Shape and form Language: Artist Looking to understand

ChrisTheArtist

Hello fellow artists and developers,

I am looking to understand shape and form language to help better my art. i am a character artist stilling in art still earning my B.F.A in game art and design and my professor says I have a problem with shape and form language. I studied the topic but I don't quite understand it. if there is anyone of this forum that can help me with this then by all means please do so!

Alex_J

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZknWKTpc90

here is a great video and lots more like it on that channel ^

Larry

Not wanting to brag or something, but I use this all the time when I model complex props.
Here is one example I have, about modeling with shapes. 
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QzkZkZ the tail curve of the scorpion is 1/3 of the rest of the scorpion. The growing splines aroung the box take 1/3 of the box's shape as a total. Speaking roughly of course.

As a general rule I would say try to line stuff with circles, lines, curves or the golden ratio.Also try to form shapes with the negative space.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/qARdKL
 here I used negative space from the bone splines to form another "horn like" shape, that adds to the concept. Also the overal shape is roughly a reverse triangle, which shows instability.

Speaking of which, you can read a bit about shape psychology, it helps bring your piece together more nicely.

Domslice

This a fascinating subject! Glad you're asking as it helps me to think it through again myself, y'know shift gears. 

A few initial thoughts, along with hasty draw-overs. Here is the absolute basics, with some familiar examples.

Let's start with some Pokemon.



These shapes are almost "primordial", think of any civilization making artefacts or works of culture and you'll find these. They're practical and familiar. You can associate each with an emotional value - triangles are strong, circles are comforting, squares are stable, etc.

Look at this beloved Mickey, loved by the young and old alike. Now imagine him having been designed with pointy ears, or a more stout figure!


As a last thought, and going from 0 to 100 real-quick. Look at how shapes are applicable in composition. This Caravaggio has raking light, forming lines that draw the gaze back across the piece - it's a triangle! We're lead by the eyes of the tax collectors towards Christ and back again. The whole painting is divided in sections, like a bars in a musical arrangement, literally bars or elongated squares. What about circles? Oh we've got those. Sticking with the music analogy look at the heads as notes on the scale, flowing along like punctuation.



@ChrisTheArtist we'd love to see some of your work too, so we can hash-out what your prof is getting at with practical help, too.

ChrisTheArtist

Thank You so Much 
Ok Sorry it took me so look but I've been grinding out so work. So below are a characters I did for class. The zbrush WIP is what I'm working on now. He's a stylized wizard game ready model I'm working on for a couple of projects.

Alex_J

You shoulld post in the 3d showcase section and ask for specific advice.

I think it helps to have a specific learning goal you want to achieve from each model. So for the female maybe you want to say, "I want to achieve believable proportions and have her look attractive."  And for the robot, " I want to focus on shape language using only simple primitives to make a character that is fun and cute."

ChrisTheArtist

OK That's understandable

Eric Chadwick

For a second there, I thought this was from #CheapAlert 

These might help you:

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Concept_Fundamentals#Composition

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Art_Bible