Dave Blewett, Sumo Digital

We had a talk from the Art Manager at Sumo Digital, a majorly established independent game studio based in Sheffield. The talk felt very tailored for someone in my position, as Blewett had worked most roles in the game artist field. As he explained, 'Artist' in the game industry used to be an umbrella term for something with the full package (UI, Environmental Art, Modelling...).

The roles in the industry today are:

Concept Artist.
Environmental Artist (3D)
Character Artist (3D)
Animators
Motion Gaphics
User Interface Artist
Vehicle Artist
VFX
Technical Artist (rigging, hypershade)
Lead Artist (lots of planning on Microsoft Excel)
Art Manager (meetings and more Excel)
Art Director (monitors quality of art)

Blewett asked us some questions relating to how we see ourselves as practitioners:

How adaptable are you?
Can we pick up new skills quickly and help fill a hole where needed?

How realistic are you?
When time and budget run out will you be prepared to modify your approach?

Do you have the right team spirit?
When clutch time comes, will you be prepared to stay late and grind it out?

Are you a professional?
Can you be trusted to talk to the publishing staff.

Reflecting on these questions, firstly I feel I am quite adaptable, as I had to change my style to adapt to our final major project. I do feel quite able to let go of preciousness with my work, a point raised by Bewlett. When working in groups I am always open to feedback, making tweaks and even sometimes discarding pieces that don't quite work out. Also I feel that I have a team mentality. I like to think I'm quite a tactful and considerate person, and would feel confident with talking to publishing staff. I think the point Bewlett was making here, was that sometimes when publishes arise to criticise or discard work, some artists can reply with attitude. I am quite an easy going person and receive criticism well.

It was interesting to hear Dave Bewlett talk about the characteristics and attitudes of good artist in the game industry. I think the key message was that when developing games as an independent company, teamwork and flexibility is key. I will carry this mentality in to 'Zeppelin for Hire.'

Writing my CV

I have now completed the main body of my CV, but I have yet to write a concluding paragraph. I feel that this will likely be tailored for the jobs I apply to (I hope will consider me for the position of...) Hopefully, if Zeppelin 4 Hire is successful, I won't have to worry about sending CVs, but it is good to have one written incase I decide to apply for a concept art job. As I have already specified, I don't yet feel I have the skills for employment i the established games industry, but hopefully the indie game collaboration will be a nice springboard to develop my creative skills further.

Nostalzilla

Firstly pardon the terrible pun. As I saw the new Godzilla movie the other day, I thought I would share a review, focusing also on some of the design choices tying in with my area of practice.

Firstly, Gozilla has returned to the bottom heavy upright stature we were used to prior to the poorly received 1998 envisioning of the classic monster:

I think the key aspect as to why this approach was taken, is that firstly, we associate this more upright human-like Godzilla as a defender of the city. It moves away from the more arched dinosaure-like look of the Godzilla we saw in 1998. The enemy monsters (M.U.T.O) were more insect-like with dead expressionless faces:

Unfortunately there are no movie stills or concept drawings of the M.U.T.O on the net, but as you can see, the enemy creature lacks recognisability with its long limbs and crazy anatomy. Even the legs are horse-like, making the monster entirely un-relatable. Godzilla has more human features like arms and legs and expression filled eyes. The stubby, cartoon-like anatomy of 'Zilla with the tree trunk legs, makes him strangely cute as well as terrifying. He almost appears like a giant mean teddybear. I think the new design gives off similar effects to Peter Jackson's 'King Kong.' The giant ape is at times fierce and shiver-inducing, and then at moments adorable generating massive amounts of sympathy. 

I also liked the choice to set the first part of the movie in Japan, bringing back the oriental origins of the monster. Also, I believe the film does well in presenting 'Zilla as a force of nature. When he arrives in Hawaii, the sea retracts in preparation for a tsunami. The monster arrives within the tidal wave raging through the city of Waikiki. When the monsters fight in San Francisco, we mainly see glimpses of the action from the perspective of protagonists on the ground. I was expecting 'Pacific Rim,' but to my pleasure the action was more subtle, and I was reminded more of 'Cloverfield.' the way we only see parts of these monolithic monsters do battle, made it feel like there was a giant storm raging through the city, rather than a giant dino-boxing match with destructible skyscraper looking props. There was a particular scene where a military unit were parachuting into the scene, and we were treated to a helmet view from one of the soldiers as he descended past the colossal Godzilla. I feel these are points on framing and shot set-up.

In the 1998 envisioning, Godzilla was often seen arched over in full shot.

In the most recent adaptation, Godzilla stands taller, often mostly out of frame to emphasise his monolithic stature.

Overall, I preferred the way that Godzilla was presented in this 2014 instalment. He reflects much more of the classic Godzilla build, and arrives to restore natural balance after the M.U.T,O arrive, rather than needlessly terrorise mankind.

Super Speedpaint Funtimes

There was some recent controversy towards the 'Daily Spitpaint' group on Facebook. The admins were supposedly enforcing rules hard, banning people instantly who claimed to have gone a little over the time limit. There was also a post saying that photo stamp-like brushes (Tree stamps for example) were now also banned. For this reason, concept artist 'Espen Olsen Sætervik' created a more relaxed group.

'Super Speedpaint Funtimes' allows a 50 min time limit, allowing phototextures and any brushes. I don't think that this new group has the intention of sabotaging Spitpaint (which I am not adverse to still using despite its strict rules), but I think Espen has created something that more tailors concept artists, where we can work in our comfort zone, applying phototextures and a fast workflow as we please. I like this new groups approach. It has yet to loose touch with the idea that art is about having fun and being creative. As long is it doesn't plagiarise, we just be free to use any media to express ourselves.

I submitted this piece for the topic '500 years in the future:'

I chose to begin with this topic as it fell with out my distopian future Sci-fi comfort zone. I didn't use photo textures or reference in fact for this piece, as I was acting on impulse and being expressive. I will likely try more topics, but treating them like mini-briefs. I will gather reference and try and create an efficient workflow using phototexures and appropriate texture brushes.

Saturday Night Vengeance

Yesterday we began discussion on our first project. The working title (one that we are happy with and will most likey stick) is 'Saturday Night Vengeance.' We want to go for a very retro 80s tougue-in-cheek feel. There are few comical themes already emerging:

1. Over-the-top Violence:



One good example of this is indie game 'Broforce' which pokes fun at macho American 80s and 90s movie characters and satirises American patriotism. The player charges into a non-specified Vietnamese looking environment, blows up half the scenery, mercilessly kills the enemies in a firework display of gore, raises American flags, and on leaving hanging from the rope ladder of a helicopter, a banner reads 'Area Liberated.'



The game makes fun of America's superiority complex, by making fun of the oriental enemies 'shoddy third world construction.' I really like this flamboyant satire approach.

2. Obsolete Technology Predictions:

We're thinking old chunky computer monitors, Big analogue buttons and questionable fashion faux pas.

Classic revenge narrative:

Perhaps with a ridiculous motive. Something highly nonchalant and unspectacular, as oppose to the dramatic wedding massacre plot from 'Kill Bill.'

We have also been discussing presenting ourselves as a collaboration between artists, rather than a small indie games companies, for the purpose of networking. This way we can still present ourselves as individual practitioners before making the decision to tie ourselves down to a company as it were.

Zeppelin 4 Hire

Tim, Adam and I have begun some preparation for a small indie game company (Rhys is still unsure as to whether he will be able to contribute the time after the course has finished). Tim is eager to get things moving quickly, so has requesting a logo design so that he can build a website.

We had the idea of a man riding a small zeppelin in a rodeo fashion, much like the famous scene from 'Dr. Strangelove:'

When I present a visual idea, I usually like to present two or three similar ideas. The approach here was to try different angles and expressive poses. It's surprisingly challenging to get a nice cartoony exaggerated feel. On further discussion, we thought it would be funny to have a 'Fat Princess' style character riding the zeppelin. 

The design actually looks more like an old lady but still gives a similar comic effect. I have thus far worked with with rough sketches, but am planning on taking the lineart into Illustrator and creating a clean vector for the web. I will probably rework this line drawing, making the character look more like a young overweight princess, and it has been requested by Tim that I lengthen the zeppelin to make it more distinguishable.

We have began some early discussion on our first potential project, but Adam raised the interesting point of scale and scope for our first undertaking. We are going to discuss this tomorrow in the studio.

Offering Work

I saw an add from 'Allusondrugs' seeing if any aspiring artists would be interested in contributing some poster art. I'm aware that free work is a sometimes controversial subject in the freelance business, but as I am a genuine fan of Allusondrugs' music I thought it could be a nice opportunity to get my work out there and produce some portfolio material:

I kept my opening message quite informal and chatty, as I felt this appropriate dealing with the band director and not a manager figure. I was complimentary towards their work, showing that I enjoy their material and will show enthusiasm towards any requests. 

It's been a few months since I got the reply now, so I am not sure if I will hear back from the band. On reflection however, the band now are really doing rather well, with a video aired on 'Kerrang' and an article in 'Q Magazine' to name just a couple. If the band had have taken up my offer, I could have ultimately benefitted through fans of the band seeing my work. It goes to show that there are plenty of opportunities to broadcast artwork, and I will continue to offer my services to projects I am genuinely enthused by.

Jobs in the Game Industry

A generic corporate powerpoint presentation style photograph of a frustrated businessman.

I have recently been looking at jobs in the industry within my region. There are quite a few developers in the Leeds area interestingly. Even in my hometown of Castleford there is the company 'Alternative Software.'

One thing I have found however with smaller developers, is that there seems to be big market in sports games. Also it is clear that other companies like 'Four Door Lemon' are established for offering coding services, an area obviously outside my depths within the gaming industry.

There are also excited developers 'Rockstar North,' 'Just Add Water,' and the small indie company 'Hypersloth' all based in West Yorkshire.

Reflecting realistically with where I am in terms of my abilities and possible jobs in the industry, I feel I am still clearly at a post graduate level, and perhaps still need more time to develop as an artist. Many of the successful concept artists who are vocal on Facebook like Titus Lunter and Mark Molnar work freelance under contracts from larger games companies like Ubisoft and LucasArts. They are also active within the external art community, for example, Molnar gives tutorials in ImagineFX magazine.

It's quite overwhelming really, to look at these art communities online and realise the sheer vastness of it all. There arse so many talented hopeful artists, and such a high benchmark for quality and professionalism within the dominating game industry.

Without sounding cynical, I frankly feel that my journey in the arts still has a long way to go. Perhaps it is self doubt that is holding me back, but I still feel intimidated at the prospect of approaching a games company and requesting a job as a concept artist.

There is always the sometimes controversial approach of trying to find an internship. Alteratively there is freelance work. This would have both its advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, I would likely need a supporting job as my client base would take a while to build. Secondly, this supporting job would likely take priority and it would be easy to get lazy with my development as an artist.

This looming self doubt is likely something worth discussing with tutors. It would be a shame for three years hard work to go unrewarded through slipping into a general unrelated job, as I do equally feel I have taken a lot of skills from my three years of study: even simply a broader understanding of the arts from a social and political standpoint with the Concept of Practice modules.

I want to make it clear at this stage when I refer to myself as not being ready, I am not criticising the structure of the course or support from tutors. Admittedly, the notion of networking and putting myself out there as a practitioner has intimidated me from day one. I resorted to the often used excuse that I was focusing on the module at hand. Although I feel that this last year I have managed to push my artwork further and develop technically, I am still something of an unknown entity to any potential employers, and again, feel that my technically abilities still fall short of the industry benchmark.

I do have an indie game venture lined up, which I will discuss further in a later post.

Frank Frazetta

I've been trying to draw influence from a wider range of artists as oppose to exclusively reflecting on modern digital artists. I like the painting style of Frank Frazetta, as they have a very tradition oil painted look, yet with often exciting over the top subject matter. One criticism I have however, which seems ever-present in modern entertainment design also, is some of the over-sexualised exploitative subject matter:

The women presented in many of his paintings often seem enslaved by the powerful male figures, often nude in a humiliating objectified manner. I imaging his work would appeal more to a male audience, as they seem aspirational and empowering toward the male gender, yet degrading toward female audiences. 

This got me thinking about me as an aspiring practitioner in the digital arts. Gaming is an enormous industry, so it is understandable that it relies heavily on exploitation and aspiration marketing. This is something I am a little bit disillusioned by: the objectification and exploitation of women in the media. Hopefully the industry will learn from 'The Last of Us' and move away from the delinquent flaunting of the female form.

Brushing up on Colour Theory

A friend linked me to this helpful video:



Firstly, there are obviously these helpful colour bridges etc. but a key thing the video got me thinking about which is somehow overlooked in my work is controlling the saturation to manipulate the eyes:

This piece from my extended practice module is somewhat unsuccessful, as the colours are all bright and blown out, compromising depth. The bright cartoony colours are intentional, but it's hard to distinguish the figure in the bottom right corner from the cityscape.

This persona piece I feel is successful as generally cool low saturated colours are used, but in areas of importance like the explorer figures and the wrecked ship there are warm saturated reds and oranges. The saturated characters guide the eyes towards the red ship.

It is important to understand the importance of colour. I have become quite aware of the importance of value control, but colour theory has often been overlooked.

Inspiration.

I stumbled across a motivational video documenting the journey of a visual artist:



There seems to be a lot of videos like this around the internet, and they're very helpful and uplifting for aspiring artists like myself. The key message is that despite a common misconception, anyone can develop into a great artist with time and effort. Art isn't exclusive to those who are ultra talented, and at some point every professional artist has experienced self doubt and struggle.

The 'Level Up!' community on facebook is also a great place for motivational posts. Lots of artists post side-by-side images of there work from a few years ago next to a recent piece showcasing their development. The key thing I can take from this, is that if I am willing to put in the effort, I should undoubtedly develop as an artist.

Sparth on Spitpaint

Nicolas Bouvier, nickname 'Sparth,' is a French concept artist/ artistic director who has worked on franchises such as 'Asassin's Creed' and 'Halo.' I am a fan of his work, particularly his science fiction environments. There are lots of artists that rely heavily on phototextures to communicate realism and detail. When I see Sparth's work I think 'broad strokes.' Instead of intricate detail, he depicts vast environments using strong bold forms:

There's definitely something stylistically unique with Sparth's work. There is a level of looseness and simplicity, yet overall his environment seem vast and dense. His colours are warm and vibrant, contrary to much of the bleak washed out environments we see for franchises like 'Call of Duty.' I find Sparth's approach uplifting and visually pleasing. I was very excited to find that Sparth also posts in the 'Spitpaint' group:

It's great to see such talented and established artists posting in this open online community.

Random Studies

One of the biggest flaws we see in digital art painted by beginners (like myself), is a lack of understanding of what is being painting, and a constant application of general unconsidered brushstrokes. Professional artists spent time producing studies so that various materials and surfaces in their work look dynamic and believable:

It was interesting to consider how light both passes through and at the same time reflects on this glass surface. We see strong reflections to the left, with subtle light bounce, and faint speculars projected to the right of the glass. There are also areas of strong contrasting light and dark, hinting reflections from other surfaces around the glass tumbler.

I produced this quick candle study during a power cut. The melting wax is semi-transparent, allowing the strong candle light to pass through it giving a glow effect. Also, as this was a decorative Christmas table centrepiece, the silver tinsel at the base of the candles gives strong sharp contrasting reflections. I like the chiaroscuro feel with this study, emphasising the areas which are being lit by the candles.

With this study, I wanted to render a chrome ball, taking the surface from the top reference image, whilst reflecting the scene below. I captured the reflectivity of the surface to some extend, and used the smudge tool to try and show the warming of the reflections around the spherical surface and near the form lines. I didn't quite get the contrast right here. The chrome sphere almost feels washed out and dusty, as if it doesn't have its full reflective quality. I later found this video by professional artist Scott Robertson:

The biggest mistake I made when rendering my chrome surface, was lightening the values from the scene where in fact they should be a value step darker. Interestingly, when rendering chrome in an environment, Scott talks about not being afraid to loose edges, as chrome acts very similar to a mirror, so against the sky a chrome surface would likely very nearly be lost.

I plan to do more of these surface studies. I grabbed this example from the 'LevelUp' community from an artist who's Facebook profile name is 'Soy Sauce.'

I like how they are presented as simple forms, focus being on the rendering of the materials, and there are some interesting choices for study, such as the leather sphere with stitching. 

Level Up! Sessions

There is a new online community currently posting weekly videos hosted by polish artists Wojtek Fus and Darek Zabrocki, along with Jonas De Ro. Each video is hosted as a live stream, inviting a guest artist from the industry. On this particular session, concept artist Titus Lunter was invited along to share his processes and produced two original pieces using different approaches:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eYip7nQ2Yc [accessed on 7th April, 2014]

Lunter shared his recognisable approach of 'photobashing,' an approach that seems to be growing ever more popular in the industry as it speeds up workflow and achieves more photorealistic and detailed results. Lunter also speaks about, composition, colour and how some briefs offer freedom and room for experimentation whereas some are more strict and require planning.

Where I found the session really helpful was with the overpaints. As Lunter paints and discusses his work flow. The hosts encourage viewers to send in some of their paintings for critique and adjustments. Below is a painting that was sent in with a strong edge light effect:

Darek painted over this piece, deciding to use the same colour palette but make the painting 'cleaner,' and to make the strangely broken mountain the background a complete object:

One main criticism with the original painting was with the hard edge light and the way that the light source is seemingly bouncing directly upwards away from the viewers eyes. In reality, the light we see is that which is bouncing towards our eyes, so any specular appears slightly inside the edge that disappears away from our sight. This quick diagram Darek drew explains this well:

Again, it always impresses me the level of general knowledge industry professionals have of the world around us, here how light bounces off of objects. It is also important to understand how light acts differently when reflecting off of different materials. The sharp white specular highlights on the rocks from the original painting makes them appear damp and moist, whereas if they were dry the highlights would cover bolder forms and be more saturated. Some materials are much more reflective that others, so will more likely reflect values from their surroundings, where other materials appear to soak up light so have softer more neutral monochromatic highlights like for example cloth. Artists achieve such an understanding through studies and careful consideration when working, thinking hard about the surrounding environment and the materials and surfaces within it.

Perhaps in the near future I could send in one of my pieces for critique from industry professionals and the online art community.

Cintiq 13 HD

I recently purchased a 'Wacom Cintiq 13 HD'. I originally considered an 'Intuos' (standard graphics tablet setup), but was fascinated by the idea of having a tablet/ monitor, creating a feeling much like painting on a canvas. I did consider a higher priced 24" Cintiq, which in turn offered more accurate colours, but opted for the more affordable option. I have noticed that when I drag paintings off of my Cintiq onto my Mac screen, the colours need adjusting as the levels are usually blown out and slightly harsh. This is because the colours on the Cintiq monitor appear slightly washed out, meaning you find yourself compensating by exaggerating the saturation, shadows and highlights.

I find the perhaps the greatest advantage the Cintiq offers, is simply the fact that the external monitor gives you two screens to work with. This means you can keep all of your painting windows on the Cintiq screen, and any reference images on the computer screen. This eliminates screen clutter and the constant need to juggle windows around.

The experience of drawing directly onto an image itself is okay, although I don't find it to be highly advantageous. Perhaps it speeds up the process of line art, but as far as painting concept art in general, I don't find using a standard tablet too difficult in comparison. I often find myself plugging in my 'Bamboo' and cracking on with painting instead of clearing a large space and setting up my full work station. Perhaps this is simply laziness. On another note however, I do find there is something more organic feeling about the standard bamboo tablet. The surface is slightly rough, making it feel more satisfying as the pen passes over it. The Cintiq monitor however feels very smooth like drawing on glass, reminding more of interacting with a Nintendo DS or touch screen phone with a stylus. This isn't a massive issue, as it doesn't affect the outcome of the paintings, just a personal note on feel.

Focusing on some of the hardware, the stand supplied seems quite flimsy, and I often find that if I rest on the corners of the monitor, the plastic fold out stand slides and collapses in. On a positive note, the Stylus is far superior to the one that came with the Wacom Bamboo. It comes with its own compact case complete with replaceable coloured rings for customisation, and nibs to replace the ones that gradually become worn down.

I haven't really tapped into to the express keys just yet, although they could improve my workflow significantly.

The key advantage that outweighs the small gripes has to be the dual monitor capabilities. Particularly for larger projects where I will be working with large amounts of reference materials. On the issue of time and set up, perhaps if I had a permanent workstation instead of having to constantly pack and unpack the Cintiq tablet would defeat the tediousness of setting up the monitor and encourage me to work with the duel screen setup more often. When looking at studio diaries, concept artists are often seen using Cintiq monitors, meaning they must have an advantage over the standard Intuos setup. Perhaps with more time and experimentation, I will reap the full benefits of working with a tablet display.

It's Art February Awards

'It's Art' is an online community that offers inspiration for CG Artists. This includes 2D concept art, and there are many instances where 'It's Art' is involved with the online art community. One strong example is it's involvement with the 'Daily Spitpaint' group, where at the end of each month the administrators pick a selection of their favoutrite 30 minute speed paints.

I decided to submit one of my pieces into the monthly 'It's Art February Awards.' These awards are new, and are to be held every month. There is no subject, and participants are allowed to submit any original artwork that has been created in the current month. I chose to submit a personal piece I had created depicting a mysterious shipping vessel in the middle of an Ice cave titled "Frostbite."

My original plan for this submission was to create a selection of diverse environment thumbs, collecting random referense material to help with the mood:

I knew I wanted a stranded cargo ship, but wasn't sure where exactly the scene would be set. Admittedly, I immediately got carried away and when with the chilling ice cave setting. below is the process:

I started very loose with a monochrome blue feel.

Instead of bringing in a warm complementary orange, I opted for a cooler brownish red to maintain to chilling feel, yet offer some contrast with the very cool blues.

Here I am beginning to render in details like the damaged hull and covered shipping crates on the deck. I feel this is an area I have improved on massively this year. Notice how I quickly captured the bold shapes and values that make up the composition before rendering out the intricate parts. This means that I am working much more fast and efficiently.

With the final rendering, I painted in areas of orange. The warmness and heightened saturation help draw the eyes into interesting parts of the composition. The explorers in orange snow coats create a sense of scale as they descend down a worn in path. This trail draws into the damaged hull, where an orange light burns hinting that someone has taken shelter in the ship. It follows a rule that there are areas of the painting that spark the viewers imagination and suggest activity. Are the explorers returning to the shelter of the ship where their friends have built a fire, or have they just stumbled across the ship and are preparing to make contact with whoever has inhabited the wreckage?

My work successfully submitted for consideration.

In the end my piece received what I feel was a respectable 6 votes.

Design choices: 'The Last of Us'

[accessed 26th February 2014]

Although I have not played 'The Last of Us' (the reason being it is out exclusively for the PS3) I came across this enlightening documentary about Naughty Dog Studios and their journey in creating a brand new IP.

The only initial premise when the studio set out to create a new game, was that they wanted something post apocalyptic. They began by looking at the book 'The World Without Us' by journalist Alan Weisman, which explores what would happen to our surroundings if humans were to suddenly disappear. Apparently water is pumped out of the New York Subway systems daily and if this were to stop, within a mere two days the streets would flood, causing vegetation to grow around the buildings. Lots of the research into how temples ruin undertaken for Naughty Dog's 'Uncharted' game series was applied to modern urban surroundings in 'The Last of Us'. This discussion of how nature consumes unmaintained urban environments shows the importance of research in creating a believable world. This comes through strongly in the concept art phase, where concept artist Aaron Limonick discusses water damage and the shifts in colour through vegetation's lifespan. Similarly to the narrative in 'I am Legend' this virtual world adopts the idea that animals have perhaps escaped from zoos and re-colonised the now rich consumed urban surroundings. There is a constant balance in this IP between beauty and suspense:

As mentioned in the title of this post, I am really interested in the design choices that determine narrative and playability. There is a constant 'Ying and Yang' relationship between how the story reads, and the game being fun and immersive. Initially the team wanted to keep the game grounded in reality, meaning that the idea of a zombie survival game was rejected. However, the idea of an infection and macabre creature-like enemies was eventually brought back in. This presents the team with the challenge of creating a whole new alien enemy. Many great design ideas come from nature, and the infection in 'The Last of Us' is inspired by the Cordyceps Fungi:

[accessed 24th february 2014]

This fungi infects insects, destroying their brains and sprouting fungi from their bodies which then spread spores, further infecting their population. Their are thousands of different species of the fungi, each specialising in one species of insect. The design team with Naughty Dog established different phases of the human infection. The final phases involve the face splitting into brutal fungi like caps. This presented the team with the question: How do they navigate if most of their facial sensors have been torn apart by the infection? The answer was to have them echolocate like Bats. This also added to the IP, giving the enemies a chilling and distinctive clicking sound as they stalk their surroundings.

Again, this theme of fungi added to the balance between beauty and terror. The final stage of the infection where enemies die and grow into their surroundings often add a sense of vibrance to the virtual environments, illustrated by this concept art piece:

There are stronger examples of the fungus adding saturated colours to the environment around the fifteen minuet mark of the 'Grounded: making of' video

Although this relates more to the game's narrative and written elements as oppose to aesthetic design choices, a final point that 'The Last of Us' appears to be notable for is its refusal follow convention, particular when it comes to the portrayal of female characters. Sadly in gaming, female roles are usually put in to place to act as overly-sexualised damsels in distress or love interests for the strong male protagonist. This Game however shows signs of strong female characters making crucial calls, particularly with the dual protagonist role of a young teenage girl. A scene is discussed where young protagonist 'Ellie' stumbles across a girls diary while exploring her abandoned bedroom. She criticises the trivial superficial worries expressed in the words, in comparison to the harsh world she is having to navigate through.

This shows promising signs, as perhaps with 'The Last of Us' setting the standards, AAA titles will be challenged to break convention and look for deeper more philosophical and even liberal narratives in their titles. Perhaps in the future we will look back at some of our recent titles to this date, and see them in same light as exploitative pulp media of decades past. This prospect is very exciting for someone like me hoping to work in the industry.

Ralph Steadman Skype Talk

Recently the College organised a live stream with legendary illustrator Ralph Steadman, famous for his collaborative work with writer and coiner of the phrase 'Gonzo Journalism' Hunter S. Thomson. The Skype format was actually rather interesting. Instead of Steadman making an appearance in the lecture theatre, we were treated to a look around his studio, where he held up original works in front of the webcam. The session was very freeform, Ralph picking up pieces as he came across them, in a sense reflecting the chaos of his artwork.

There were a few key things I found very interesting and inspiring about Ralph's approach to creating art. Firstly, despite the heavily stylised aesthetic of his 'illustrations' (A phrase he dislikes as he believes it relates more to graphs and diagrams) he is grounded in the fundamentals. We were shown many pieces from his early life drawing practices, demonstrating a level of dedication and the sense that his practice in the arts has been a journey.

Ralph had also developed some interesting techniques for creating chaos on his blank canvases, à la Jackson Pollock. He told us that there are "no mistakes, just opportunities to try something different." This reminded my very much of the happy accident approach I try and adopt in my concept art to break away from generic compositions. This was illustrated further in the film For No Good Reason, where Ralph spends time with actor Johnny Depp, talking about his work and his relationship with Hunter. Ralph flicks a blot of ink across a black piece of cartridge paper, and announces that he can already begin to see the form of a Horse. This is the process where the human mind tries to make sense of chaos. An example often used is the way that we find shapes in the clouds. This approach gives a sense of excitement to Ralph's practice, he doesn't start out with preliminary sketches or have a clear visualisation of how the end result will look, he almost allows the process to guide him, rather than fighting and tussling with it.

Finally, Ralph injected a great sense of humour and political satire into his art. Much of his work criticises war, U.S politics, the human condition, amongst other issues. He works on the principle that his art genuinely has the power to change the world. It was inspiring to hear about the practices of such a pivotal figure in the illustration world. His artwork is original, relying strongly on bold chaotic markings with a flare for edgy humour and thought provoking subject matter. His presence really makes one think, what can be achieved through one's art? Is there merit for change within the media of concept art? Can games as a platform make bold statements similar to those made by legendary cartoonist Ralph Steaman? Is there something raw and visceral about working with traditional media, and should practicality (working fully digitally) cancel out the need for using raw traditional materials?

Ralph seems very connected with his work, blotting out wild ink splats with an orchestral conducter-like flick of the wrist, and then spraying fine clouds using a straw and his lips, scratching away and his layered up composition. There is something very primitive and animalistic about his approach, combined with technical prowess that lends itself to disciplined life drawing sessions. There is a clear synergy of chaos and elegance to his cartoons:

Life Drawing Sessions

One area I am trying to improve upon is my drawing skills, which has led to me joining the College's Life Drawing Society. Each week a different model is brought in to pose. Sessions often run for around 2 hours, starting with small 2 to 5 minute poses. These are helpful as they loosen up the hand and get the eyes working. Very much like speed painting, theres no time for tedious shading or details, it's all about getting the form down. I often do these quick sketches in my sketchbook. Longer poses allow for different shading techniques, and consideration to line weight and often there are materials like cloth on the surface where the model sits which makes for an interesting study. I complete these longer poses on a larger scale, often working on an easel. Below are some examples of my work:

The sessions (which I am attending regularly on a monday) are helping train my eyes: thinking about form, anatomy, foreshortening etc... I plan to keep attending, and improving my drawing, which ultimately will improve my digital work.

Daily Spitpaint

Speedpainting is a great practice for digital artists. It takes attention away from detailed rendering, and forces you to focus more on colour and overall composition. Recently a group has trended on Facebook called 'Daily Spitpaint.' Each day a selection of topics are posted by the group moderators, and artists are allowed 30 minutes for each painting, which must respond to one of the topics. Although the activity is open to all medias, the group has attracted a range of talented digital artists, such as Titus Lunter and Mark Molnar. Some of the topics offer great opportunities for studies from reference:

'Couch potato' encouraged a lighting study.

'Dead eyes' inspired me to study actor Michael C. Hall portraying 'Dexter Morgan.'

'Tiger Parachute' encourage a study of a tigers face and fur.

'Chrome boy' led to a study of chrome and how it reflects its surroundings.

Some of the topics led to experimentation:

With 'Charon,' I achieved an interesting composition by copying areas of the piece and rotating and distorting the perspective.

With 'Tree Cathedral,' I tried a technique demonstrated by Mark Molar in the magazine 'ImagineFX,' of laying down cool colours as a base for the composition, and adding warm colours for a vibrant effect.

With 'The Joker,' I tried a chiaroscuro approach.

When creating concept art, I am often doing static environments or character turnarounds, so with 'Prisoner Number 5, I attempted something with a dramatic perspective.

Overall, participating in the Daily Spitpaints offers opportunities for both self improvement and networking. There is a great sense of community among the booming group, which contains successful artists from within the industry. It truly is a great platform for getting your artwork seen.