Keeping Things Loose

I have been talking a lot about the speed at which I work and my concerns regarding it. I am yet to return to the sketchpad, as I am currently enjoying working entirely in photoshop, but for this next set of images, I decided I would try to work fast and loose:

I was initially working with the idea of a more streamline vessel, as you can see with the first three images from left to right. For the first image I began by trying to draw inspiration from my previous ship design, whilst trying to straighten things out as appose to using the organic curves I applied originally. I quickly decided I wanted to draw something from a more dramatic perspective to make my design more exciting. With the next set of designs I tried simplifying things even further. As you can see with the top right image, I originally included a fin, and more expressive and jagged curves on the wings. This design almost looks shark-like. I felt that this would emphasise that this vessel is occupied by the antagonist in our particular piece of narrative. Re-visiting my whale moodboard however, I felt the inclusion of a blowhole style vent on the top of the ship could look interesting. I also further simplified the lines as I felt the exaggerated curves on the previous design felt too cartoon-like.

For the last design, I was looking at tails I had gathered as source material. I wanted to attempt something from an angle that drew more focus onto the rear tail mechanism of our potential vessel. I feel this design also feels smoother and more Orca looking. In one sense this contradicts the designs purpose as the lines are too soft and delicate, however, it could be debated that the silhouette also bears connotations of the 'Killer' whale. Another quality I like about this final design is that it showcases the propulsion system of the ship. Although the ship is slightly more organic looking than the streamline vessels, it doesn't appear too joint driven and more rigid as you would imagine a spacecraft to be.

I found this looser method of working much more efficient, and not only that, I felt that my ideas developed more freely. At this stage, it is easy for me to get tied down on one concept and my ideas become too laboured. With this study I felt that I developed more of a flow with my ideas. I would quickly get down a mental image I had in my had, and any ideas that were sparked from that, I was able to capture them before they were lost. Workload is not the only concern associated with my tedious workflow, it can also have a strong impact on the development of my ideas. It feels rewarding to produce images I am happy with in a considerably shorter amount of time to previous concepts, and also, to feel that my ideas are moving forwards.