Character for Wind Waker

For our final assignment in Professional Applications, we got to work with art director Michael Stribling on a character design related project. We had to create a character(s) or class or creature for an existing videogame, using established design language to create something unique yet cohesive.

I chose the 2003 game The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, memorable for its cel-shaded style, bright colors, and expressive characters. My character is a scavenger and a fighter, collecting bits of armor from fallen foes. She is supposed to be slightly older than Link, also on a journey to rescue the kidnapped girls imprisoned in the Forsaken Fortress. I wanted her to be cute, but slightly menacing, so I gave her an oversized helmet and spear.

end result

character in screenshot

original sketch

first pass

second pass

Portfolio for class

Today I last-minute printed my portfolio stuff for Jaime's class. I took longer than anticipated to leave the house thanks to being distracted by Mad Men.

There was a tiny complication at the print shop due to language barriers but things worked out. I accidentally printed the postcard mailer too big because I forgot to double check the template I made, but it looks alright anyways. The prints aren't the best quality and my colors shifted some but altogether, the work looks pretty good.

I feel a bit narcissistic with having my face all over my stuff and it's strange to present my work under such a coherent brand. The complete package consists of the printed portfolio in this black velcro box, an oversized postcard mailer, an envelope containing mini prints, stickers and a business card, and a leave behind novelty package containing 3 buttons and some more stickers. Despite the print quality, I'm happy overall.

BASIL

Last semester in Game Illustration, I created a character, Basil the red panda. Basil ended up as the star of the final project, a side scrolling flash game built in an incredibly frustrating and broken engine. Despite the struggles, I had alot of fun with it, and the end result wasn't too bad, all things considered. 

mockup screenshot with partial UI and character sketch in environment

full color character concept 

finished sprite sheet of Basil

 

attempt at a finished illustration, in progress

input and editing from +Seth Rutledge. Thanks, Seth!

decided on a landscape composition in the end

Hey look, more steampunk

In my Game Illustration class, we're doing a class-wide reskinning of the card game Dominion with a post-apocalyptic steampunk spin. The card I chose/was assigned to was The Mafia/Mob (A group of citizens trying to exert influence through violence). I thought they'd be pretty tough with a big robot buddy, so I gave them one. Hopefully they come off as aggressive and intimidating as intended. This is one of the rare times where I have more than one figure in a composition so I should probably do more like this. Pretty happy with how it turned out. This is the 'tight sketch', final piece due on Thursday. 

Lots of things

Been very busy! I got into the illustration major at school which ended up being good and bad. Good because my degree will be worth a bit more to me and I get a better chance of getting into the classes I want, but bad because it delays my graduation. Oh well. 

I also got into the game design class I wanted. I thought we would be working in the genre of game art, but we're actually making games. Project 1 is a board game which I'll write more about later. Project 2 is a  card game, and the final project is a Flash sidescroller. I'm pretty excited about all this, though some of my classmates are disappointed in the class. I'm happy because I actually have something to focus on. I want to work on my board game beyond the bounds of the class and hopefully use it for my grad project. 

I started working on the characters yesterday. I hammered out some silhouettes and now rendering them out.

The Snob

The Collector 

Silhouettes - not labeled - The Gamer

D10 practice painting

School's back

Still trying to figure out my schedule.

Edit: I ended up with class on Thursday and Friday, both mornings, but Thursday is a 6 hour class.
I ended up getting into the Game Illustration class which is pretty cool because it actually has me focusing on things, and inspired me towards a topic I'm interested in. Class direction itself is a bit meh because the students are on different levels of understanding.

I also have Editorial Illustration with visiting artist Calef Brown. The critiques in this class are actually pretty helpful, and the one-on-one feedback is good. The overall skill level in the class is much higher than other illustration and general classes I've taken at Emily Carr. My friend Sinan is also in the class, so it's good to know someone there.

Unfortunately, class time isn't used effectively in either class. In Game Illustration, we've spent a bunch of class time playtesting eachother's games or playing published games to get a feel for their mechanics. This really shouldn't be done during class time, and I wish we were actually learning things, like maybe a lecture on game theory or something, or discussion of the gaming industry. Editorial has had a bunch of wasted time as well. Day one, class let out after about an hour. The past two classes weren't very productive either, as we waited for the teacher to come give individual feedback. There wasn't clear direction on what to work while we waited. The semester seems to generally be a letdown. I've already accepted that things are pretty crappy. The money has already been paid, and complaints to administration tend to result in responses like "if you don't like it, you can leave."