Settling on a story

So today my friend at uni mentioned we should base out concept art assignment work for pre-production at uni, around the Wizard of OZ. Could I be any more please with that idea! Really opens a lot of doors design wise I feel, given the diversity of characters and the setting, going to have some crazy fun with this one. So I got all inspired today and thought I'd jot down a quick character draft for the cowardly lion (who also is prince of the jungle in OZ among other things we've supplemented). I still want to add more junk to him (and a tail) but I feel very happy with his physique as I want him to be massive and powerful, adding to the irony of his cowardice. Also one of the members of our pre-production group felt that he out to carry a staff. Not sure if it works, but it's another kool design element so I'm pleased :D

Other than that, been fooling around with space craft and vehicles still, even delving into the realm of drones. Loving this tangent.

More depth

I thought that I might do some thumbnails that are slightly larger, and weed into the details a little more. Still hung up on spaceships, though I'm thinking of moving on to utility vehicles, tanks and robots in the not too distant future. I can feel my process becoming more fluid and I'm finding I'm starting to mentally visualize things more and more before I put pen to pad. I love it when a random shape pops into your head and you can just roll with the idea and flesh it out.... pure fun.

Back to basics

So I'm starting to fully sink my teeth into this concept biz. I got a hold of some more Gnomon workshop vids and have been watching them intently, and then going and trying out the various techniques. Really enjoyed some of the creature ones, all done in lead and graphite, which inspired me to have a stab at pencil and graphite again myself. It's always fun to go back to the age old basics after dabbling in pen and marker for a while, something so natural and smooth about working from the heart like that. Sure felt good. I can't say I was too explorative, but I just wanted to take my time and play with some forms.

I've also been mucking around with some spacecraft thumbnails, just at any spare moment, like on the train to and from uni, or when I'm on a phone call, amazing what those little moments in the day can be used for!

Feng Zhu, you complete me.

So after watching a certain Gnomon workshop DVD that I got from the library, it wasn't long before inspiration stirred within me and gushed out onto my sketchbook. Feng's penmanship is unbelievable! Going to be a good while before I develop that sort of skill, however the principles really helped me. Drawing dot to dot, drawing from the elbow, keeping things simple for overall effectiveness. So how does my attempt at vehicle design shape up? I'm not dissatisfied, but there's room for much improvement.

And an era is born... or just an error.

This is my first post in a series of posts to track the progress of my animation Pre-production class. I hope it serves to present a true representation of what I'm going to be learning and the skills I'm hoping to aquire along the way. So without further stalling, here's the work from my first class - THUMBNAILS

I've never really gone down the road of "jungles" before, and when given the opportunity to give me a theme/ scene to depict, my classmate unwittingly sprung it on me. It was a good opportunity to grow however. Using purely black and white in the thumbs was a new idea to me, as in the past I've opted for varied opacity from the get go. A long way off perfect, but I selected the angle and composition that I found the most appealing, giving the scene a more significant mood I think.