1/02/2021
I couldn’t choose which refinement to go with, so I ended up merging two of them to create one line art.
I learned about grayscale painting in class which seemed like a very efficient way to develop multiple coloured versions of one line art to see which one would look best.
I spent a good amount of time shading my line art, adding details to the clothes as well as texture to the tree roots. I imagined that the light source would be from the upper right corner and tried to shade in shadows accordingly.
With a gradient map, I developed a few coloured versions of the character on Adobe Photoshop.
This was more difficult than I had anticipated, perhaps because I was unfamiliar with grayscale painting and using gradient maps. I’ve managed to come up with four different colour schemes, though I felt like they seem quite similar and not very impactful.
2/02/2021
After a short break, I came back to look at the character again and figured that perhaps my shading wasn’t enough to begin with, resulting in a somewhat flat outcome.
I went back to add stronger shadows and light to the line art as well as adding more detail to the clothes, hair, and texture to the tree roots. I felt like I overdid it a little but a lot of the initial details got lost when I added colour so this felt safe.
I laid out my base colours and though a lot of the details came through, I felt like the overall drawing needed more depth so I made sure that I liked this colour combination and added more colour details and lighting by hand.
I highlighted certain parts the light would hit and darkened the parts near the back and under the hair to create more depth, as well as making the eye glow like a flare. I also added green undertones to the hair to resemble sloths that have greenery growing on them.
My character design template sheet is completed, and it’s very interesting to look at the entire process all at once, from rough shapes to a fully rendered final design.
Although I’m not big on video games, the process of character design has been very enjoyable for me, and I have learned a lot of valuable skills throughout this rotation that I can utilize in the future. The difficulties I have faced in the past few weeks were from things being unfamiliar, though as I began to adapt and figure out the best way to do it for me, it felt like an incredibly rewarding experience.