Contextual studies in character design!

Hello, after a short break for halloween I have returned to continue showcasing the progress of my development :) Currently at newcastle college we have began a unit called contextual studies. This unit seeks to involve my class in an investigation into the style of character designed in the 1920s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and present day.

As an aspiring animator and illustrator I am excited to develop character designs following these parameters. In the animation industry it is important to constantly develop character designs keeping in mind style, form, audience and influence. In order to demonstrate I understand these styles I am required to showcase a character design in each of the era styles mentioned. 

Over my short break for halloween I spent a lot of time drawing out character designs and performing idea generation exercises in order to identify and conceptualise character designs for this unit. One such exercise was a shape breakdown experiment:

This exercise was designed to help me develop analytical skills in order to assist in the approach of character development. In the first part of my experiment I Identified key shapes that made up the 'formula' of a character design, this process helped me breakdown the characters in order to better understand a complicated image is in its basic form. Reversing this process I created poses using reference in various forms in order to serve as a starting point for different character experiments.

Using the body forms as a starting point I created a series of idea sketches with a mood board for reference in order generate potential character concepts that i can further with development.

The next stage in my process is taking 1 or two of these characters further in development, I will keep you posted in the mean time! Any pointers for my design process ? Interested in having a chat? Email me at Sickjujuu@gmail.com

Fire watch case study - Flat landscape

Fire-watch is a game based around the concept of keeping an eye out for fires and managing the forrest. The game also become popular from a specific piece of concept art depicting a landscape wide shot created in adobe photoshop.

When I first saw the original artwork I had an epiphany that the artwork in this shape and form would be perfect content to use image manipulation techniques to create the parallax effect. With this concept in mind I created an exercise to develop a better understanding of how the artwork was created in preparation for animating the piece.

I really enjoyed the creation process for this piece, it involved generating a tree asset and defining it as a brush preset to create the trees. The mountains were created with a combination of the lasso tool and the fill tool. This piece stands to exemplify that when creating a flat landscape piece, less is more.

In reflection to my case study I used the developed style and technique to create my own original design outcome, I felt that this landscape represented greenland so made sure to include birch trees (I hear there most common tree).

Overall I enjoyed experimenting with new techniques in photoshop and I am keen to express the final result of the image manipulation technique next time! I'll make sure to keep you all posted!

Image manipulation - 3D Horror concept

During my time experimenting with Image manipulation techniques in my current unit at newcastle college, I created an experiment in order to understand how i can use 3D perspectives in order to digitise concepts for games, animations and movies.

The idea behind this experiment was to use Image manipulation techniques in order to generate a video that conceptualises potential level designs in a horror game. This experiment was also created to demonstrate how image manipulation techniques can be used in mediums outside of the VFX industry such as games design in order to convey ideas and designs.

Overall I enjoyed creating this animation and I'm satisfied that in coordination with the audio this experiment took full advantage of the effect this technique can have when digitising concepts and conveying intentions.



Thank you for taking the time to view my work! I shall continue to keep you upto date with current and future projects!

Animated banner now live!

Since the beginning of my pseudonym I have been experimenting and creating a short animation to serve as the banner for my blog. This animation would consist of a short loop of a tribal chief drinking some 'Bad Juju' causing him to puke up the title of my blog. And its finally complete! 

The inspiring style for this animation consisted of simple after effects animation with motion graphic traits. Due to my love of creating animation I wanted visitors to my blog to get a real picture of what it is i do and what I create. By designing this banner and having it greeting them when the page loads in, I feel it gives them a clear first impression of my work that i hope everyone enjoys!

The idea behind the content of this animation was from the play on words with 'Sick' and 'Juju'. Juju been bad energy consumed, and sick been the resulting expression. I found this concept to be hilarious and I hope you share in my enthusiasm :) 

If you cannot see the banner, you should be seeing this image at the top of my blog page: