Nigel Potter 18.11.20
Group Tutorials & Progress Feedback
As this was one of our final sessions leading up to the big day, and put together that there were many of us pitching our finalised ideas to Nigel in a limited amount of time, there was a lot less actual feedback to note down and implement. For the most part, we got acknowledgements of good progress with some hints here and there, and research suggestions from the group.
I did however get one magically useful addition to my concept art roster - and, in typical fashion, it was one of the absolute basic fundamentals of the craft - aspect ratio!
Nigel had me create a new canvas format, draw out a simple template, and explained to me how it worked, with strict instructions to convert all of my existing work into the new ratio. Obediently, I've done so in this entry (below are listed the Befores on the left and Afters on the right). Additionally, I have also included the time-lapse videos of the original canvases underneath their comparison shots, showing my progress before this session, both for documentation and in the event that I am unable to edit them together with the new ones at a later date.
For the most part this was a straight forward (and massively beneficial!) process, but I noticed a distinct red, yellow, green pattern among the results. Canvases such as The Crushed Elk just did not lend itself at all to the new format at all (looking so much better in the Before shot) whereas The Trapped Doe and The Line-Up, were a midpoint, seemingly improving overall but just a tad awkward. Finally, the best of the bunch, The Flying Moose, The Uncanny Dog, and The Bait absolutely melted into place following this change and turned into really exciting compositional pieces. I have no doubt that these will likely be my favourite pieces, when rendered, and I eagerly await the opportunity to keep working.
I am wondering, at this stage, if my gut reaction to the changes made should be interpreted as my concept artist's instinct to let a piece go...
Not wanting to pull triggers too quickly, I will explore a little longer before making a final decision.
Note: I'll be keeping The Detective's face portrait separate to this list as that piece didn't quite follow along the same progress points as the rest of them. Additionally, there is some colour distortion in the time-lapse videos that is very clearly not consistent with the final pieces - my apologies for this issue.
The Trapped Doe
Before: After:
'Before' Time Lapse:
The Flying Moose
Before: After:
'Before' Time Lapse:
The Crushed Elk
Before: After:
'Before' Time Lapse:
The Uncanny Hound
Before: After:
'Before' Time Lapse:
The Bait
Before: After:
'Before' Time Lapse:
The Line-Up
Before: After:
'Before' Time Lapse:
A Quick Pat on the Back:
And in lieu of any other place to write this...
The purpose of such a line-up, as recommended by McCaig's tutorials, is to create an immediate distinction between you characters and provide a suitable character impression to pass onto other members of the development team which I believe this panel does exceptionally well. With doorframes generally averaging out at around 6ft 6", the viewer is immediately forced to note the absolute enormous stature of this character (eyeballing this behemoth at anywhere between 6ft 7" and 7ft). Further glances at both the Scottish Deerhound (an infamously large breed) and the formidable hunting rife - both of which completely dwarfed in comparison - immediately cement a fairly accurate first impression of Deccker's personality and the unique selling point as a playable protagonist.
Originally, her sleepwear consisted of baggy sweatpants instead of boxers, but I realised, as I progressed, that the more minimal the clothing, the more ballsy and self assured she would seem for charging out into apparent danger, which suited me greatly!
Honestly, other than some pretty glaring anatomy issues, I'm quite impressed with how this panel turned out!
- R Cipolletta