line was at the same angle, the two vanishing points were out of the picture in different distances.

Lastly we tried a much wider picture with very stretched vanishing points. This one took a lot of getting used to as the slightest movement made a huge difference.

These activities were very useful for me as I don't draw architecture often and perspective is very important when doing so.



Week 05 - Lava Creatures

During this lesson we looked at lava. We were taught a few different ways lava can be painted.

This is the sample I made during the lesson using the pen pressure brush and yellow, orange and red to create the lava glow.

I created a mindmap of other lava creature designs.  I had the idea of a lava snake in mind as I thought the scales would be perfect as the bits of stone between lava.

First I painted the basic shape of the snake I wanted. I then went over drawing the scales. Using another of the techniques we learned during the lesson (layer effects in Photoshop) I went over the gaps between the scales and tried to make them look as much as lava as possible, including the lava dripping from the mouth. I added more cracks under the snake to look like a volcano floor.

Lastly I added a soft texture to the glowing lava and one to the floor.

Week 06 - Life Drawing

We began with five 3 minute drawings as usual. I was feeling quite rusty for some reason so I don't really like how these came out as I just couldn't seem to get the drawings right.

I also noticed that I was slouching a bit so even if this was my favourite drawing of the five, it was slightly wonky and leaning to the left.

Next was my least favourite part. We had to use two different medias, one in each hand, and draw the same thing on each side of the paper with both hands at the same time. This was so incredibly difficult and just couldn't focus.

As you can see, as I couldn't focus on either fully, it meant they both went terribly. The left one ended up being stretched sideways while the right one stretched vertically.

We then tried again, switching the media. It was slightly easier the second time but I still found it virtually impossible to do.

Once again they were stretched in opposite directions. I also pressed way too lightly with my left hand so you can't see the pen marks very well.

Next we got 30 minutes to draw a pose. The aim was to be as accurate as possible and as we had so much time, we didn't have to rush. Though I didn't finish it I think I did well making it accurate as I spent the time insuring what I was doing was good instead of just getting it done.

I used a 2H  pencil to sketch out the basic shape and then went in to more details with softer pencils to make darker marks. I started by drawing a line down the back so that I could follow the flow and direction, which the model complemented me on later.

Next our focus was on the lighting and shading. I found it hard to get this one to look good as this time I was not focused on the accuracy of the shape which I am quite annoyed about.

At first I didn't know how to add the shading without making a hard outline but I shaded the background a bit to add contrast.

I took a long time on these poses and spent longer than others meaning I did less work I am happy with the way they were going.