Self Portriat

So it seems everyone wants to be a character artist in the games industry, i think i can understand why, there is a lot of scope with it and learning the human form is an on going process that's difficult but can also be very rewarding once learnt. So it makes sense to have a self portrait project in the course, if you go into an interview with this in your portfolio then they can clearly see if you model looks like you or not. I've made a start and it's more fun/interesting than i thought, it's hard work and I'm not looking forward to making my face, which is why i haven't started with that yet, but I'm hoping to get a decent end result.



As you can probable tell from the intro a character artist isn't something I'm thinking of going too far into, i do want basic understanding of it and the ability to make good looking models, but as of the moment i don't plan to make it my main focus. What i would really like to get into is environment design, which is something I've been thinking for a while now.
Here's an environment project we started earlier on, i haven't finished the textures yet, i need some decent bushes, grass, tree etc references, and that floor has been put down just to give an idea. But this project is the first really environment one i have done and I'm pretay happy with the outcome so far and looking forward to doing some others, maybe even do one for my self portrait when I've done that.

That 'WOW' Factor

So first the apologies that I haven't been posting on here lately, I've been wanting for a while now but because it's 'work' I've been putting too much pressure on it and too worried that what I write has to be A* standard work. So I've now just decided to start writing, so you may have bear with me.

Something I've been wanting to write about is this picture above, now first off I haven't done this, my brother recently moved into a new house, and as we were moving things in i noticed this picture on the wall, and at first glance just though that's not right. I said this to my family and at first they did not agree with me, but I kept looking at it trying to figure out why it wasn't right. There are a number of reasons, and all the mistakes have been made with the first lines that were put on the page as It's the perspective that's out. Through the first archway the horizon line is too high, and certain lines do not meet at a single point as they should. I've done a quick annotated diagram of a couple of things so it's clearer. What is good about this picture is it has been very well painted, and you can tell the painter had a good understanding of light and colour, and this often gives so much of a 'WOW' factor that most people don't realise the obvious mistake. which is something I don't do so much now, and I understand why Chris uses certain pictures in earlier lectures that make people go, wow that's took some skill, but even if they are brilliant at techniques in Photoshop, basic understanding is a necessity.

Black line - Horizon Line.
Red Lines - These lines should all meet up to craet the single point perspective.
Green Line - the roof line inside the room needs to be a lot lower, the lowest green line is where it should be about.

But what made me feel good about this was I suddenly realised that all the work from the first year was really paying off now, and my skills as an artist were becoming basic skills that I use on a daily basis. Now I'm not saying I'm done and all the images I do are perfect, but it's a great feeling knowing that the course is really paying off and I'm gaining all this knowledge.

I can say that this term I have not been working to the standard or amount I really should be, but since this I've felt more motivation to get on with work, and an important lesson I learnt from last year was not to just do the work and project for the sake of doing it and getting this grade, but to do work that will help you, teach you, and your able to learn from.