So, over the past few months, I've been working on a HUGE project in one of my classes (aptly named, Senior Project). My goal was to create a series of narrative concept illustrations dealing with characters inspired by real-life people in fantastic settings that span space and time. A LOT of a lot of process went into this: researching different time periods, cultures, outfits and styles, and new environments. I learned so many different ways of working, both traditionally and digitally, and my process has changed radically since the beginning of the year. It was all totally worth it!
Oh, right. The work itself.
This was the first piece I did, named "The Burning of Her Hometown". The location and landscape was highly inspired by the Rhine River valley in Germany, near my grandparents' house. I was looking at a lot of Gothic architecture and Victorian outfits, all of which inspired my sketchwork. This was also a big jump in composition for me, using large flat shapes to cut into a work and break it up in new ways. As well, I learned how to digitally render flame in making this, so yay for that!
Also, that's pretty much my friend Lindsey in there. I've named the character Lily for the moment, but that may change later. She really wears stuff like that, and she was a great help in helping me find inspiration for the style.
This one's called "Mettle", utilizes the likeness of my buddy Grant, and taught me how to render different types of cloth and material. I wanted his coat to be nice and velvety, very rich in quality, whereas his vest and shoulderpads are made of tougher material. The character is a blacksmith and very close to his faith, which he shows via the symbol on his necklace. That hollow circle is a religious symbol of this world, and shows up often in many different places in these concepts. Another character (inspired by my friend Megan) is silhouetted in the doorway, carrying the smith's hammer. I need to make some illustrations with her in them!
"Reflection" is the name of this one, and with it came a chance to render the figure of our "Party Leader", Travis. His form is so much fun to work with, because he's extremely tall, has long curly hair, a unique facial structure, and has a natural tendency to pose in relaxation. So much of his outfit is based on things I've seen him wear, from his baggy pants to his multiple-vest-acity, to his awesome hats and bandages. He likes customizing things with twine and string, which gave me the idea for his hat: it actually started off as a simple fedora that he kept adding fabric to until it reached its current form. As well, I really hit my stride with figure drawing on this one, and I'm especially proud of that arm of his. The environment is based off a series of huge windows in downtown Minneapolis that I pass by more often than I can name every week. I felt their reflective nature was fitting for this introspective scene.
This is a favorite of this series, titled "Behind The Lines". My high-school colleague Will lent me his likeness for this one, and I was especially happy to put him in a piece where a character gets to utilize a firearm (he's my go-to guy for military history and the like). Can you believe that this is the first time I've actually straight-up drawn a monster in an illustration? And cowboys! And clocktowers! So much fun! I actually put a lot of effort into his outfit, but it's hard to see unless it's full-size. Totally worth it, though.
Will's character (code-named Lawson for the moment) shows up again in this piece, this time in a trenchcoat and black pants. The name of the piece is "Looking Out", involving a set-up where someone's attempting to frame Lawson for a murder he was investigating. The body's been moved, hence the blood smere, and now he's being shot at. I don't use enough green in my pieces, so I'm glad that this one used a bit of it!
I'm so proud of the silhouette-ness of this one! It's a nice way to render details, having light flood between objects. The influence of John Howe really shows up in this one, those blues having a very watercolour feel to them. I still kinda want to add a zeppelin to this...maybe later. Oh, yeah, this one's called "Heights", and has Lily embracing another character that I need to put in a different illustration. Soon!
And now, spaceships! This was different for me as well: the last time I drew spaceships was in high school, so I tried to channel some of that sci-fi love into this. I realized that I enjoy adding rudders to things that don't need them: they're just a nice design element, rounding out the shape of things. Maybe that comes from Megaman Legends or something (the Flutter is still one of my favorite airship designs of all time). The landscape started out a lot more rocky, but I decided it should be a gradually-sloping valley, although the river has become much smaller since it carved it's way through the rock. The piece is called "The Temple", and the tagline goes something like "A routine fly-by reveals a newly-formed crater in the valley below". That empty circle appears again in this piece, so that temple is probably part of the same faith of the blacksmith character up above.
Ah, the dance club scene. This was a real challenge for me, dealing with so many figures, details, and colours. A lot of research went into preparing for this piece: visiting First Ave with a camera, sketching outfits I saw there, and taking reference photos for each pose in order to make sure I could render them correctly. It was all worth it, and this is one of my favorite things I've ever created.
That's all for now! Time to get back to work!
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