Concept Art Portfolio 2023

DIGITAL PAINTING PROJECT

For this project, I had the freedom to choose the subject of my illustration. I decided to create an illustration for a children's book featuring a young witch and her two adorable pet companions engrossed in a spell book. My aim was to capture a playful and cute yet slightly spooky atmosphere. I utilized both Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint to bring my vision to life.

In order to be successful, I focused on conducting research, utilizing references, and seeking feedback from my instructor, Nathan Elmer. I drew inspiration from James Gurney and set up props to use as reference for thumbnails. 

In response to the feedback received, I took new photographs of the props using candlelight to enhance the atmosphere and attempted to create a more dynamic pose. Additionally, I captured reference images of myself to incorporate into the artwork.

I also put together a moodboard of various artists and styles that inspired me including references for the two pet companions. 

Next, I created a quick sketch to incorporate the suggested changes. To enhance my confidence and drawing skills, I followed a tutorial by Kenshiro Sakamoto. Additionally, I sought inspiration from artists such as Cecile Carre and Goro Fujita. 

After finishing the illustration, I received additional feedback and made multiple attempts until I achieved the final image. The feedback included suggestions to make the witch's face appear younger and more expressive, and to depict the animal companions with an inquisitive gaze towards the young witch or her activities. Also, to include a background, show the candle light reflecting on the table and add detail to the witches hat. 

Here is a part of the drawing process that also showcases a significant change: the rabbit was transformed into a spider to better match the theme and concept. 

GAME ASSET & LEVEL DESIGN

Aim: to create a character suitable for a 2d platform mechanic. 

Character Dimensions: No larger than 300 pixels tall and 200 pixels wide. 

Game Title: Unicorn Post

Game Description: Assume the role of Yuna, an enchanting winged unicorn employed by the postal service. Embark on a thrilling adventure of delivering mail throughout the land utilizing your extraordinary flight abilities. The 2D auto-runner game immerses players in a platform-style experience, with Yuna continuously soaring in a predetermined direction while navigating various levels. Sharpen your reflexes to swiftly react to oncoming obstacles and triumph in your postal missions. 

Moodboard: Inspiration from games Magical Ride, Pikuniku, Whale Trail, Halloween 2016: Magic Cat Academy (Google Doodle 2016) and Udemy course 2D Background Design for Games - Vector Techniques by Game Art Co.

Yuna's character design was completely revamped, taking inspiration from my previous artwork. Her mail bag design was influenced by vector art found online.

The next task in the brief was to develop a mockup level for Unicorn Post using Photoshop. To generate ideas, I started with quick sketches, followed by creating grayscale and colour thumbnails of potential level designs. Throughout the process, I referred to various references for inspiration.

The final concept art for the level:

DIGITAL GAMES PIXEL-ART

Outcome: A Pixel-Art rendition of myself as a heroic character. I chose a charming witch design, accompanied by Sorsha, my beloved pet cat, as the familiar.

Technical Specifications: Canvas size 64x64 pixels, no animation

Design process: I began by creating quick sketches of ideas and then small drawings focusing on silhouette,shape and readability.

Next, I looked up inspiration on witches from art, games, film and costumes:

Cat Moodboard: Includes photos of Sorsha

Created a sketch in Photoshop: Main colours will be blue, pink and yellow

Used Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Magical Ride and Saga Frontier as reference for the pixel art:

Used colour palette from Lospec:

Pollen8 Palette: https://lospec.com/palette-list/pollen8

Process in Photoshop: At first, I planned to make the cat round. However I realised that the final silhouette was more recognizable as a cat.

I implemented the feedback given by instructor Shane Bevin, which involved lengthening the cat's ears and altering the design of the character's hands. For the final version, please refer to the process view below.

DIGITAL GAMES MAJOR PROJECT

I designed character concept art for Kelpy’s Splash, an ocean-themed match-3 puzzle game for iOS and Android, with a focus on ocean preservation. The game follows Kelpy, a young mermaid in Seastead, as she works to keep the ocean clean. The game and character design are based on my old Kelpy concept art. The character concept includes a full-body pose, head sketches with different expressions, and will be used in dialogue cutscenes. The character won’t be animated in the game, but her portraits will change to show different emotions.

Some of the previous Kelpy concept art:

Inspired by the aesthetic of these games: 

Character Kelpy Moodboard:

I initiated the design process by sketching in my notebook. My goal was to create a different look compared to the previous Kelpy designs:

Next, I sketched out the character design in Clip Studio Paint including front, three-quarter and side view and her facial expressions:

The rendering process was completed in Photoshop following the advice of instructor Ben Eblen.

Here is the final concept art display of Kelpy, featuring a significantly brighter and more saturation depiction.

Also, here is a basic mockup featuring the character Kelpy in a dialogue scene.

Thank you for taking the time to view my artwork. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it, and I look forward to showcasing more of my work in the upcoming Rookies 2024!