Environment Designs (comic that never happened, part5)

These sketches are rough designs for the various settings of the comic, in particular, the first act. This was most developed area of the story and we got right up to the layout stage. I like to plan out areas with wide, map-like reference drawings to establish size and space relationships. This also helps in the planning of the story and in figuring out where the characters are at a given moment, and what views should be seen in the background.

Character designs (comic that never happened, part4)

More comic stuff, including some costumes and designs from background characters. Alexi

Character designs (comic that never happened, part3)

More sketches from the design stage of the comic. For me, this is the best part. I usually start by looking though national geographic or museum or collections for ancient artifacts. I look for interesting shapes and designs, and look at how certain aesthetics are common in various societies. When I design characters from a specific (and in this case, fictitious) culture I try and repeat graphic and stylistic elements. So, at a glance it is recognizable that they are of the same group. The style and symbols of a culture will depend on values and standing of the society (are they war-like or peaceful, wealthy or poor, isolated or cosmopolitan?) From there I can expand on the design, changing it to suit the individuals and their place in society. I try to reason out what design elements can I incorporate so that it becomes obvious that a character is, for example, a merchant or a soldier or a nobleman. Finally, I adjust the face and body to give the character a distinct and interesting look and personality. I didn’t really get to that stage on these sketches, as they are mostly concerned with costume designs.

Character designs (comic that never happened, part2)

future-past world, where a once great civilization has been lost and the characters exist in a primitive and savage (almost medieval) environment. It was our idea to mix remnants of the advanced cultures and the new primate societies into the character designs and weapons. To further develop the back story, and explain the designs for different species, we imagined that at one point space travel existed before some event in the very distant past caused for the down fall of all civilization and the loss of most technology and knowledge. As a result, many different species where left on the same planet, with only mythology and legend to explain their origins. Anyway, here are some more images. Alexi

Character designs (comic that never happened, part1)

Here are some character designs from a group comic book project that was started but never finished back in my college days. We had the story worked out very loosely, and where developing the costumes and architecture of the various civilzations. Then we finished school, got jobs, moved apart the project died a slow death. These sketches where works in progress, but where very close to being finalized designs. I used the same template for the male and female bodies to save time, and focus more on the details and shapes of the costume, rather then re-drawing the figures for each character. Here are some samples. Alexi

another pitch concept

Here are a couple of images I drew for a group pitch to Nelvana studios last year. We worked out a story about a group of kids in space with mech-like suits of armour but everyone we showed it to said it would be too complex and expensive to create a series (in 2d or 3d). The target audience was supposed to be kids 8-12 so the designs arn't too intense or agressive, but it was pitched as an action show so I tried to keep things fun and cool-looking.

flying tank car thing

Here is a cool model I made for the 2d show Grossology. It gets rendered out in a toon shader for the show with two tone colours and black outlines, which is why I made the stripes out of 3d geometry. It does not get used too much in the show, which is a shame because it has a cool design and I rigged the wings, treads and the rear suspension. I even made one of the characters in 3d, just for fun.

Some more concept work

A few more pages of design work for Nelvana, dating back to the Spring of 2006. We would meet in groups and get information about the shows and characters, and then have a week or two to come up with some sketched and designs. We would meet again and eveyone would show thier drawings and discuss what worked and what didn't. It was a fun process, though I am not sure if any of the properties will ever get made into television series or how these designs effected the final versions of the characters.

Character designs for Nelvana

Nelvana will have pitch sessions from time to time where employees can submitt ideas for short films or series. They also have design sessions where we develop properties already owned by the studio. Here are some sketches I did for shows that where in the early stage of development and looking for direction in terms of character design and style.

Comic Layout Pictures 2

Here is the layout for the landing sequence, which I did before the drawings in my last post. I think the newer ship design is better, but the long and narrow one works better for these compositions. Alexi.

Comic Layout Pictures

Here are designs for a comic book sequence I've been thinking about for a while. I need a to land on a platform which extends over a vast cliff. I've been trying a few different designs foe the palace as well as the ship, but it's getting there. Alexi

Animal characters

Some characters I've been developing. I had an idea for a short about a group of animals that live the lone tree in the centre of a small park in the middle of a city. I havn't written any stories yet, I was first trying to establish the characters personality through thier designs. I dropped the bug characters because they look way too much A Bug's Life designs, but the ones I inked and colored seem like a fun group.

Monster Creature Scene Concept

This is the concept image for my entry in the last CG talk competition. The contest had a "journey" theme, and I added the key and matches to hint at a backstory for the characters, and provide a reference to show thier tiny size. The idea was that some person had done something to them, and now they where out for revenge. I like the colour designs, which where based on various tropical tree frogs and lizzards. The second image shows a hand drawn image I was going to use as a bump map for the characters scales. Alexi

Monster Creature Wireframes

Here are a couple wireframe images of three monster creatures I modeled recently. I was going for a funny and cartoony style with a moderate amount of detail. I planned to use them for a CG talk digital art contest but I did not have time to finish. I got as far as U.V. mapping the characters was preparing to rig them (just enough that I could pose them for the image). I like the designs and I'm waiting for another opportunity to use these guys. Alexi

Complete Image; Airship and Town

Here is the whole scene composited together, as I submitted it to the contest. The clouds and ocean are composited with photographs and some photoshop trickery. It was a difficult composition, and in retrospect I would have liked the town to take up more of the space in the background. Also, I think I should have made a thicker layer of clouds instead of the ocean, so that the city itself would be up in the sky. When I put together my next demo reel I will try some new variations on the compositing and layout. Alexi

Character design

Here is a render of the character I used in the CG talk spectacular challange, based on my braviators series pitch. The design is based in WW2 era technology and fashion, combined with some sci-fi and fantasy elements. I wanted the flight-pack device to look like it would fun to fly (even though landing it would be a problem). It took me some time to arrive at the current colour scheme, but I think it worked out well in the end. The only problem is that some of the decals came out backwards in this render. I'm planning on rigging the character and flight-pack one day soon so i can do some animation with it. Alexi