Winter Break
- Alisha Gupta
- Feb 24, 2023
- 3 min read
During this period I wanted to spend time developing my concept art and prop design by gathering strong reference and looking online for inspiration from artists in the community that are masters at their work because as a creative I find I have to be inspired to put myself in the headspace to create and the only way to achieve this is simply by starting. For the environment design I looked at specific works of concept artists I admire for the level of artistry they have achieved that speaks through the painting itself. I was studying these concept artists for a few features I noted by carefully observing and making note of this to try and use this in my own environments.
The first principle of concept art was understanding values which I practiced on my last week with the studies in greyscale on procreate. This helped me block out the depth in the composition and the importance of having thumbnail sketches as the first step in conceptualization. The second principle I observed was perspective and scale. The way a shot was framed built the suspense and conveyed strong emotion which is key to making a memorable composition.
The third principle I made note of was the use colour and light in their paintings and the way they used it to convey the mood of a scene that set the stage for action and guided the viewer through the scene because of the level of detail, creating atmosphere.
Photoshop Study
I took my concept artwork to my Wacom tablet and connected it to Photoshop as I felt the previous concept held potential to explore further. I gathered a few thumbnail environments that inspired me along with professional concept artist’s work held strong themes of tone and character which I wanted to try and incorporate. The main attention to detail I wanted to give in this final artwork was the sense of intrigue and enchantment found in the live action film.
I made three greyscale studies on playing around with the composition and placing my horizon line at different points to see how that changed the point of view and if it led to a stronger outcome.
I found I was most drawn to the third painting with my figure placed in the scene that not only helped with scale but also magnified the space because of the lighter values in the background by having the lantern stay the guiding point hanging low from the willow tree.
Prop Design
British Museum Visit
I find that because I’m a visual learner visiting the British Museum to view their gallery on Clocks and Watches, was helpful in understanding the depth and scale of a compass by observing pocket watches that were very similar, in design and weight to compasses of the time. I even made note of the textures and materials they were made from and the ornate carvings on the dial and backside of the instrument which often held the initials of the watchmakers, that gave me the idea to do the same.
Following this I compiled reference to make my final 2D designs on Procreate, rendered to give as much detail as possible to follow on my technical drawing of the instrument. I kept the design of the dial simple and a bit contemporary with a bronze antique texture. The inside held the magical element of a moonstone that controlled the direction in which the arrows pointed for navigation. It was lastly encased in an old glass covering with an engraving of the maker at the back.
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