FMP - Character Design: General Richter

I did the first design for this character a while ago, but I redesigned him today after not being happy with the original concept.
I wanted General Richter to be a towering statue of a man who's both physically imposing and also tough looking, which I think the first design didn't portray very well.
Here's both the designs, the old one first and the new one second.

The first concept I did; I'm not entirely happy with his look and think it was an 'on the spot' thing as I needed a sixth villain quickly for my poster draft.
He looked a bit goofy and small to be the character I envisioned, so this design is a piece of developmental work.

General Richter MK II; This design was done today and I took my time with it.
Taking inspiration from big villains like Bane from Batman and military types from various media, I created a new look for the General, making him tall and imposing, but also giving him some anatomy unlike his rather ugly first design.
I also changed his attire, giving him a mercenary vest over his old ISR jacket, changing his 'earthquake fists' into normal hands with one arm robotic.

I really like this new design, it's quite imposing and militant, whilst also looking more intimidating than before.

FMP - Experimentation: Logo Design

I created a logo to use with this project, settling on the name OMICRON: VILLAINS .INC for the final project name.
I also thought after the project is finished, I could extend this project outside of college by creating a comic or even doing another story called OMICRON: BAND OF HEROES, which would be a prequel.
This is the logo I settled on; I wanted a logo that looked like a 70's-80's Sci-Fi themed show/film, so having a big gold plated logo helped to convey that.

I also did a variation for a prequel story that'd be done outside of the FMP.

FMP - Experimentation: Action Figure Packaging Mock-up.

I attempted to make an action figures packaging to tie in with the research I did into ReSaurus.
For the inspiration, I looked at the boxed action figures I owned and also looked at a few via the internet.
While the outcome is a tad plain and is very much a W.I.P, I could see it being sold on shelfs.
If I have the chance, I will do the back of the packaging too.

FMP - Research: Kenneth Lilly's ReSaurus Action Figure Development

Research: Kenneth Lilly. (Action Figure designer for ReSaurus.)

ReSaurus was a prominent action figure company from the early 90's till early 2000's, creating action figures for Sonic the Hedgehog, Resident Evil, Quake, Gex (Which unfortunately were never released.) and the one I'm mainly focusing on in this post, Crash Bandicoot.

One of Kenneth's portfolio pages, showcasing the figures he helped design and also some of the model sheets he did.
I own several of these figures, and they all have superb sculpting, paint application and look strikingly similar to the original drawings.

Kenneth Lilly worked as a figure designer during the heyday of ReSaurus, creating the initial designs for Crash Bandicoot and Sonic the Hedgehog figures.
He also helped create a line of figures for Quake and Gex. (Which never got released.)

Another portfolio page for Crash Bandicoot.

The thing I like about the design work for these figures is the model sheets could be also used for a video game, animation and comic design.
Infact, one of the action figure sheets, Dr N.Gin, was used for the next game in the series.

Dr. N.Gin's figure sheet, the arrows signify where the figures articulation is.

The in-game model that was made using the action figures design.
Yeah...it kinda looks like shit, like the rest of the characters in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex,
but it still shows that the action figure designs could be used for multiple things.

I really like the look of these model sheets, they're really well made and easily portray how the figures would work. Plus, they could be used for anything, so added bonus.
I'd like to try doing something like this, which I could do by adding hinges and articulation points to my existing model sheets.

Here's a few more pieces from Kenneth Lilly.

Dr N.Brio's figure sheet. The figure was never made, but the design survived.

Koala Kong. The figure was never made, but the design survived.

Dingodile. This figure was made available in the second wave of figures.
Again, I like the articulation points and detail.

Accessories. Every action figure needs accessories.

Amy Rose from the Sonic the Hedgehog Line of figures.

Dr Eggman from the Sonic the Hedgehog figures.

Kenneth's portfolio page for his work on the Sonic the Hedgehog figures.
These figures were made for the release of Sonic Adventure, and even though they have good build quality, most of them kinda looked awful, atleast in my opinion.

Kenneth's portfolio page for a line of Gex figures. (Gex was a game series on the PS1 and N64.)
These figures were prototyped but never released, which is a shame since the figures look really well made, but now we'll never know.  Atleast some of the development work for them still exists.

FMP - Reflective Pratice (Kinda): Open-ended Project? Yep.

One thing I've aimed for with this project is keeping it very open ended.
Is this project a video game? Maybe.
Is this project a comic? Could be.
Is this Project a TV show/Movie? Why not?
Is this project a set of action figures? The skys the limit.

The pieces I've done so far, mainly the character model sheets and the designs could be interpretted in multiple ways.
Video games, animation, comics and action figures all use character sheets, and because of this, the art I'm doing could be used in many different ways.

I'm trying to fill all four types of output, which so far, I've done an animation for the TV Show/Movie outcome, and for the video game outcome, I could revamp the poster I'm making into a game cover.
For the comic outcome, I could do a front cover for a first issue, and for the action figure outcome, I could design a backing card (The cardboard part of an action figures packaging, which usually has a lot of information on it.) for the figures, and do both the front and back.

FMP - Research: Milton Knight's Robotnik

Research: Milton Knight's Dr. Robotnik from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
(NOTE: I don't know what happened to the text on this post, sorry.)

Dr. Robotnik is the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and in recent years, he's been called
Dr. Eggman, but back in 1993, DIC was commissioned for a US Sonic the Hedgehog TV show.

The design of Dr. Robotnik in the games during the early 90's.
Agruably, it's a very simple design, round in look and with very little cartoon to him.

What we got was a very western cartoon called Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and whilst most of the designs mimicked the games or just said 'get f*$&"ked' to the source material, one of the designs that sticks out is Dr. Robotnik, who had a large makeover and was made into a very emotive, interesting character.

The model sheet for Dr. Robotnik, I really like Milton Knight's comments on how to create the character.

 

The second sheet, focusing on his rotund body.
Once again, I get a chuckle out of Knight's comments and guides to drawing the character.

The character was meant to be a thing of ridicule in the show, an overly obese dictator who constantly loses to Sonic the Hedgehog, and in the show, his body is always stretched to breaking point with oversized features, expressions, poses etc.

The character was rarely restricted to the round shape of his default pose, his body could be stretched into interesting poses and looks, but usually bounced straight back to fat afterwards.

Although an object of ridicule, Robotnik still acts and speaks like a serious villain at times, often intimidating his minions and victims, but usually looking like a fool after long.
Dr. Doomcough is similar to this in my project, as he's also a ridiculed figure for his height, but still strikes fear into certain people.

Red Baron Robotnik, just something to leave you with.
Plus I like the look of him here, kinda like Doomcough.

FMP - Research: Doug TenNapel

Research - Doug TenNapel (Artist: Comics, video games and TV/Movies.)

Doug TenNapel is a comic, video game and TV/Movie artist and one of my idols and inspirations.
He created Earthworm Jim, The Neverhood, and more recently Armikrog.He is one of my idols for the way he see's his work. His catchphrase and reason for his career is "I like to Draw.", and personally, I agree that could be the only thing that can explain someones art.
He always carries a sketchbook around with him that he fills with ideas, and he's filled hundreds of sketchbooks over the years.  Whilst not every idea is used, some of his most famous creations, such as Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood started as small sketches in his books, and eventually he would develop further ideas for these creations in these sketchbooks.

One of Dougs most famous creations, Earthworm Jim.
He started out as a simple doodle in one of Doug's sketchbooks, and would go on to be one of the most iconic gaming, TV show and action figure characters of the 1990s.
(This image isn't his first sketch, it's one of his more recent images, created with sumi ink.)

His favored medium is either black sumi ink, which he uses in almost every comic and piece he creates, or clay, as he used in The Neverhood and more recently, Armikrog.
He's said to like using sumi ink as it's both controlled and crisp, but can also be really erratic, but not to the point of being bad. (He once used digital as a way of inking his comics, but said he 'felt like he was cheating on a lover', and quickly returned to sumi ink.)
When inking a comic, if the brush had excess ink on it, he'd use it to fill in the frame of the comic, making thick, black lines, and when the ink had ran thin, he'd return to the finer parts of the image.

The Neverhood, arguably Doug TenNapel's second most popular series.
The characters and world were made entirely of clay.

FMP - Character Design: Model Sheets #2 (Testing a professional layout.)

Joshua Macy's (Formally Justin Branden) Model Sheet.
Starting with him, I've gone for a more 'professional' look to the sheet layout, similar to how Model Sheets look like in a commercial project.
Adding a sheet number, visual aids and animator notes really helps.

Susan Doomcough's Model Sheet.
Same as above, with trying sheet numbers, visual aids and animator notes.

FMP - Final Piece: Villains .INC Poster WIP #1

NOTE: I currently don't have internet at home due to switching from Sky to PlusNet and something going wrong in the process.
We might not get it fixed until the end of next week, so blog posts will be very infrequent until then.

I'm creating a poster as one of my final pieces for this project, and I'm planning to get it printed in a commercial poster size. (A0)

This is the poster so far, if I can I'll update with the progress as I go on.

FMP - Research: Character Sheets #1

This is Research.
I didn't create any of these pieces.

I'll be doing character sheets for one of my final pieces, so I looked into various character sheets from across the digitized world.

Leo A-Frame, created by LuigiL of deviantART.
http://luigil.deviantart.com/art/Leo-A-Frame-Model-Sheet-327488603

I like the look of his characters and also the colours he uses.

'Original Character', created by Asira-Chibara.
http://arisa-chibara.deviantart.com/art/Original-character-model-sheet-ROUGH-Naga-371542776

Mindf**K byKen Capelli.
(Found on FlickR)

Scar's head from The Lion King.
Drawn by Disneys Animation Department.

I like the combination of sepia, blue, black and red colours on how they drew his head, it brings out the look of the character.



Wasp Villain by AnnCocoPuff by deviantART.
http://anncocopuff.deviantart.com/art/Wasp-Villainby-AnnCocopuff-Character-Model-Sheet-351178286

Character by Ocarian of Polycount.com



Gadget Hackwrench from Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers.
Drawn by Disney.



Hot Rod from Transformers: The Movie (1984)
Drawn by Toei Animation to help with animating the character.

I like how refined it looks, which isn't a surprise from a Japanese animation company.

Earthworm Jims structure sheet by Doug TenNapel.

I always loved Doug's characters, and the structure and composition of this sheet really gives me an inside look on one of my favourite characters of his.

Bluto from Popeye.
Artist - Whoever drew Popeye.



Jasper and Horace from 101 Dalmations.

I really like how the characters look, and they're both very expressive.

The Lad From Space Model Sheet by Kevinbolk of deviantART.
http://kevinbolk.deviantart.com/art/The-Lad-From-Space-Model-Sheet-80915886

FMP - Character Design: Doomcough Model Sheet MKII

As you might recall with a previous post, I attempted a model sheet of Doomcough as a test to see if I could do a decent looking sheet.

The first model sheet, I dubbed it MKI.

I'm not entirely happy with the first sheet, Doomcoughs eyebrows were too big, he looked to slouched and the proportions weren't very good.
Also I think his cape is important too, which I left out.

Without further ado:

Dr. Doomcough Concept MKII

I followed my designs more closely whilst drawing this version, making sure to get his proportions more accurate and also adding the cape which makes him look bigger and more imposing.
I also designed an insignia for the back of his cape too which could also be used on his machines and stuff.


I'm hoping to have a model sheet for for all the characters, six villains and two heroes by the end of the project, so I should get a move on.

FMP - Experimentation: Flash Animation #1

NOTE: I don't know what us up with the random black squares around the edges of the animation at times, it's a bug I'm trying to fix on exports.

This is a test of doing an animatic in Flash.
In it, Doomcough calls for Susan over the intercom and the door opens, and when I continue the animation, Suzy comes out hugging a plushie of Justin covered in lipstick marks, to which Doomcough reacts negatively and tears it's head off, causing Suzy to cry.
Though when Doomcough says to her that soon she can have the real Justin, she instantly becomes happy and stands at Doomcoughs side.

I will continue this as I found it really fun, this three seconds took my several hours, but I think its good to give a sense of what the scene would look like.

FMP - Vlog #1 (Sorry for the length.)

FMP - Research - Duck Dodgers! In the 24 and 1/2 CENTUARY!

Since Looney Tunes is one of my main inspirations, Duck Dodgers is even more ideal as it's Sci-Fi themed and also stars Marvin the Martian, one of the inspirational characters for Doomcough.
I'm looking at this show because I like how Looney Tunes characters move and act with their fluid animation
.
Also, this show is just downright hilarious.

FMP - Reflective Practice #1

I should have been doing this from the start, but I got a bit engrossed with work.

Anyway, here's my first reflective practice. 

What I think has gone well so far?

I like my idea so far, it's very open and the stuff I've done already is really engaging and fun, whilst also challenging me with different stuff. 

I'm also thinking the idea has longevity, and could be carried on after the project is finished. 

What I think hasn't gone well so far?

So far, not much has gone wrong; I've been enjoying what I've been doing with little to no hassle.

What's my favourite piece so far?Although it's quite refined, this image is still one of my favourite images I've done.
Its pretty much exactly the mental image I have of the character on paper.

Dr. Aldus Doomcough; The short, malicious and somewhat silly doctor of evil!

What techniques have I used so far?
I have used a variety of techniques so far, starting with Unipen drawings in my sketchbook.
I have used Faber-Castell Pencils to colour some of my concepts and with some others I've coloured them using Adobe Photoshop.
 

What I plan to do next?

I'm still jotting ideas on my sketchbook and I'm starting to develop experimental things like a comic page and character sheets. 

I'll soon be picking which I want to pursue for a final piece. 

FMP - Experimental Piece: Comic Page #1

One of the things I'm exploring for a final piece is a comic.
Using Batman and Archie Sonic as my inspiration, I quickly drew up a page.
I didn't finish the page, but since it's experimental, I can leave it as it is.

The inked version; The 'line shading' was a style used commonly in Batman and also used for the cover art on Archie Sonic.
I'm fond of how it looks, though if I do more with comics, I think I'd tone down the line shading, as it's time consuming and not really needed.

A coloured version I did in like five minutes; It was a way of seeing how the colours could look.
Its slapdash, but it's an experimental piece.

FMP - Character Design - Character Model Sheet Test

Fun Fact: This is my 100th blog post.
Go me.

"Woohoo."

One of the things I'm thinking of doing is creating a model sheet for each character.

A model sheet is a page of a character, showing him/her in a front, side and back view.
You can also do a quarter view, but that's a bit too difficult for me.

The purpose of the sheet can be used as reference for drawing the character, used as guidelines to create a 3D model, or just used for proportion or colour reference.

A quick test model sheet I did of Dr. Doomcough.
One of the main challenges with model sheets is getting the proportions of the character perfect on each view, and guidlines really help. (None are left on this picture.)
Mesuring a character by 'heads' can help too; To measure with heads, see how big the characters head is, and then see how many heads high the character is from top to bottom. (Doomcough here is 2 & 1/2 heads tall.)

FMP - Character Design - Female Doctor Character

I doodled this character in my sketchbook whilst watching a CGI trailer for Rayman Legends, the character in that called Barbara (Far left character on the image at the top of my page.) gave me the inspiration to doodle this character.
She'd be the female counterpart to Doomcough, being a short, well-dressed scientist with a knack for shooting.

I redrew the design in my main A5 sketchbook, drawing her with various expressions
I don't know what she'd be yet, but so far, I'm saying she's Dr. Doomcough's protegee/villainess in training, and is overly emotional, borderline crazy and a good shot with a gun.
Also, I'm thinking she'd have a crush on Justin Branden (The hero character), but since the hero has a girlfriend, it leads to a bunch of clashes between her and the heroine.