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Environments and Landscapes (digital & traditional)
OTHER WORLDS: A project brief by South Downs Planetarium for an exhibition about what life might be like on other planets.
Development of the world environment for Other Worlds:
First, I created a Mindmap of the story, then researched what another world could be like. I sent out target questionnaires to my proposed demographic and created a moodboard that would help me create my environment.
From a trip to see the Astronomer Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in order to explore other worlds, I decided on the colour scheme of the world being predominantly pink and green.
I sent out a target audience questionnaire, from which I took away the key points listed below.
As focusing on a swamp like planet, it felt natural that the inhabitants could be frog like and giant. When I researched frogs, I discovered these plants that frogs in California like to sleep in, and thought this would be perfect for the homes of these inhabitants. The colour of the plants fitted well into my pink and green theme.
Personal Landscapes:
Observational sketches of trees using pencil, charcoal and black Indian ink. With tree no:4, I experimented blowing the black ink through a straw to create a tree pattern.
To the right, the bark of a tree (charcoal) with all the knots in the bark. Although it's difficult to see that it's a tree (in retrospect I would have drawn more of the tree), I like the knots as they look like eyes looking out from the tree.
To the left: Example of mark making techniques, and a landscape drawing using these techniques.
Below: Experimenting with different texture techniques.
To the right: A landscape painting in gouache. Although I like the layers of fog in the distance, I wasn't too happy with the clouds on the left of the painting.
Above: Sea Landscape (acrylic on canvas with crackle paste). A painting on canvas using different textures in the style of Canadian artist, Greg Benz. I sketched the landscape, then painted the canvas a light grey/blue for the sky with light acrylic paint. I then created ridges for the rocks and sand using crackle paste which I painted over using varying brown acrylic shades. I then used acrylic flow paint to create the sea. The ridges of the crackle paste helped keep the paint off the rocks. I really liked this effect and felt it gave the painting a raw textured feel, which makes you almost feel the rough weather.
Below: a game map and isometric map for a game project brief for Portsmouth Dockyards.
To the left: An environment for a game brief which explores the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger.
Above is another game environment I created in Photoshop. I drew the forest using the Golden Triangle composition guide. The focus of the illustration is an abandoned building covered in vines and flowers. This is achieved by 1) lighting which guides the viewer to look at the building; 2) colour that attracts the viewer's eyes with the bright red and yellow flowers. The glowing documents on the grass are a second focus so the player knows they must pick them up. I added a dark vignette to both sides of the artwork to guide the player towards the game devices. I used various brush tips for texture, and different blend modes (multiply for darker shadows and colour dodge for the lighting). I was inspired by the game "Ori and the Blind Forest" which uses colour psychology for each game level. Green says calm, but the red flowers show danger.
Below: An imaginary digital landscape that I created. For inspiration, I drew from a recent trip to Brittany but I added the cliffs in the background to add a more foreboding terrain.
Colour Studies: I tried various colour combinations to see which one looked best. Although I really like the pink one as this suggested sunset, I preferred the blue/green toned one the best as I felt it was more moody.
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