Character #2: Lich

Alright, here's the Lich character I was talking about. I'm not sure if I'm done with this guy yet, but I think I got the general feeling I was going for. Currently, I'm trying to figure out how to add some device that will allow this guy to carry a dagger/bag/book. I'll probably just have to add some extra belt or something at this point - not exactly elegant but hopefully effective. Let me know what you think (if there's anyone out there).

Character #1: Sorceress

Well, weeks behind schedule and not a second to spare, here are a mass of concepts for one of the characters I'll be doing in Studio I. I wanted to do a female character from a sort of fantasy setting, but I kind of went all over the board as to what kind of character she would be. In the end, I was gravitating to a sort of a sorceress-type class. I'm open to suggestions at this point, so let me know what you think. The next character will probably be a Lich of some sort, stay tuned...

Post #5 - random sketch:

Well, my schedule says I'm supposed to start my designs for my first character so I barfed out this random abomination. I don't really know what I was going for here - mostly stream of consciousness (is that really what's inside my head?) Anyway, probably won't lead to anything, but I thought I'd put it up here just to see what you all think....

Benjamin Post #4 - Final Comp:

Alright, so here's the final composition. Sorry I didn't post any WIP, but it was supposed to be a bit of a surprise. Anyway, there's a full version and a cropped version. Let me know what you think!

Benjamin Post #3 - More Sketches:

Alright, another batch of facial sketches. This is good practice for me since the past has never brought me such an attractive model to study so freely...But I digress! This batch primarily focuses on facial features such as the nose, eyes and well, you can figure it out. I also threw in a graphic sketch because I found it to be a great way to visualize the abstract form rather than the realistic form. That being said, I'll probably do some more of those...

A Blake Joins the Party

Hey gang! Glad to join the get-off-your-ass team, hopefully it will encourage me to make some real progress on stuff. I'm planning to be far less scheduled with my summer and just kinda work on whatever I feel the inspiration to work on, but I definitely want to polish up some of my flash games from 2-D design, so maybe I should make some kind of time table for that.

But other than that I just plan on doing some experiments in flash, trying to prototype some of the crazy ideas I have to see if they could actually work, and I'd love to share my attempts and get some feedback from you fellows. This should be a fun summer, indeed.

Denise Post #3 ( Estate Layout )

Here is the layout for the house I will be modeling this summer. All the architecture will be there but only the bottom floor will be complete by the end of the summer.

Benjamin Post #2 - Summer Schedule:

Denise Post #2 ( Work Schedule )

(click above to enlarge)

Okay, so after making this schedule I've been running into some computer problems which are already starting to put me behind schedule. Hopefully I'll have it all figured out soon. This schedule I think is pretty strict time wise. So it may be subject to some change. Right now, I'm planning on getting at least the first floor of the estate done by the end of the summer. The rest will have to be finished during Studio 1 this fall.

Benjamin Post #1 - Initial Sketches:

Alright, first order of business is to try to visualize Denise from a 2D vantage. I started doing some sketches and color studies of the reference photos to try to familiarize myself with the curves and proportions. Initial sketches went a bit slow due to lack of practice and fear of f**king up. I will have to try another batch tomorrow and hope that I'm a bit faster/more accurate. After I feel comfortable with the form I will begin making thumbnail sketches of the actual composition. For the time-being, here's the first batch of sketches - more to come.

Denise: Post #1 (First plans)

After having a taste of environment design this past quarter, I’ve decided to devote the majority of my summer to working on another level.

Currently my goals for the summer are as follows:

1. To make a portfolio site

2. To import my level design project last quarter (Bonabba Village) fully into Unreal. As well as give it some updates.

3. Concept Paint, design, model and texture a 3D environment (while using primarily 3Ds Max and Unreal)

4. Possibly a character design with the help of zBrush.

As I’m starting to budget out my time and figure out what I’m going to do for my Level, the character seems less likely to happen. But I’d like to get another sampling of that kind of modeling before I rule it out entirely as something not for me.

Anyway, onto my environment project, which is my primary reason for being here. I went to my local Half Price Book store in order to see if I could find some nice architecture reference books. Just something to inspire me on what I wanted to do. Back in the winter, I did a quick environment of an attic scene. I really liked the aesthetics of it. This old farm house kind of feel. So I was leaning more towards that kind of design. As I was browsing I came across the following 2 books:

Both I’m pretty sure were meant to be part of a set. One is a collection of photos of English country villages and homes, the other is of their interiors. Perfect. But I don’t want to mimic just one village’s looks. I was very drawn towards the aesthetic look of Great Tew in Oxfordshire.

There very old buildings generally boast thatch roofs with old stone and brick walls and just an overall sort of eroded and shabby look to them that I find to be visually very interesting. But as I started to try and sketch out an estate (and I’ve decided my level will focus around a single home, primarily an interior, but with an exterior as well) I realized that even with Great Tew’s style it was still feeling somewhat generic. I wanted this building to be something that isn’t quite so everyday. So I started just tacking on bits onto a basic home, while trying to create a sort of saggy look to the building. With leaning walls and oblique angles. Sort of as if every different section of the house was supporting the other. I came up with the following quick sketch:

I’m starting to get the concept I want down. The section of the estate on the left with the chimney I imagine as being what was the original part of the home, while the other sections were tacked on. But even so this wasn’t quite enough for me to know where I was going so I decided to do a quick 3D sketch in Maya. I came up with the following:

It’s much more “leanier” than my sketches were since I was able to directly move walls here and there to see how it looked. I’m considering adding more sort of tacked on upper rooms like the one on the far right of the building. It will have random planks of wood helping to support it against the outer frame of the house. While doing this I’ve also started to think of the interior and where things will lay. The book of the English cottage interiors is very interesting with the amount of clutter and just funny objects that can be found inside, so it’s this part that I’m most excited about doing. Hopefully I’ll have a layout for the interior soon, and then I will start on my actual concept paintings (once I get my tablet laptop back).

In other news, need to start thinking about my website also.

Please give your thoughts. I almost want the house to be more exaggerated in its strange angles. But I’m afraid that may be going a bit too far.

It Begins:

Alright, this should get things up and running for the summer workload. I didn't want to resort to phunny names, but it seems like everyone and their little brother are making blogs these days so even the most retarded names are taken now.