Character design is a journey

Often, I get asked if I always see the visions for my designs clearly in my mind......Sometimes, the design is very clear and it's a matter of getting it down on paper. Other times, the design is clear as mud and must go many rounds with sketches before arriving where I want the design to be. This is part of the fun and the frustration of being a creative. This guy above is meant to be R's older brother....but I have yet to set on his body structure. Little adjustments of shapes here or there can change the whole feel of a character. It's like taking a hike through the imagination with this fuzzy blob of a concept that takes various shapes along the path!

R - page 3

At some point in the story, R will have a costume change for reasons currently kept secret. If I get the chance to share the story of "Gaia's Blessing" in its entirety, then everything will be explained. Right now, sketches like these are details I'm working out in my brain.

R - page 2

R is a bit shy in dealing with others but she also has a vast reservoir of untapped courage.

The innocent - "R"

Another main character that stars alongside "Aya" for this story. For the time being, she's known as "R" and she's roughly 5 years of age. R lives in a very picturesque utopia. Everyday is roughly the same. Children her age and younger are kept indoors at all times until they come of age to be fitted with a visor. This visor is a piece of high technology that interacts with the environment inside and out. It's also a crucial tool used in their education. Typically, by age 6, a child is physically and mentally mature enough to have a visor made that will "plug in" to their brain. Once connected, the visor essentially becomes apart of the individual, never coming off again. R passes her days playing with a ball-like toy that glows and flies about the room. She also watches the unit display (TV), plays games on the unit tablet and stares at the ceiling when she gets bored. R also spends a fair while staring out the unit's only window, taking in the environment outside, wishing to become apart of it soon.

"hoI! im temmie!!!"

Time for a game geek moment! Recently, I've been hooked on watching a play-through of a recently released PC game called "Undertale" by Toby Fox. This is a role-playing game detailing the adventure of a human that falls underground in the world of monsters. This game is unique in that the player can choose to kill all the monsters/bosses in the game, kill a few but let some live or complete the whole game by refusing to kill anybody. Each path has its own story path and ending. Also, the game has a really nice soundtrack!

One of the characters in the game caught my eye and I just had to draw him/her/it. This little....whatever-it-is...is called "Temmie" and he/she/it encounters you as an enemy and in an in-game town, speaking funky English. They're definitely weird but still oh-so-cute, IMO :)

Development for a concept poster; FINAL step :)

Ta-dah! Here we are the completed final phase: the color and lighting pass. This stage often takes the longest in terms of time, especially if there are multiple light sources or FX to consider such as the glow of the jellyfish. Sometimes, a revision is needed to try one color against another in effort to get the most appealing design or maybe the lighting needs adjusting. 

This is the final product I sent to my client, Unique Publications, LLC. Had lots of fun on this project :)

Development for a concept poster; step 3

The 3rd phase for the concept poster for Unique Publications, LLC. This step brought in the character models as they're intended to look. I always draw in a super simple style first and focus on the composition. If the composition fails to work in the rough design phase, it's irrelevant how pretty or on model the characters are.

Development for a concept poster; step 2

These are the 2nd phase for a concept poster for Unique Publications, LLC. My client wanted to experiment with slightly different compositions for the characters to see what would read best to express their vision. Which one was chosen to go forward? Stay tuned and find out!

Development for a concept poster

Recently, I just finished designing and coloring a concept poster for Unique Publications, LLC. They are on a mission to produce new intellectual properties (stories) told with their own flair. This one is their newest idea and goes by the name of "!!!!8!!!!" (yes, this IS the real name). I'm sworn to secrecy regarding any story details but I can at least share the development work and the final colored poster. 

The top row of loose drawings were initial ideas I showed to my client. The bottom row has them in grey-scale to help show depth of field.

Stay tuned for more!

Aya's place - concept 1

Aya's a very down-to-earth young lady and that extends into how she likes to live in harmony with the land and resources around her. One vision I have for her home is underneath a great dead tree that has splintered over the decades. through the cracks, sunlight filters through and allows some grasses to grow. Aya is a very learned girl, liking to keep drawings and books from bygone ages. This is but one idea I'm toying with.

Artwork for "Bane" tabletop card game; piece 2

This is the 2nd piece that we at 10 Forward Productions, http://www.10forwardproductions.com/, were commissioned to design and color. Again, my role was coloring the design. 

Our female warrior seems to be exploring a sandstone temple or pyramid maybe. Drooling on her from on high is a large bat-like creature hanging from the ceiling......
 
To see more about Bane, please follow this link to their website: http://gamesicle.com/bane/

Artwork for "Bane" tabletop card game

While I was working for 10 Forward Productions, http://www.10forwardproductions.com/, we were commissioned to illustrate and color some concept pieces for an indie tabletop card game called "Bane". This game was created by "Gamesicle" featuring creatures of myth in a post-apocalypse setting. My role in this was to color images drawn by the team illustrator. This image features a female warrior exploring a dusty old library that has seen better days.

To see more about Bane, please follow this link to their website: http://gamesicle.com/bane/