Thanks for being patient: okay, so from the looks of your visual references, you're seeking to turn the inner space of the human body into a whimsical 'world' - a what if metropolis! - and the various players in the influenza cycle into appealing characters. So far, so good, but I've already got a few alarm bells ringing in terms of the initial thumbnails you've produced, particularly your characters - I know it's very early days, but I want to suggest something radical - and that's a complete change-up of the tools you're using to design with; your pencil drawings are encouraging asymmetry and a certain complication of shape, when if you look at your own reference images, you should see how simply they're formed. I suggest, as you seek to find your world and its visual concept, that you work within certain restrictions to ensure more satisfying and more controlled results: for example, limit yourself to using only the Shapes tool in Photoshop and the scale/skew/warp tools under Adjustments - work in silhouette first, so you're creating interesting and satisfying forms before you get into the business of faces. Alternatively, use Illustrator as your thumbnailing software of choice - something that prevents you from sketchy, 'furry' outlines and indeterminate shapes. Likewise, return to Sketchbook Pro and use the symmetry tools to ensure your characters etc. are not wibbly-wobbly smudges, but resolved and confident. You might also want to look at this freeware drawing package:
http://al.chemy.org
It's great at creating strong silhouettes instinctively, which can then be worked into and developed further. Don't take this the wrong way, Ryan, but really I don't want to see you designing via drawing, I want to see you designing via some of these alternative methods, as my instincts are you'll get more interesting results more quickly.
It would be good too to get a sense of how exactly you're going to approach the sequencing of the life-cycle: is it a kingdom being over-run by marauding influenza creatures? Get some updates on here asap.
OGR 07/03/2015
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan,
Thanks for being patient: okay, so from the looks of your visual references, you're seeking to turn the inner space of the human body into a whimsical 'world' - a what if metropolis! - and the various players in the influenza cycle into appealing characters. So far, so good, but I've already got a few alarm bells ringing in terms of the initial thumbnails you've produced, particularly your characters - I know it's very early days, but I want to suggest something radical - and that's a complete change-up of the tools you're using to design with; your pencil drawings are encouraging asymmetry and a certain complication of shape, when if you look at your own reference images, you should see how simply they're formed. I suggest, as you seek to find your world and its visual concept, that you work within certain restrictions to ensure more satisfying and more controlled results: for example, limit yourself to using only the Shapes tool in Photoshop and the scale/skew/warp tools under Adjustments - work in silhouette first, so you're creating interesting and satisfying forms before you get into the business of faces. Alternatively, use Illustrator as your thumbnailing software of choice - something that prevents you from sketchy, 'furry' outlines and indeterminate shapes. Likewise, return to Sketchbook Pro and use the symmetry tools to ensure your characters etc. are not wibbly-wobbly smudges, but resolved and confident. You might also want to look at this freeware drawing package:
http://al.chemy.org
It's great at creating strong silhouettes instinctively, which can then be worked into and developed further. Don't take this the wrong way, Ryan, but really I don't want to see you designing via drawing, I want to see you designing via some of these alternative methods, as my instincts are you'll get more interesting results more quickly.
It would be good too to get a sense of how exactly you're going to approach the sequencing of the life-cycle: is it a kingdom being over-run by marauding influenza creatures? Get some updates on here asap.