That's a cool design. I like the contrast between the heavy sci-fi arms and the rest of the figure. You could mix the styles a bit though because the pants and the arms look like they came from different characters. Also right now the arms are uniform in thickness. Showing the elbow joint would make the silhouette more interesting, anatomy read better and you could show off her musculature and the cool machinery underneath the armor, like you did near the biceps. I did a quick drawing of what I mean: I also moved her legs a little to the left, because I felt she looked a little unstable and added a convex curve to the thighs.
@hykare : Thanks for the Feedback. I adjust some parts on the Shape, but i will keep almost the Armshape(i made small adjustments).^^ @dedyone: Thanks.
Hey there, this is
something that I’ve been thinking a lot about this year, so sorry that there is
a lot of writing here and some of it might not even apply to your image haha.
Im going to be honest and say that I’m using you as a medium to vomit stuff out
of my head. Though hopefully you might find some of it useful
Watch out for the
story of the concept. I’m still utterly
terrible at this and in my current situation I don’t really have the time to
develop these particular skills so take everything I say with a grain of salt,
but here are some thoughts on it.
Concepting is story
telling. Its always important to come back to the why, maybe and how.
“Why does that pirate
wear that pouch. Maybe It’s it to hold his rum, his coins or his vegetables. How
does the pouch hold his coins. Maybe the pouch is stuck to his belt and made of
bubblegum because it can hold coins easier. Also he likes chewing on gum so his
teeth are super white.
“Why does that robot
have a panel slit? Maybe because the panel can open up to reveal a place to store ammo. Or maybe the robot drew on a panel slit to
make himself look cool. How did he draw it on? With crayon. The robot is a
child. “
As you can see a each
element is tied to the other. Detail for details sake usually leads to a weaker
concept. (though I am super guilty of
this) You should be thinking about how materials, shape language, gesture,
colour, etc support the story of your character,
Materials informs us
of the world the characters live in,
What materials are
available in the world? I don’t expect to see characters in the movie alien
wearing metal plates of armour.
Materials informs us
of the era they are in,
it informs us of their
social standing in the world, are they rich/poor. Are they a village elder or just
a crazy old man.
It informs us of their
personality, why they wear certain
clothes.
it informs us of the
region the character is from. Is it a cold harsh environment or is it a futuristic metropolis.
It informs us of the
culture.
It’s important to
establish the available materials and how they are manufactured. Is it well
tailored victorian era or is it mad max style materials, no one has time to
make fancy clothing.
Shape language. I
consider shape language to be one of the hardest parts of concepting.
Everything is a shape
in your concept, even empty spaces are shapes (negative space). So that must
mean your choice of shapes is critical to a successful concept.
Does the shape tell
the audience what the character is? What is its role in society, the food
chain, or a team comp. I believe as
humans, we analyse shapes based on survival instinct. And shapes are naturally
formed by its function in the world. So it’s important to think of the function
of something and how that makes it the shape that it is. Compare a tiger’s
skull to a tortoise skull. One shape is
far more aggressive than the other because of the nature of the two animals.
One has to kill animals while the other eats lettuce.
Lets look at this
tracer concept from overwatch.
Tracer is all about
speed and agility and her shapes resonate that sense of acceleration.
What is acceleration? Acceleration
is a ramp, a buildup and release. Let
your eye follow the shapes on tracer. Pay attention to the acceleration.
When designing your
character think about the gesture of the shape. Is it like tracers, with a lot
of acceleration or maybe your design is a strong and sturdy. It doesn’t move fast
so there is not a lot of acceleration.
It is important to
have a main shape and echo it throughout the concept. It wouldn’t make sense to
have a character that has one triangular shape, one rectangular shape and one
circular shape.
Echoing a shape makes
the design a consistent message. You shouldn’t have it all the same shape though
as that becomes boring. There should be shapes opposite to the main shape to
create contrast and interest. However the main shape should be more prevalent
in the design.
Another thing to thing
about is associating the character with an animal. Humans are boring. They are
the middle ground and lack contrast. We are omnivores which is half. We walk on
two legs and use two arms which is half. Humans have multiple functions which
is unfocused.
An animal’s shape is
more fine tuned to a purpose. A shark looks the part of a killer. A kangaroo
looks the part of a jumper. If you take
a look at other overwatch characters you would be surprised at how you can
associate them all to animals. (though overwatch was not the first to bring up
this concept)
So lets take a look at
your concept. (these were taken out of a paintover. I just couldn’t be bothered
finishing it so parts are a bit janky.)
The main shape at the
moment is rectangular. I like how the shape of her hair contrasts with the rectangular
shapes. However I feel that the change to the pants aren’t the right step to
take as it makes the silhouette less consistent, the original resonated that
rectangular shape. Also now the silhouette proportions have drastic changes throughout
the character where you would usually want to have select areas of detail and
the rest kept simple. in fact I like your original better as the mechanical bits had more areas of rest
Who is she?
The arms tells me she
could be a cop or a soldier. The gear looks well maintained and well
manufactured. There is an emblem on her shoulder. All these signs tell me she
is part of an well organized organization.
The body tells me that
maybe she isnt a part of an organization. She isn’t in uniform so she isnt
strict on protocol and her pants are loose, almost gypsy like so she might be a rogue. Honestly
naratively unclear.
Now can you describe
the materials in your world? And do the materials your character is wearing
match her personality and social standing?
Finally a lot of
pieces don’t seem to work functionally and look more like detail for the sake
of detail. Think about movement and what would constrict her movement.
I do like how you
added holes at the top of her arms, almost as if it allows the air to come out
those arms come in and out.
also keep watch of your perspective, her legs and eyes are slightly off.
@Daew : Thank you very much for the post and the critique, i think it was really helpful. It was planed that she is a police officer with a higher rang and from the attitude and gameplay-wise a high dps melee character, with some low-range weapons like a Shotgun inside her hands, and you're right, it was from the storytelling and from the shapes not really consistently especially after the changes. So I go more back to the original design, with some little changes inside the shape to seperate more the pants from the shoes and i add symbols, which is typical for a police officer and add it on the pants. I think the rest will be better visible if she will have colors instead of only values.^^ Hopefully it's now better and not even worser haha.
@Daewholy moly that was deep, amazing read and super helpful : D
@shivor I personaly like the most recent version most. Her shoes in the first version looked a little weird to me, though the "classic shoe" version didn´t fit the overall style anymore. I think you found a great alternative
looks really awesome! Very smooth shading. I feel like the arms feels like cloth instead of rubber(unless cloth was your intention). But its a minor nitpick.
Replies
I also moved her legs a little to the left, because I felt she looked a little unstable and added a convex curve to the thighs.
@dedyone: Thanks.
Hey there, this is something that I’ve been thinking a lot about this year, so sorry that there is a lot of writing here and some of it might not even apply to your image haha. Im going to be honest and say that I’m using you as a medium to vomit stuff out of my head. Though hopefully you might find some of it useful
Watch out for the story of the concept. I’m still utterly terrible at this and in my current situation I don’t really have the time to develop these particular skills so take everything I say with a grain of salt, but here are some thoughts on it.
Concepting is story telling. Its always important to come back to the why, maybe and how.
“Why does that pirate wear that pouch. Maybe It’s it to hold his rum, his coins or his vegetables. How does the pouch hold his coins. Maybe the pouch is stuck to his belt and made of bubblegum because it can hold coins easier. Also he likes chewing on gum so his teeth are super white.
“Why does that robot have a panel slit? Maybe because the panel can open up to reveal a place to store ammo. Or maybe the robot drew on a panel slit to make himself look cool. How did he draw it on? With crayon. The robot is a child. “
As you can see a each element is tied to the other. Detail for details sake usually leads to a weaker concept. (though I am super guilty of this) You should be thinking about how materials, shape language, gesture, colour, etc support the story of your character,
Materials informs us of the world the characters live in,
What materials are available in the world? I don’t expect to see characters in the movie alien wearing metal plates of armour.
Materials informs us of the era they are in,
it informs us of their social standing in the world, are they rich/poor. Are they a village elder or just a crazy old man.
It informs us of their personality, why they wear certain clothes.
it informs us of the region the character is from. Is it a cold harsh environment or is it a futuristic metropolis.
It informs us of the culture.
It’s important to establish the available materials and how they are manufactured. Is it well tailored victorian era or is it mad max style materials, no one has time to make fancy clothing.
Shape language. I consider shape language to be one of the hardest parts of concepting.
Everything is a shape in your concept, even empty spaces are shapes (negative space). So that must mean your choice of shapes is critical to a successful concept.
Does the shape tell the audience what the character is? What is its role in society, the food chain, or a team comp. I believe as humans, we analyse shapes based on survival instinct. And shapes are naturally formed by its function in the world. So it’s important to think of the function of something and how that makes it the shape that it is. Compare a tiger’s skull to a tortoise skull. One shape is far more aggressive than the other because of the nature of the two animals. One has to kill animals while the other eats lettuce.
Lets look at this tracer concept from overwatch.
Tracer is all about speed and agility and her shapes resonate that sense of acceleration.
What is acceleration? Acceleration is a ramp, a buildup and release. Let your eye follow the shapes on tracer. Pay attention to the acceleration.
When designing your character think about the gesture of the shape. Is it like tracers, with a lot of acceleration or maybe your design is a strong and sturdy. It doesn’t move fast so there is not a lot of acceleration.
It is important to have a main shape and echo it throughout the concept. It wouldn’t make sense to have a character that has one triangular shape, one rectangular shape and one circular shape.
Echoing a shape makes the design a consistent message. You shouldn’t have it all the same shape though as that becomes boring. There should be shapes opposite to the main shape to create contrast and interest. However the main shape should be more prevalent in the design.
Another thing to thing about is associating the character with an animal. Humans are boring. They are the middle ground and lack contrast. We are omnivores which is half. We walk on two legs and use two arms which is half. Humans have multiple functions which is unfocused.
An animal’s shape is more fine tuned to a purpose. A shark looks the part of a killer. A kangaroo looks the part of a jumper. If you take a look at other overwatch characters you would be surprised at how you can associate them all to animals. (though overwatch was not the first to bring up this concept)
So lets take a look at your concept. (these were taken out of a paintover. I just couldn’t be bothered finishing it so parts are a bit janky.)
The main shape at the moment is rectangular. I like how the shape of her hair contrasts with the rectangular shapes. However I feel that the change to the pants aren’t the right step to take as it makes the silhouette less consistent, the original resonated that rectangular shape. Also now the silhouette proportions have drastic changes throughout the character where you would usually want to have select areas of detail and the rest kept simple. in fact I like your original better as the mechanical bits had more areas of rest
Who is she?
The arms tells me she could be a cop or a soldier. The gear looks well maintained and well manufactured. There is an emblem on her shoulder. All these signs tell me she is part of an well organized organization.
The body tells me that maybe she isnt a part of an organization. She isn’t in uniform so she isnt strict on protocol and her pants are loose, almost gypsy like so she might be a rogue. Honestly naratively unclear.
Now can you describe the materials in your world? And do the materials your character is wearing match her personality and social standing?
Finally a lot of pieces don’t seem to work functionally and look more like detail for the sake of detail. Think about movement and what would constrict her movement.
I do like how you added holes at the top of her arms, almost as if it allows the air to come out those arms come in and out.
also keep watch of your perspective, her legs and eyes are slightly off.
Man I wrote a lot.
@KeshanLam : Thanks. :>
@Daew : Thank you very much for the post and the critique, i think it was really helpful. It was planed that she is a police officer with a higher rang and from the attitude and gameplay-wise a high dps melee character, with some low-range weapons like a Shotgun inside her hands, and you're right, it was from the storytelling and from the shapes not really consistently especially after the changes. So I go more back to the original design, with some little changes inside the shape to seperate more the pants from the shoes and i add symbols, which is typical for a police officer and add it on the pants. I think the rest will be better visible if she will have colors instead of only values.^^ Hopefully it's now better and not even worser haha.
@shivor I personaly like the most recent version most. Her shoes in the first version looked a little weird to me, though the "classic shoe" version didn´t fit the overall style anymore. I think you found a great alternative
Update: