More inspiration!

I've always had a love for the clothing and armour of other cultures/time periods.
In particular, I have been looking at traditional clothing from Dynasty era, Tibet and other parts of central Asia. These designs appeal to me over traditional fantasy armour, which is usually based on English knighthood wear. Don't get me wrong, I like fantasy knights in shiny armour as much as the next guy, but to me the nomadic approach is a much subtler and aesthetically more pleasing.

These traditional outfits are bright and colourful, featuring many interesting layer combinations that I wouldn't have normally considered when suiting a character. I would very much like to incorporate these kind of outfits in my project. 

(above)

The asymmetry of the shoulder/arms is a really interesting concept here.

The hood/shawls here are intriguing, and steer away from the "armour" look.
I feel that my character(s) should be more suited for travel than defense.

11/09/15 - New thoughts and planning!

A base idea is forming! I'm thinking of doing a Visual Development project/book based on either an existing fairy/folk tale or creating my own world entirely.
Last year for Computer Arts Practice, I tasked myself to create a species as a world building/character design challenge to myself. I was fairly happy with the results, but I noticed that I quickly became disinterested creating the same style of characters over and over. The project was also limited by my own imagination, as I had tried to create these species and characters completely from scratch.
I've noticed a lot of my stronger concept/design pieces come from projects with an existing narrative or idea to sort of "kick off" the design process. This is probably a more realistic approach to concept design, as industry work seldom has artists creating concepts from their own imagination entirely. 

I also feel that having a full printed art book would be a great portfolio piece as well as a leearn

I've been looking through folklore tales, using Goodreads.com or Wikipedia to try and inspire some concepts. One that stuck out to me was Jack the Giant Killer. (the grimm tale, not the movie).

This immediately stood out for me. Just reading the title, my mind began creating concepts and images of huge, towering creatures in sprawling landscapes, being faced by a lone hero. 

This resonates with my love of the game Shadow of the Colossus, a game where a single human takes on 16 giant creatures, each one drastically different from the last. 

Some inspiring Shadow Of the Colossus screenshots/art

Another inspiring set of designs is FromSoftware's Bloodborne. This game features a plethora of giant creatures and disgusting, otherworldly concept designs.
I am particularly a fan of the gore/grotesque creatures in this game, as well as it's predecessor, Dark Souls.

Below are some character concepts also from Bloodborne and Dark souls.

I really like this style of concept painting, where the characters still look illustrative and painterly, yet show a full armour concept that makes sense to the viewer.

09/09/15 - Things I like/Things that are inspiring me at the moment!

Our lecture today further explained what was to be expected this year, more about what to think about when coming up with a proposal. It was a relief getting all this information so quickly, as I can immediately begin researching!

The last few days I've been pouring over my collection of art books and reference materials, thinking of what I would like out of this year, and the best way to achieve this. My personal goal this year is to produce something that I can use as a porfolio piece to ideally make me a desirable candidate for work in the film/games industry after university. 

One of the most inspiring pieces of research I've come across is The Skillful Huntsman, a visual development book based loosely on a Brother's Grimm tale. This book is a collaboration of 4 concept artists, and shows the various stages of concept design and visualization.

This book is one of my primary sources of inspiration, in both aesthetic and pipeline senses. The Skillful Huntsman demonstrates each and every stage of visual development, from thumbnail sketching to painted environmental renders. This is the kind of work I strive to produce.

First Entry! Decisions, decisions.

This will be my first entry as a 4th year Computer Arts student! Scary stuff.
Over summer, i've tried to build an image of where I want to be at the end of fourth year.
Number 1 on this list is being able to show off a portfolio that i'm proud of, and will hopefully secure me a job/internship/other opportunity that will take me further in my career and well, life!

My main problem as 4th year rolls around is the fear that i'm just not skilled enough to make it.
Throughout university, I have learned these things:

Digital Illustration/Concept Art - I like doing this, wish to improve and am proud of my work so far.

2D Character Design - I like doing this, and I want to get better at this.

2D Environment Design - I like doing this, I want to get better at this.

3D Environment Design - I enjoy this from an illustrative view, I create an environment for engine in 3rd year, this was a good experience and I learned a lot, but I really struggled at the technical side of modelling.

Now i'm faced with the decision whether to work into the things I'm less skilled at, to try and give myself a good "all rounder" portfolio, or to focus on 2D art and really polish my strongest skills.

This is a tough one. 

Putting all my eggs in the 2D basket could prove too narrow a scope for this project (i'm yet to discuss any of this with any lecturers/tutors). However, being novice in all things wouldn't give me a portfolio i'd truly be proud of. 

On top of this, I must come up with a question to answer/discuss with my project.

I'm leaning towards concept art/illustration, due to a few things:

• 2D art is my strong suite. I'm most passionate and learned in this realm.
• Following this would allow multiple paths for the future, concept art, illustration, visual development. This is what steered me away from 3D and programming-based roles, as I feel like 4th year is more about becoming professional in a specific field(s), as opposed to trying to become "acceptable" at all/most fields.

 Problem with this:

• Many times throughout my education at Abertay, I have been dissuaded from "chasing the concept art dream". I can understand this, as 2D concept art is a narrow field and being a professional in only this realm may limit my hireability.