On June 5th 2023, I produced a Specialism proposal about what I want to do next year. What I wanted to do was produce a video game influenced by Japanese animation and superheroes.
On September 18th 2023, a few days before I returned to college, I produced a mind map for my Specialism project on Publisher. I will admit that the mind map was rushed, which explains why it has very few branches with very little detail.
Figure 1. Original Mind MapOn September 19th 2023, I produced a GANTT chart as well as a mood board document on Publisher.
Figure 2. GANTT Chart
Figure 3. Original Mood Board
Like my mind map, I felt that the mood board turned out looking rushed and incomplete due to how there are very few images on there.
On September 21st 2023, I started my research about superhero media and beat em up games. I have also started a production blog where I explain the characters I have made for the project and what inspired me to make them.
On September 28th 2023, I continued my research. I also decided to make a new mood board on Photoshop, as I wasn't pleased with how it turned out. In addition, I decided to write a Final Proposal for my project.
Figure 4. New Mood Board
I thought that my mood board turned out better on Photoshop than it did on Publisher, especially with the extra images I have added.
On October 1st 2023, I decided to make a new mind map on Coggle. I added branches to the characters, summarising them in as few words as possible. I also added a Lore branch, explaining the main story and the characters' backstories. I found Coggle to be very useful, since it allowed me to add more than what I did for my previous mind map, which was made on Publisher.
Figure 5. New Mind MapOn October 5th 2023, I continued my research and I updated my mind map.
On October 12th 2023, I decided to create a blog dedicated to concept art. So far, I have drawn concepts for the characters Axel, Ash, Cole, Selena, Lord Steelbone and Lollipop. I intend to get all of the concept artwork done by the end of October.
On October 18th 2023, I continued my concept drawing. This time, I drew Queenie and Florence.
On October 26th 2023, I have drawn Clara Voyant, Atta De Struct and Ash's former friends Connor, Wendy and Hugo. I have also updated my production blog, explaining the powers that Connor, Wendy and Hugo had before their demises.
In retrospect, I could have improved on a majority of my sketches, especially in terms of proportions.
On November 1st 2023, I have produced a sketch of Axel Jones in his casual outfit for consistency with the other S.U.P.E.R sketches. In addition, I have asked some students to fill in a Specialism Form I have made about which character they like the look of the most. The character who gets the most votes will be the one I will produce a sprite set for.
I was surprised to see that Selena had more votes than the other characters. Although, the reason may be due to how my sketch of her was more expressive than the others. Nevertheless, I will produce a sprite set for Selena after sketching a superhero outfit for her.
Figure 6: Specialism Form results from November 8th 2023On November 9th 2023, I continued with my research, adding Beat-Em-Up style games such as Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.
On November 16th 2023, I decided to add both of my proposals to Blogger after some feedback.
On November 22nd 2023, I decided to make another Specialism Form for the villains. This time, I will try my hand at asking students outside of my classroom to get more results.
In addition, I decided to make a post regarding both of my forms and how I feel about the results. I also decided to upload a link to my Coggle mind map, so that people can get a closer look at it.
I also updated my GANTT chart, as I felt I wasn't following it as intended. This is mainly due to being distracted by other subjects as well as personal things in my life.
Figure 7: Updated GANTT chart
On November 23rd 2023, I asked around twenty students outside of my classroom if they could sign in both of my forms.
On December 6th 2023, two weeks after I emailed the students my forms, the characters with the highest votes were Selena Thalassa and Lord Steelbone. In light of that, I will begin production of my test level, starting with the concept sketches of the characters and environments.
On December 7th 2023, I decided to add more to my research post. I also plan to spend the following weekend working on the concepts for my level design.
I will draw a series of sketches involving Selena in her superhuman outfit as well as the enemies. I will experiment with different art styles before I settle on a final one. I figured if I used a simpler art style, then it would make producing sprite sets easier.
I have already uploaded a sketch of a Robot Skeleton enemy.
On December 14th 2023, I have created three posts. One focusing on Art Style Research, one focusing on Beat 'em Up games and one focusing on Unreal Engine tutorial videos.
During the Christmas Holidays, I put my Specialism work on hold in favour of working on other projects that are due January 4th 2024, specifically my Cutscene Group project and 3D character project. Afterwards, I will catch up on my Specialism work. I will continue my research and begin drawing the character sprites.
On January 11th 2024, after much consideration, I have decided to drop the 2D Beat 'Em Up game idea. I felt that if I wanted to express my creativity and interest in superheroes, it would have been beneficial if I stuck to Concept Art. I also felt that making a level on Unreal Engine, much less one with 2D assets, made my work too ambitious. As a result, I decided to remake my proposal, removing mentions of me developing an Unreal Engine game, as well as a new GANTT chart and mind map. Despite this, I will still keep my Beat 'Em Up posts online as proof that I had plans to make a test level.
Figure 8: New GANTT chart
On January 18th 2024, I continued with my Art Style Research blog. I decided to add an artist that I knew personally, expressing how they were a major source of inspiration for my project. I also created a new mind map on Coggle, removing references to plans for an Unreal Engine game.
On January 25th 2024, I decided to create a new post for concept pieces I have done since the change of plans.
On January 30th 2024, I continued my Art Style Research post, adding Bryan Lee O'Malley and Mike Inel.
On February 1st 2024, after learning I was supposed to continuously research art styles at least once a week, I took half of the Art Style Research and posted it on a separate post.
On February 8th 2024, I decided to take a break from drawing characters and decided to draw an environmental concept. I thought of drawing the Terrible Three's lair, which consists of a mountain with stone faces of the three, an allusion to the Mount Rushmore monument. I will do a rough sketch on paper before converting it into a digital drawing. Afterwards, I will be watching FZDSchool videos to help make my concept piece look genuine.
On February 22nd 2024, I began to convert my sketch of the Terrible Three's lair into a digital drawing. I painted realistic textures onto the environment with the stamp tool and adjusted the lighting to add extra depth to the scenery.
On February 29th 2024, I decided to continue with character design. This time, I will be drawing digitally. I will watch FZDSchool videos on Character Sketching, in hopes that I can draw my characters in an art style other than Anime.
On March 7th 2024, I finished my first digital sketch of Axel.
On March 14th 2024, I took a look at what Steven left in my feedback and I have been thinking about what to do for my next concept. I will admit I haven't focused on my Specialism much over the term because I have shifted focus on projects that were due late March. However, I have become more open to my projects, now that I have gained confidence and pride in my work.
On March 21st 2024, I found two good character design tutorials from Draw Like A Sir. I thought those would be good tutorials to learn from. However, I decided to take a week off of my Specialism so that I can focus on two projects that are due next week; The Geekfest Group project and the 3D Character project.
On March 29th 2024, after I finished my two projects, I began to watch Draw Like A Sir's tutorials on character design.
On March 31st 2024, I managed to deliver a couple of sketches following Draw Like A Sir's tutorial. I even managed to draw a picture of two characters for a friend as a Birthday Gift.
On April 12th 2024, I decided to watch a tutorial on how to draw hands, since I thought they were the hardest part of characters I could draw. So I found a tutorial from Draw Like a Sir on drawing hands to help me.
On April 18th 2024, I continued drawing some character concepts with my newfound confidence.
On April 25th 2024, I decided that I should redraw my character concepts digitally, adding colour and fixing areas that needed improving. I will still continue to draw on paper, as I feel I need to do my previous characters justice.
On May 2nd 2024, I began to do a drawing exercise where I drew some of my best concepts digitally and added photoscraps to them.
On May 8th 2024, I began to write my evaluation and developed a presentation before the project deadline.
Need to see what you are actually doing Cameron. !n Include screen grabs of work done etc along with review and analysis of your efforts. Should have more posts by now! At least one a week!
ReplyDelete