Fantastic Voyage: Character Thumbnails 1-6

In order to get the classic style that I want, I have looked at some of Preston Blair's character designs/development sketches. I have drawn some of the poses from the "Kids" section and have changed them into boy scouts, as well as adding a bike and magnifying glass, occasionally.  I drew them in Autodesk sketchbook as I learned from the last project that it is a better software for character design, well that's my opinion. I experimented with hair colour and skin colour, and they all work quite well. I am very happy with these designs and they all have a classic charm to them. My personal favourite s number 2. It has a lot of character, although that may just be down to the fact that it's in a more intricate pose.  

From Script to Screen: Additional Concept Art

Another piece of concept art of Simon Frost and the Allotment's shack, that'll use for the "Art Of" cover.

From Script to Screen: Allotment - Exterior Design

Like the interior design, I have stuck to my initial idea. I dd the same technique, but I think the final design is a little smoother. I actually quite like this design. As it has a nice style and is very mysterious. 

Final Design

Half-way through

Initial Idea

From Script to Screen : Allotment - Interior design

This is my final interior design of the allotment. I took my initial idea, drew over it, and added colour to it. The colours that I chose are very cosey and make the shack look very small and compact. These colours are also linked to Simon Frost, through the green and red. I am quite happy with this design, however, I put my hands up and admit that due to a lack of concentration and leaving everything near to the end, I have been unable to do the necessary experiments/thumbnails. I would have like to experiment with too, as I would have wanted to experiment with the colours.

Final concept

Interior - Blank

Initial Idea

From Script to Screen: Final Character Design - Anna Stone

This is my final design of Anna. Like Simon, I wanted to get a good mix between the bright and dark colours. I looked at the colour tests and thought no. 2 and 3 worked well, so I took these designs and merged them into one, effectively. Her clothes are not very bright, but her skin and shoes are, so there's a good contrast there. Her real character hides behind her friendly smile.

From Script to Screen: Final Character Design - Simon Frost

This is my final design of Simon Frost. Following on from the colour experiments, I wanted to include some dark tones, but still have the bright colours that the style needs. I added a bit more of an expression, through a raised eye-brow to make him look a bit more suspicious and I have given him a photo strip. I am happy with his design as it is fairly simple and suits his character well, I think.

From Script to Screen: Prop Design - Trophies/Medals & Photo Album

As the trophies/medals and the photo album are very important to the story, I needed to design them. I kept a consistent gold and red colour scheme throughout, with some differences here and there. I quite like these as they all have a nice cartoony feel that will suit the whimsical story.

From Script to Screen: Character Design - Anna Stone Colour tests

As I found the colour test exercise useful/helpful for Simon Frost, I wanted to continue using that exercise with Anna Stone and the colours in her design. She is a very gentle and kind character, with a dark side. Colours will be an obvious good way to demonstrate her personality, and so I think a lot of bright colours with a touch of darkness will be a suitable idea.

From Script to Screen: Character Design - Simon Frost Colour tests

After looking at the three Simon designs that I did in Autodesk Sketcbook, I decided that the Butternut squash worked best with the character. It has an interesting look and is very obscure, especially for a man. I re-did the design, slightly, making him look more masculine, which is what I did. I also made the boots a bit bigger to add to the style. I then copied the design, as I wanted to experiment with the darkness of the colours used - brightest left, darkest right.

I think each has it's own good effect and bad effect. The darkest matches the story in it's horror inspired elements, but the brightest matches the style and has a nice cartoon feel. For the final design, I'll look to mix the shades, which will hopefully highlight Simon's strange personality.

From Script to Screen: Final Prop Design - Wheelbarrow

This is my final wheelbarrow design. I used the same wheelbarrow drawing as before, and added colour and a background to it, in Autodesk Sketchbook. I quite like this as it has a cool cartoon feel, which will work well with the characters, and it has a simple design. 

From Script to Screen: Autodesk Sketchbook - Anna Stone

These are my Anna Stone designs that I did in Autodesk skecthbook. After looking at all the fruit body shapes, there were only a few that looked both realistic and suitable for Anna Stone's character: The Papaya, the pear and the second apricot design. They do look quite similar, however, but they do work quite well. I think the apricot design is the best as there's more of a sweet/gentle character in that design. The papaya design is probably the most obscure, so that obscurity can be something I work with.

From Script to Screen: Autodesk Sketchbook - Simon Frost

Following on from the body shapes, I chose the three that would work best with Simon Frost's design - The Potato, Butternut Squash and the Eggplant. It may not be clear what vegetables they are based on, which is both a good and bad thing. It's good because the characters are still meant to be humans and not human vegetables, but it may not be clear who it is when they are turned into one. I think the eggplant design works well, but if it didn't say what's based on underneath, it may not be clear what vegetable it is supposed to be. I think the butternut squash wouldn't be a suitable choice, actually, as it makes the hips too big and would be more suitable for a woman. The potato design does work well, I think, but once again it isn't clear that it is based on a potato.

Autodesk Sketchbook Session

Today, we were introduced to Autodesk Sketchbook. I really enjoyed using it as it was easy to use and is very simple in it's design, and so I found it a lot easy to know how to use it compared to Photoshop.

At first, I didn't have a tablet so I drew two people using the mouse. I really like these, despite them having poor proportions. They have a caricature-like style, and I have always liked drawing caricatures. I added colour and a bit of tone, which has produced an interesting style. 

We were then told about how to draw symmetric figures and shapes. At first, I created a few robot type figures, and then went a bit more crazy with the ideas. I then finished with a joker style face. I like how simple it was to use, and is definitely a tool I'll use again in the future.

1st Drawing using a mouse

2nd Drawing using a mouse

Symmetric Drawings