In my years of working in the industry, I learned to work in different ways what ever is more efficient for the given time period. Here's one systematic approach that I use which I find very useful when given a very limited amount of time - the LASSO approach. But before I get into the step by step, I always preach to student to identify first what are the Needs and Wants. For this exercise, the needs would be: 1. restaurant/bar for inhabitants of an extremely dry location of molten rock where no plants grow except thorn thistles. 2. Bugs, rodents, squirrels and shelled creatures only for animals.
Now that the "needs" have been identified, I did a quick sketch using pencil on brown paper.
I applied values using mainly the lasso tool with just stock soft and hard brushes in PS.
The idea I have is to use only the limited resources for materials and food. Just the right amount of architectural details for table and chairs tell the audience that inhabitants are bit civilized. Stripes on the wall give some history and story to the location. Inhabitants could have used available materials like sulfur as paint. This idea makes the environment more inviting.
I "colorized" the values in PS. Composition seemed crammed so I extended the layout to give more "breathing" space. Important to keep the original values uncompromised.
I started painting and blending in some spots and highlights. I also detailed the extended area on the right. Readability of shapes and silhouette of every detail and making them work in the context of the overall composition is very important! Never loose control of your shapes, values and color.
If the area is so enclosed, smoke coming from cooking and candles will stay inside and create a very nice, thick atmosphere to play round with. I enjoy adding that lower layer of smoke to give an opportunity to play with a glow that is off the ground reflected from the bright candle on the table. Fun.
To get an in-depth study of this design approach and visual development essentials in actual production, check out my 8-wk Environment Sketching for Production online class at CG Masters Academy.
©Armand Serrano 2014.
An old piece I did for the defunct Rustboy project.
©Sony Pictures Animation. ©Armand Serrano.
Four years ago, we tried to develop
Rustboy into a feature film at
Sony. Im not much of a character designer but I took a shot on this one since I was part of the early story development team.
Above was a snapshot of the development "pod" right after our pitch to Sony execs: (l-r) Armand Serrano, visual development; Todd Wilderman, story; a scriptwriter guy; and Brian Taylor, creator of Rustboy.
Images ©Sony Pictures Animation and Armand Serrano.
Above are some final concept artworks for a recently cancelled project I worked on. Below are the early development designs I did for this location.
All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.
My apologies for all the emails I haven't replied to for the past weeks. I was assigned to new feature project just right before Christmas and been extremely busy since then. Please bear with me as I give my best to get through my email backlog :) The two images above were part of my thumbnails presentation at CTN last November. Though these were unused concept artworks, I have to blur out the main character for copyright purposes. Below is the step by step process from lines to color. Half way, I decided to push the piece and expand the artwork to show more establishing of the location.
I'll be doing a one-day talk with demo titled "
The Power of Values - The Essential Bridge to Lines and Color" at the
Los Angeles Academy Of Figurative Art this spring. I'll discuss how tonal value carries the weight of the composition and also how to keep the values when doing color in Photoshop. More info on this blog as soon as the date is set.
All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.
Last weekend I had the pleasure of doing a talk on visual development at Hyndol Art Academy. This Lighthouse sample was part of the presentation and thought I'd share it here on the blog. These artworks were done in actual pre-production but eventually never used.
Online research on New England lighthouse structures.
Shapes and Patterns Studies
Thumbnails
Often the simplest shot like this is more challenging since there's not much elements to play with. That's why thumbnail sketch is extremely valuable and most of the foundation is laid out in this stage. On this location, I purposely washed away a chunk of the island to break what could have been a boring shape. On a bigger note, it created a history for the island and paved way to putting the structure on stilts making it more interesting.
Values to Color
This is the shot layout that got a nod for exploration. I had to take the house structure on stilts out. Story revision calls for the character to live on top of the lighthouse. Its imperative to get the values squared away before getting into color.
15 Comments on Lighthouse: A Visdev Process, last added: 10/8/2010
©Armand Serrano.
Another unused concept.
great picture!
Woah! Thanks a lot for sharing Armand, how long were you involved with the project. Beautiful drawing.
Such a shame this never took off, I was such a huge fan of Brian's vision, it's what made me really get into 3D animation.
Will you be showing more over time from Rustboy?
Wow! Something kinda Biblical about the composition. Awesome.
Marvellous!