RileyDillonArt Rookie awards submission

Rock&Roll Siblings

These are my most recent character designs, as well as the best representation of my current skill level and interests. Anything vaguely rebellious in nature tends to draw my eye.

The idea came about, thinking that a younger sibling wearing the older one's jacket would be funny. It then turned into even more when I started brainstorming.

I started mapping out vague statements to start getting a feel for the characters. I realise reading this, that the points I wrote down are pretty plain and unoriginal, but it established a direction for me very early on. This made it extremely easy to just jot down some basic sketches of ideas I like.

Design-wise, I find it easier to draw some faces, and then design the rest based on my final choice. Quickly I found the best three faces for my female sibling. I wanted her to look like a rockstar, but not too wealthy or "clean". I really liked the second face, but scratched it for not fitting that vibe. the first face did though, and had a very fun hair shape (reminded me vaguely of Goku)

For the lil guy I pretty much just let my hand do its thing, and ended up with this face shape. I was not a fan of the mullet, and the second one just looks like a mountain on his head. The third option has the classic punk look, while retaining his personality. 

with those choices settled, I designed four outfits, and then made variations of each, to see what i like. for me personally, it was between the first and fourth design. But number four fell into the same trap of looking like the theme, but not enough rough edges and damage. 

Colour choice was pretty easy for these guys. lots of black, and their hair should complement each other.

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The next three characters are the best of three I did for a campaign design project during my year studying Concept Art at Friends of Design - Academy of Digital Arts. 

These three characters (Deacon, Emi, and Tyler respectively) are the group of good guys n my campaign, so they have to be distinct and interesting.

Each character has their own artistic pursuit that had to be incorporated as well.

For deacon, a character that goes from 0 to 100 instantly in lifestyle, i wanted to make sure his character design is either extremely dull, or extremely eye catching. for this reason, I made sure he wore bright red with less saturated colours on the other clothes. He is a digital/street artist, so the drawing glove just made sense. he has a signature bag for all his tools that had to be designed too. I settled on a worn, beat up look for the bag, incorporating all his colours into it.

Emi was a tough one. I had the idea for a partner in crime for deacon, who does fashion design. This obviously means that, realistically she would change her look often. The important part for making her recognizable would have to be her hair then. The space buns with longer hair looks interesting and stands well on its own, solving that problem. The final outfit has a very streetwear look to it, Alluding a bit to her background and personality. She also has the same choker and piercing as Deacon to visually indicate friendship.

Tyler is a little less important than the other two, but also came to me much easier. The goal was to show someone not willing to do anything but what he wants, no matter his living conditions. He is an officially unemployed, underground dancer. Both designs fit the bill, but the shape language was pretty interesting on the hoodie. dancers also tend to wear larger clothing to accentuate movement. Dull colours added to the somber vibe of the character.

For the next part of the campaign, I had to make a Mock-Up of  a scene for my characters, showcasing the look and feel of everything. My main cast are a group of artists standing up to a large mega corporation, So I put them in a scene, vandalising said corporation. I framed the mockup as an instagram post to add some extra story. 

I also used this piece to experiment with changing Emi's design slightly, while keeping her silhouette intact. Tyler has his alternate design to fit the rebellious act more.

The piece is quite messy, but the concept was strong enough through the image to convey the setting and feeling of my campaign.

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Parkour Runner

This is a rather old project of mine, but I'm adding it to showcase a bit of range in style. This was an assignment focusing on character design, using Photobashing as my main tool. I chose to make a runner inspired by the game Mirror's edge.

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Next I'll be showcasing some Illustration pieces.

The first two are Fanart (Gokurakugai and Persona 5 respectively). The others are quick illustrations I thought were interesting ideas.  I enjoy making these in between Character design projects.