Hello Hello,
Just wanted to share a page from my to-be portfolio.
This is a character I did for a "potential" fighting game. Name is Kemp.
Now I'm not a 100% sure bout the lay out with the text and all that but I really have no experience with this kind of stuff. SO then I remembered I know these wonderful people from a blog who might know more than me. So I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions or know places to go where I can look at some examples or something of the kind
Appreciated!
Gerland
This is awesome Gerland!! I really like the overall design of the character, it stands out as an individual and has the massive damage look on him. There's really tonnes of artwork to look at online for character design and I'm sure the folks here will point you to a few great ones.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would suggest however, is to think of the character's need and look at real human references. (thats how I work because I don't want to get too influence by someone else image) I feel that you already have a great great start so looking at real references would be better. In terms of design needs, for example, if you're looking at a close range character, look at how MMA fighters, boxers or wwf characters. Most of them have great leg muscles and they keep themselves extremely light weight because they need to "close-in" on the enemies and give that critical punch. Tyson is a great example, so is Bruce Lee, whom is able to deliver a punch of 250kg ++ within arm's distance. Maybe his legs has some instant booster. Hope that helps! Would love to see your update.
I think you are on the right track. I agree with Desert Rabbit. In addition, you might consider breaking up his torso with a belt and change the color of the pants and the torso cloak thing; right now, he has a sort of coverall look which is common of janitors, not fighters.
ReplyDeleteI think you could spend some more time on the presentation - better fonts, background, etc. It might seem unnecessary, but I heard an outsourcing art manager say you want to stack the odds in your favor, and use every opportunity you have to leave a strong, professional impression. Yeah, the font choice might not seem like a lot, but why waste an opportunity?
That text description hurts my heart. Say something like: "Character development for a fighting game," and leave it at that. It should be obvious in the design that he is a melee character. You don't need to say there's focus on the shape and silhouette; again, it should be obvious in the design. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by compromising yourself with text when text isn't even necessary - unless the text reveals something important that the viewer can't surmise through the images alone - like the fact that it's for a fighting game, or WELL WRITTEN backstory. If it's not well written, just kill it.
Here are some examples of nice character sheets I just quickly found:
http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/07/Planetside-2-5.jpg
http://cdn-www.swtor.com/sites/all/files/en/classes/jedi-consular/images/ca3_800x450.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sr8O1BpnZw8/SlEmR8n91aI/AAAAAAAAAM0/PcOTdUPGIfA/s1600/alien_model_sheet.jpg
http://www.jasonchanart.com/gallery/2006/original/demonhunt/Cassandra_color02.jpg
I really enjoy the blue stripes going across his cloak. Those bring out his form very well. The face has a great attitude to it, and his overall shape matches that well. His color scheme is appealing as well. Overall, I really like the design, and could see him in a fighting game.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of critique, I tend to agree with what Nicky and Mitul said. In addition, I would comment that I see plenty of loose, gestural linework in the drawings to the left, but I would really like to see a more polished version on the right, especially in his gauntlets/boots since they are mechanical. I don't think I would mind as much if you lost the lines (of course I would say that). I understand if this is a speed painting job, but for portfolio reasons, I would consider adding that extra shine to the fully rendered version.
The other thing I thought was regarding his functionality. Long hair is generally not good for grappling, but you could get away with it. I like how the fingers are magnetic or something, but I do have to question how functional that would be. This is just a suggestion, but MECHANICAL CRAB CLAWS.
Thanks for the comments guys! Appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI probably should've also mentioned that this is for a school portfolio at the moment. And they told me they wanted to see how I think etc...Hence the text.
I'd love to polish it even more but due to time constraints of when I have to turn it in I doubt that's gonna happen for now.
I actually left the back arm and leg of his fairly untouched because I thought it'd be cool to show the process in the drawing itself. Saw Jason Chan do it in one of his drawing I believe.
Thanks guys!
Hey Gerland this is awesome. I do agree with the others in terms of you wanting to have another look at the design itself. I believe what you are going for is exaggeration through the characters proportions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with other saying that you don't need to describe much about what the character is or does, his design should tell us everything about him.
As for fighting games, I've seen art books and they usually try to show some of the characters actual moves, just so the animators get an idea of how the character should move around or balance. They are typically as rough as you have the turn around in, like a cleaned up sketch.
And lay out some perspective grids, he looks like he's about to fall over. Mitul gave some great examples, if you look at the feet you can tell they have a perspective grid laid out, I know this sounds very picky, but I've heard from character designers from Pixar and Cartoon Network say that how the feet are positioned in perspective is a tell tale sign of whether or not they know what they are doing.
Here is a link leading to Alex Ahad's blog:
http://o-8.livejournal.com/
He is the co-creator and designer for a new 2-D fighting game called SkullGirls. There are a few SCAD students actually working on the project.
He talks about designing for the game and he has some great tips about character design and costume design (for example: if you can draw your character using 10 lines or less and people can still tell what character it is, that's a good design). His style is aimed more anime/manga influenced, but some of his designs (http://pub.tenkuu.net/Images/2009/090109_tank_punch_02.jpg) are pretty cool.
Hope this helps! Keep up with the awesome work!