Practical Skills

Low Poly Art:

Identify Research Reflection

Today, I experimented with the To complete this experimentation I Overall, I think that my outcomes

low poly art style to aid myself followed the tutorial that was provided to were successful however they look

to figure out what my personal us here. I was able to experiment with new slightly rough as while I was

art style is. I completed this tools such as the polygonal lasso tool and creating the polygons, small gaps

experiment in Photoshop which shortcuts such as applying the last filter used were appearing which slowed my

meant I was able to experiment which has made me more confident while working process down and also affected

with different skills and also in this specific area. I like the low poly art style how they turnt out. However,

also develop existing ones. but in terms of my project it will take a lot of using shortcuts proved beneficial

creativity in order to make my work stand out for me because even though I

from the crowd so I'm unsure if I will use this was experiencing issues, they

style going forward. was able to aid me and save me time.

Vector Art:

Identify Research Reflection

This is my experimentation with To aid me with this experimentation I used an I don't think that I created

the vector art style. I used information page that can be found here. It told me an outcome that showed

Illustrator to create a character what was expected of me while experimenting with the an effective use of the tools

based off an animal. Using vector art style, an example of a few features would be the and more exclusively

Illustrator was out of my use of bold colours and lines. I learnt how to use the shape, the art style in itself.

comfort zone but it gave me the pen and blob brush tool. The blob brush tool made it easier My outcome is pretty

opportunity to play around with to colour what I was drawing. simplistic due to me not

different tools so that I am more I don't think that I was too successful in executing being able to figure out how

familiar with the software if I am this art style so I am not sure if could be possible for the tools worked, I ran into

to move forward with this style. me to choose this style to work with for my actual several problems such as

project. colouring and using the pen

tool.

Comic Book Art:

Identify Research Reflection

I experimented with the comic I researched the comic book art style and looked I think that my outcome shows

book art style and created a at some reference images using the google search, the style pretty well. However,

portrait of one of my friends. 'comic book art'. I used inspiration from the art next time I would aim to introduce

I used Autodesk Sketchbook to style and used a picture of one of my friends to base more detail and bolder lines on

produce this outcome and drew the character off of. I was able to learn how to adjust the face to show deep shadows

on an iPad. This will help me the different pen and brush attributes and I had practice and wider depth. I will

by developing my digital drawing with including a lot of layers to construct my drawing. also aim to use a variety

skills for my project due to changes I found this way of drawing very excitable and of other pen tools rather than

of how we'll be producing work. somewhat easy. just the fine tip pen tool.

Skills Experimentation

Today I experimented with creating Pop art styled backgrounds using Autodesk Sketchbook. I used a variety of mark making and patterns which can be seen in existing Pop Art work. I decided to experiment with this specifically because all three of my outcomes will include this style of background so it will be beneficial for me to use it in my project, it also gave me the opportunity to explore Autodesk Sketchbook more and understand which tools will work best when it comes to production so that I won't have to spend too much time figuring out all of the different tools.

For my research, I used images that I found here to aid me while creating in this style to give me more of an idea of the patterns and colours used. While using the app I was able to try out the shape tool, fill tool and symmetry tool.

I think that these helped to prove uniqueness in my work because although I used inspiration from pictures online, I came up with my own twist to include when creating the background.

I think that my outcome was successful , however some elements in my design could be elaborated on. Next time I would make sure to fill up the whole space and come up with more ways to make my designs more unique to me.

I experimented with digitally drawn typography in Autodesk Sketchbook due to there not being an option to incorporate text within the app. I was able to further develop my design skills and knowledge of tools in Autodesk Sketchbook.

For my research I used Google images to look at Pop Art fonts which can be found here. I was able to develop the skill of drawing text rather than using text in itself, I tried creating this in multiple pen and brush tools to see whc one would fit my style the most. This also proved uniqueness as I drew and coloured my own font rather than using one already available to me.

I think that the outcome turnt out great and I didn't run into any issues while experimenting with this, my journey to my goal was pretty straight forward. However next time I would work on refining my font more and including more patterns and possibly introducing a background as my design is pretty simplistic and isn't the best it could be.

I experimented with character design using Autodesk Sketchbook. I created a simplistic character with some features of a Pop Art style character.

I have experimented with character design before with the Comic Book art so I already had an idea of what features make a Pop Art character however, I did do more research on it. I didn't want to spend too long on experimenting with character design as the character will be based off of me, seeing as I already have explored character design and applying my style to it, I figured I would just do some very simplistic sketches of what I am planning to include in production.

My character will have bold outlines and instead of using shades to show shadows and highlights I am planning on using a polka dot pattern in a variety of densities to show it instead.

Overall, I think that my idea of what character I want to include is pretty strong. You are able to tell that this character is in my chosen style which gives me hope for production when I start to design this character in-depth.

Today, I experimented with texturing shapes in SketchUp. This software is completely brand new to me so it took me a while to get used to the layout. I already have quite a bit of knowledge in 3D modelling in Maya so I saw some familiar tools.

Due to this software being new ground for me I had to do some research on where everything was and the features that are available. All of the information I received can be found here. Doing this experimentation is vital for my production because texturing will be main thing to piece my model together. I used the shape creator tool and the texturing component for my experiment. I reckon this software will be easy to work with once I know where everything I need is.

I played around with texturing and different shapes in SketchUp just to get familiar with how it works on this particular program. I am going to consider using a different software for my 3D outcome as I don't think this software will give me the best opportunity to create my best work.

This is my experiment of animating smoke in FlipAClip. This will be useful knowledge for my production when I have to animate the smoke in future. This is a very basic experimentation of how the smoke will move. This is 8 frames per second however in production I am aiming for 12 frames when I get into production.

I used a YouTube video to get an idea of how to animate the smoke which can be found here. This video shows the keyframes of animating smoke and the in-between frames. I used the layer tool and pen tool to create this short animation. My experimentation doesn't do my idea justice but once in production I am going to focus on detail to make sure it is unique and so that it can be linked to the Pop Art style easier.

This outcome isn't the best I could've created but I am aiming for a much more effective approach in production. The tools in the app are simple and easy to use so I have no doubt that I'll be able to create what I am planning too.

I experimented with FlipAclip in creating a short animation of smoke travelling out of a mouth, which is a feature that I will be using in my production.

I actually used a life study on myself, studying the basic movement when opening and closing my mouth. I tried to focus more on the movement of the lips rather than the smoke as I already experimented with this. I sketched out the keyframes on paper before transferring them into the animation software.

I think this experimentation expresses the basic movement very well. I will do more research on the movement by taking pictures during the process to give myself an idea of what the keyframes are.

Production:

2D Product

Today I started to produce backgrounds for my 2D outcome using Autodesk Sketchbook. I followed suit with traditional Pop Art backgrounds and went with a vibrant colour scheme.

I am unsure if I am going to go ahead with these specific designs and instead I'll treat these as experimentations.

I ended up scrapping these ideas as I ended up finding designs that would fit better with my theme.

Today I started, developed and finished the design of one of the characters I am including in my outcome. This character was based off myself. I used Adobe Sketchbook to illustrate this character.

As I was using a reference photo of myself, I learnt that using images for references created a shortcut for myself and I was able to almost halve the time I would've been creating if I didn't use a reference image otherwise.

I think that my outcome was successful. I am happy that I was able to exhibit the style I was aiming for and I think I executed it well.

While creating this character I used a variety of pen and thicknesses to create shadows. I also used a reference image of myself. I think that these tools and techniques helped me in creating an effective outcome due to how finished and refined my outcome looks. For example with creating shadows, I used thin lines to create the illusion of certain areas appearing darker than the rest of the image to show variations of lighting.

Using a reference image was also helpful as I was able to create my character with ease as I had most of the features already in front of me.

I came across problems with the layers as I would often end up drawing on the wrong layer than I intended to, so I started to lock each layer once I was finished drawing there to save myself time to avoid having to undo all of my work.

Next time, I would probably use an even wider variety of pen thicknesses to create the illusion of more ahadows and highlights in my illustration.

This is the finished design of my second character. I used Adobe Sketchbook to illustrate this character.

I tried to focus on using a wider variety of pen thicknesses this time around to try and create the illusion of greater depth.

I think that this character creation was also successful. I was able to exhibit the style that I was aiming for very well, I also used a reference image to assist me in creating this character. As mentioned, I focused more on using pen thicknesses to create shadows and highlight. I used a lot more lines and darker shades of colour to show depth in my illustration.

I came across an issue where my designs were losing quality as I was transforming them. I haven't yet found a solution

to this problem so I might have to adapt the rest of my idea to the loss of quality.

Next time I would like to experiment with creating a female character as I that will be a new skill for me to develop, using lines and curves to make features appear more 'feminine'.

Today I experimented with, developed and finished the design of my first female character. Which makes this 3/4 characters designed for my outcome. I decided to create a female character to try and develop my design skills further, an example of this would be the longer hair and pouted lips.

I used a reference image of another one of my friends to create this image as I want my outcome to be more unique to myself by including personal aspects of my life. Reference images add to the individuality of my work and also they assist my character creation by allowing me to come up with ideas quicker than I usually would if I wasn't to use a reference image.

I think that my first time creating a female in this particular style was effective. I used a lot more texture this time around for the longer hair and I also added eyelashes. I think that these additions makes it very clear that this is a feminine character, following general stereotypes.

I run into the issues with my illustration losing quality again , when I am resizing my images they seem to lose their original quality and become more blurry. I have had this issues with both of my recent designs and I cannot seem to get them back to their original quality which leaves me having to adapt to the loss of quality by potentially creating the backgrounds in really high quality to make it seem that the characters themselves were meant to appear blurry.

Next time I would focus more on adding more definition into the face, as I received feedback suggesting that I added more colours into the face due to the face looking flat compared to the hair which I added a lot of texture to.

However, due to the loss of quality, it will be hard to modify this characters features so I will have to just try implement it onto my last design rather than modifying this one. I am also sure that some texture has been lost through the loss of quality which is why it appears to look flat.

This is my final character design. I developed drawing a feminine character again today and focused a bit more on texturing the hair and the face. This character has the same features as my previous design.

I used another reference photo of a friend for this character design. All of my characters are based off people that I know in real life which makes this outcome personal to me.

I think that this character, and all of my characters turnt out to be very successful for the final design idea that I am going for. I encountered the same issue that I have been experiencing throughout all of my character creations; blurriness. I have decided that I am going to use this to my advantage by creating high quality backgrounds to contrast between the blurriness of the characters. I also had an issue with retrieving the screenshot of the sketch of the character, I had a few difficulties with storage problems which made me unable to exhibit the beofre and after.

Next time around, to avoid the loss of quality I will decide on the size of my characters before creating them to ensure that I dont experience blurriness like I have this time around. I learnt a lot during my character creations and I will be sure to avoid and overcome all of the issues that I encountered during the process.

This is the finalised design for my 2D product. A brief description of the features that I used in my work would the use of bold outlines, dots and circles and ragged edges.

My work is inspired by Andy Warhol's use of the grid of 4.

I think that I have executed the Pop Art / Comic Book Art style well in my outcome.

I still have the issue of a big loss of quality in my outcome, I tried to use online services that supposedly increase the quality of images however it didn't benefit.

Next time, I will refrain from rezising my drawings too much to avoid the loss of quality as I the more I was moving them around, they were loosing quality.

3D Product

Today, I decided to find a different software other than the ones that I originally planned on.
Here, I used a 3D software called Vectary. I followed a tutorial on it to get used to the mechanics of the software and to try generate ideas of what I want to create.

I experimented with text and shapes and pre-made assets in the software.

A link to the tutorial that I used can be found here.

This tutorial taught me about all of the different functions of the software and what I learnt will be beneficial for my ongoing project because I had originally planned to use yet in my 3D outcome anyway . However, I will be steering away from the Pop Art theme and instead creating a landscape as the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted me from using the software that I originally wanted to use and now my outcomes do not have to be linked to a theme specifically.

I really like the simpleness of the software and it was easy to follow the tutorial and the only issues I faced was due to the functions being switched to different tabs which caused me having to search around to find what I needed too.

I decided to experiment more with 3D text and adding textures.

I created a simple sign design using wood textures for the background

and the text.

I don't think this is the style that I want to move forward with but it was beneficial to me as I was able to experiment more with texture and text.

Here, I am experimenting with a more random and disproportionate style, similar to the style that I was working in while following the tutorial to the software.

This is the style that I am looking to move forward with as I was inspired by the style I was working in previously and I found that I enjoyed the process.

I added textures to my text while also using a variety of font sizes and text. I am planning to include features in my outcome that represent myself on a personal level, almost as if I am answering the question, 'Who Are You?'.

I have also decided to link my 2D and 3D product in a different way by working with the text that I have included in my 2D outcome, rather than sticking to that particular style.

I have decided to use a bright colour palette and two contrasting textures; glossy and matte.

I added a box underneath 'WHO' just to add depth to the text.

I decided on adding these objects, colours and textures to randomise my piece more, which is the style I am aiming for.

Here I modelled a Nintendo Switch to use in my work. I actually used a pre-made asset on the software to base my model off, using it for reference.

I decided to model and use this specifically because it adds that personal touch to my work.

I modelled other objects to use in my overall piece however I lost the progress images and was unable to recover them which is why some of my evidence will be missing.

This is a close-up of a few of the objects that I created.

I used the box shape to create the asset that you see in the center of the image. I used the Array Grid effect to duplicate the box that I inserted, then used the randomise effect to get them to appear disorganised.

I then textured them with the copper material to match the text in my work.

I made a few mor additions to my scene, placing the 'ARE' on a semi-circle to include more depthand varietyby having the text at different heights.

I used circles, boxes and triangles to create the person and text box placed inside the 'O'. I feel like this was a great addition, it fits with the theme.

These are my final renders for my 3D product.

One skill that I developed during the production process was working with typography, which is a field that I haven't touched on before. I used said text in such a way to push a question onto my audience.

I think that my execution was successful and I am happy with the outcome as everything worked as planned.

I specifically used the phrase, 'Who are you?', in relation to the current pandemic... I know a lot of people, including myself that have had a lot of time to indulge in self discovery and finding themselves and their place in the world.

I didn't come across any major issues during my production, apart from getting confused about the layout of the software. I really enjoyed working in Vectary and I could potentially see myself using it again in the future.

If I was to do anything differently, given I had more time, I would include more components into my work and fill out the space. Although my outcome looks good, there's always room for improvement so I would make my scene rather than how vast it appears now.

Animation

Today, I practiced with creating a sketch of a waving animation with Flipaclip.

I want my final outcome to include this animation, once I create my character. I will be creating a persona for myself for my character.

I refined my character by adding bold, black outlines and drawing around my sketch to resemble limbs and I also added hair. I am planning to create a simplistic character with the use of small details and minor details.

This is the refined version of my character, I decided to go with a simplistic design for my character. I will add a few more details in to the clothing and hair on my character just to include more depth.

I used the fine tip tool to create the bold, black outlines on my character and with the background Iused a solid fill colour and used the ruler tool to create circles in the background to almost link it to my 2D product because I used a lot of geometry.

My next step will be to create a mouth animation and include audio to make my character speak. I am happy with how it looks so far however I am limited as I figured that in Flipaclip you are only allowed to use 3 different layers otherwise you have to pay for premium. I've had to include a lot of the aspects of my animation on the same layer which would make it easier for me if I was able to use more than just 3 layers.

This video showcases the mouth animation and the use of audio to create the illusion of my character speaking, I used a guide on animating mouths online on Google Images which helped me to get the idea of the different mouth movements. However, I struggled to get it perfect in this design that I am doing but I think I managed to grasp the idea the best I could. This is my first time animating a full character. I used audio samples from this website. I used a 'hello' audio sample.

My next step will be to add and animate text.

Here is where I included my text, 'Who Are You?'.

This is the first time I have epxeriened animating text frame by frame and I found the process quite easy, I made it look like it was spiralling.

I like my progress so far and I am hoping to include more text into my animation however I am very time conscious and I am unsure if I am going to be able to finish off what I have planned to do.

I have learnt a variety of skills during my animation process, including animating in general as I don't have much experience with it. I developed my character design skills, charater animating skills, text animating and mouth animations.

I unfortunately run out of time during production to fully finish off my animation which is why it may appear to be unfinished. Next time when I am working with animation I will consider giving myself more time to do it over 3D and 2D as I breezed through them. I ran into many limitations during my production such as not being able to work with ore than 3 layers. I also kept experiencing app crashes which would sometimes erase my work which also might play into why I didn't have enough time to finish as it kept pushing by progress backwards.

The issues that I encountered were unable to be fixed as they were out of my control.

Overall, I am happy with what I was able to produce during the time frame that I gave myself alongside having a variety of different issues.