Alexander Phillustration: 2012

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Research Project - Landscapes and Backgrounds 01

Original Image.

Altering the landscape to create a different mood/ tell a different story.

With colour.

Chaos Orb - Demon Rocket

We went for the skeletal design for the demon character, these are the first concept sketches of the rocket he flies, just establishing size and general rocket shape at this point.

Monday, 3 December 2012

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

OLIO - Pandora's Box
Alex Robinson

After reading into the story of Pandora's Box, I thought it would be interesting to bring it into a futuristic setting. I decided that all of the separate sins that Pandora releases upon the world when she opens the box could be summed up into one 'evil'. This would help me to keep the story fairly short so it will fit onto the double page spread I have been given to work on.

Idea development.
I started by creating 12 separate thumbnail drawings, I used these to help bring my initial ideas to life and perhaps give me some new ones along the way.

[clockwise, starting from top left]
1.) When I think 'futuristic' I imagine robots, mechanized beings and powerful computers, with this first thumbnail sketch I started thinking about making Pandora's box a file or program on a computer that when opened would cause havoc, much like a present day computer virus. This first image is the office of a technician that creates and works on robots, the figures that surround the desk are his creations in various stages of completion

2.) This image would take up a whole page, this would be the moment when the robots have malfunctioned or been infected with the virus. I like the roughness of the image and the ribs give it a human-like appearance. I think if people see human qualities in the image they with find it more disturbing than a huge tank-like machine.

3.) The moment when we discover that the machines have malfunctioned, a terrifying sight as the huge, black, steaming robot crumples the computer screens like paper.

4.) A new idea: one of the robots is not affected by the virus, this is 'hope'. here it is escaping with a hard drive that contains the only program that can stop the evil robots. Naturally the infected bots are giving chase. The fate of the human race hangs in the balance.

[clockwise, starting from top left]

1.) While the robot technician takes a break from his desk, the massive army machine slowly begins to creak and move as the virus takes hold.

2.) A variation of the same moment as in number 3 above, a metal arm suddenly and violently smashes through the computer monitor and grabs Pandora. This occurs moments after she has opened the file that corrupts the machines.

3.) Before the disaster, machines creating machines.

4.) Either: An infected robot escapes destruction, the army have been called in to attempt to control the computer virus outbreak.

Or: 'Hope' escapes from pursuing infected robots by jumping through a window high above the ground, his metal body may not survive the fall.

[clockwise, starting from top left]
1.) The moment of infection, the virus passes from robot to robot through charging/uplink cables. I like the cable in the background of this image, as it creates depth and highlights the importance of the cables in transferring the virus.

2.) Hope grapples with one of the infected robots, in this interpretation the virus has begun to change the size and shape of the robots as well as the behavior.

3.) A change from the angular robot designs, This image is slightly more faithful to the original story, the evil robots/skeletons are climbing from their storage containers, they were locked in when humans discovered their evil intentions but Pandora has accidentally opened the locks.

4.) Another new idea, hope is created when one of the machines is captured and controlled by a human pilot, He will fight to save humankind.

This image shows the whole process from robot manufacture up to their rebellion and destruction of their surroundings. In this idea one robot is still inside the manufacturing machine when the process is shut down, this is the creation of Hope.

Page layout roughs:

In this story Pandora is not the girl's name, but the name of an email she receives, there is an attachment on the email. This is the virus that awakens the robots and causes them to rebel against their masters. I tried to link the panels with the theme of 'eyes' by hiding all but the top half of the girl's head and using the shadow in the final panel to hide a lot of the detail.

Similar to the first, but in this version she realises what she has done and presses the emergency stop button in the factory, trapping the last robot in the machine and creating Hope.

Out of the two page layouts I think the first one works much better, the theme of eyes throughout the story brings the whole image together and the narrative is easy to read. I don't think the second rough will work very well over two pages. I will use this as the base for my final piece.

I had originally planned to use a red/orange colour scheme for my final piece, I like the blood-red that many would associate with danger however I don't think this colour scheme shows the futuristic setting i'm trying to create.

The finished grey-scale image before colouring, I kept the electricity because I think it adds a danger aspect to the image.

Final Piece

The Finished final piece. I really like the blue and purple with a small amount of yellow/orange highlighting, I overlaid some of my own textures to try to make the image a little more 'gritty'. I left some of the brush strokes rough so the eye is drawn towards the areas of the image that have finer detail.

Influences:

Feng Zhu

I like the pale, washed out colours in some of Feng Zhu's illustrations, I started this project with the intention of recreating this look but eventually decided that a bright, punchy colour theme would be more interesting.

Luke Mancini

Stanley Lau

Stanley Lau was the main influence on my final colouring technique, his illustrations are usually brightly coloured and they include areas of rough and very smooth shading in the same image.

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Final Major Project Intro

For my final major project I am working towards creating a portfolio that I can then use to show potential employers such as game studios and concept art studios, My portfolio will largely consist of work I have completed during my work experience on board the Chaos Orb project under Waldermar Interactive. The final piece of my project will be a printed book that will showcase my digital portfolio, It will include both drawings and finished concept paintings.

My audience will be any employer or interviewer that would require a physical portfolio to be sent to them, Also I could make the portfolio into one digital document using either MS Powerpoint or Adobe Acrobat to send to employers for online applications.

I think this project will be very useful in helping my Photoshop skills grow and will improve my professional practice experience through working with others. By using this project to create a portfolio I will be better prepared when applying for jobs outside/after university.

http://fengzhudesign.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL

I have started reading and watching the work of leading concept artist Feng Zhu, He teaches classes in concept art and creates free tutorials on youtube that explore many techniques that are new to me, he also has a lot of experience in the world of design that he draws upon in his tutorials, I think learning from him and others like him on the internet will help me a lot in the future.

I am also going to practice landscape drawing in different ways such as drawing a landscape from life then altering it to produce many different finished images ( futuristic, war torn, arctic, desert. etc.)

I am also going to practice adding details and people to my landscapes to make them look more believable I will do this by taking details from real locations to get a better idea of what should be included in my designs.

Time Plan:

I am going to create a work schedule for myself that is similar to that of a daily job, I think getting into a pattern will help my work to progress at a steady rate.

Weekdays:
Morning - Lunch
Speed painting until lunch - time spent trying new techniques learned from tutorials, quick landscapes and sketches: