Thursday 28 February 2013

Adaptation: @Phil/Alan/Justin. Final Designs? (Colourless)

I just want to make sure whether or not these would be good designs to continue with before I move on to colour schemes. I'd like to start converting Lenny to 3D as soon as possible.

Feedback will be very much appreciated!


Lenny Knightingale

Vernon McCobble

Phil 'Shadow' O'Grimm

Thursday 21 February 2013

Adaptation: Lenny Knightingale Designs

From what I got from Justin, my previous sketches of Lenny looks a little too conniving due to both his poses and the length of his muzzle. Often, when we see weasels with long muzzles, we think of these fellows:


Sleasy, villainous and up to no good. True, Lenny would have a hint of that in the "lovable jerk" type of personality, but I don't want him to turn into a character that you could ultimately dislike. Thus, I altered his design a tad.


Maya: Fireworks

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Maya: Curve Flow


Adaptation: More Phil O'Grimm Designs

After my meeting with Justin today, it seemed apparent that a vulture was the best way to go in terms of which animal to choose. However, in my previous poses of him, he seemed much too like a hero. He looked much too young for his role as a villain combined with the personality he had and the story. 

Because he's a bandit, he needed to be more rugged and gruff, but in hints and mild visual cues; things like the dirtying up of clothing and the tattering of the hat. He also needed to appear older.


Monday 18 February 2013

Maya: Island


Adaptation: More Vernon McCobble Designs

I remember Phil telling me (or was it Alan...? Er... no idea) that large, eye-covering spectacles weren't the way to go; they made the eyes look soul-less with no expression. However, I experimented again with the covering glasses, but this time applied the bushy eyebrows I've been so fond of lately with this character. I have to admit, it doesn't look too bad, especially on figure no. 4.


Monday 11 February 2013

Adaption: Paying Homage to Heroes and Villains in Wild Western Film Part 3

Finally, looking at my sidekick character, "Vernon McCobble", the shrew, this one was a little more tricky to do as there aren't many bookworm-types in famous western films, at least to my immediate knowledge, so for this character, I thought I may be able to look beyond just the realm of film.



Kevin Kline as U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon from the 1999 film "Wild Wild West"


Professor Harold McDougal from "Red Dead Redemption"
Rdr harold macdougal square

Taking into account the "Sophisticated" aura that I wanted to give the character, I looked at 'smarter' clothing which was around during the time: waistcoats, bowler hats, suits, bow-ties, etc. This is what I came up with.


Thursday 7 February 2013

Adaption: Paying Homage to Heroes and Villains in Wild Western Film Part 2

This time, I'm looking towards our hero: Lenny Knightingale, a young, confident, but somewhat cocky weasel.

Of course, going with the hero Archetype, I attempted to make him as relateable and as familiar as possible to audiences. This means good-looking (as much as possible as far as anthropomorphic animals go), bold stance and a friendlier appearance than that of the villain.

I looked at the protagonists of classic western films from the 1950s onwards.

Alan Ladd as Shane in "Shane" (1953)

File:True-Grit.jpg
John Wayne as Reuben J. Cogburn in "True Grit" (1969)

The Mgnificent Seven in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) (Picture from potential re-make of film)


-and of course, the legendary Clint Eastwood

Maya: Smoke Hatch


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Monday 4 February 2013

Adaption: Paying Homage to Heroes and Villains in Wild Western Film

During a talk with Phil today about my uncertainties and confusion regarding the issue of art style suggested by Alan, he made it clear that I didn't need to change up my visual style. I think what Alan meant by linking in my style with the Old West was in terms of the design of the characters, not how I drew them as a whole.

It was soon suggested that I look at films portraying the Old West, most particularly the Hollywood Old West and the actors made famous by their roles in this genre.

Upon looking further into this, we decided that I could pay homage to these actors, incorporating subtle hints of them within my character designs such as Clint Eastwood's squinted eyes, John Wayne's pale hair and gaunt expression, Jack Palance's Waist coat, Lee Van Cleef's longcoat, etc.

6. Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

7. Richard Boone as Cicero Grimes in Hombre (1967)

8. Henry Fonda as Frank in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)



Starting this trend, I'll begin with Phil "Shadow" 'O Grimm


See if you can spot the references.

Maya: Bomb

Adaption: Experimnetation with Old West Painting Style

Using the painterly style of the Old Western art that I found, I attempted to portray that same style with the previous weasel concept for the hero. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly satisfied with the result.

This is primarily because I'm unsure of how to logically apply this style in a way that's pleasing, and makes sense to, the eye. That, and I'm more experienced in the cartoony, typically animated style and less so in realistic texturing and painterly-themed asthetics.


Adaption: Reservations With Art Direction

After looking at various pieces of art from and depicting the old west, I'm having a few concerns with the way the art looks and the direction my character design may go if I'm to look at these art pieces for inspiration.

From what I can see, there are plenty of earthy colours and lots of realism. The colours I'd be more than happy to incorporate into my palette. However, I fear that the realistic approach to anthropomorphic creatures may be somewhat strange in that they would lose some of the human-like personality and mannerisms that you traditionally see in other anthropomorphic media.