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domingo, 1 de noviembre de 2015

Keep working

Hello! First off I'd like to say that I'll be using  wix  to post my weekly ramblings, so check me out here:

Carla Chanquia Art

I should've done this post a while ago but I have been crazy busy trying to manage the DMU Taekwondo team. There's always something that needs sorting and it is stressful. I have to admit that it does consume a good chunk of my time which it isn't great in terms of uni work. I know that as the year progresses it'll be less and less busy so I just try to stay calm and carry on.


The last week of this project was mostly dedicated on producing a final illustration of my character with commercial purposes. I had a couple of ideas in mind but this scene is the one that seemed to work best.
Making the initial compsition was easy, it was the painting part that scared me the most. I put some lighting information in the shape of arrows, hoping it will help me paint the character.


I started by applying colour straight away but I did have a black and white layer on top in order to check the painting's overall values. The worst part? Definetely the armour. It didn't look or feel metalic, it didn't look sleek and shiny and it made me very frustrated. I looked at other artist's work to figure out how they tackled this issue and tried to follow their technique. I also struggled a little bit with the background as sometimes it seemed to overpower my character. Perhaps I could've pushed the buildings further away, so that the middle ground would pop up a bit more.


This is my final piece. I am happy with it as I learned so much about digital painting. I tried new tools (such as the awesome burn tool) and new techniques. I also feel more confident painting armour even though it still needs work. The main issue it that it looks to 'paintily', in other words, it doesn't look very realistic. The feedback I got from my tutors is that if I want to push my grade into the 70s I need to make it look more realistic. They recomended using photographic textures as well as grunging up the scene. I need more material definition, and that's what I plan to do during the last week of the term (it's the only week we have time to go back to our projects and refine them). 

I know I can do better! Until next time!

Carla.



martes, 20 de octubre de 2015

silent hero

Hello everyone! This week has been pretty good except for the fact that I contracted a cold which has left me with no voice... The best thing is that I had to work on the DMU open day and talk to people. Anyway, this cold has slowed my progress down this week which means I am behind schedule in terms of what I should be working on atm. I do not want to skip any bits of process in order to finish the project, therefore it is time to step up my game and work harder.



So, I iterated some more, trying to push the high fashion theme and I really like some of the ideas in here. At this point though, because I hadn't spoken to anyone I wasn't very sure how to push the avant-garde concepts. I was afraid that my character would look like a fashionista rather than an armoured hero. In the end, I decided to go for the bottom right design as it looks like a safe yet cool design.



I did iterate a little bit the original design in order to find out what outfit would suit him better. I felt that baggy trousers were not the way to go for an agile sneaky armoured character and in the end the urban outfit was the one that appealed to me the most. I also struggled deciding what to do with the face 'glasses?helmet?headband?goggles?'



while deciding what to do with the face, my boyfriend who always gives me constructive critisism on my designs, had the idea of making my character wear a mask, like the Venetian ones. An expressionless, cold, mysterious mask. Then I took the basic concept and turned it into a futuristic mask. The idea was to have a predominantly metal mask with subtle neon lights going through it.


Once the design was complete, it was time for colouring! I created my colour palettes by picking them from my mood boards. Halfway through the process I realised that the colours that worked better were the ones that were close to each other in the colour palette with the addition of one or two complementaries. Also, my character is a city hero and being realistic, he wouldn't look like a neon sign for everyone to notice him. therefore I chose the more subtle, darker palettes.



And this is my final design, I wanted to do more texture exploration but a tutor came to see me yesterday and he said that I need to start working on the final illustrations and then come back to finish off my designs. He also said that he liked my character exploration and that I gave a wide verity of styles to choose from and from an Art director point of view, that's very good. Him an another teacher agreed that with some direction earlier on, perhaps I could've pushed more the avant-garde idea, but overall, they are happy.

Well, this is it for now, next step is making a cool illustration (hopefully more than one..), until next time, bye!

domingo, 11 de octubre de 2015

1,2,3!

Hello! I'm back here with plenty of things to talk about! ( I doubt I will be able to explain everything in this post). Summer was good, specially the two weeks I spent in Spain, it helped me switch off from everything and recharge my batteries for this coming year.



Throughout the holidays, I had an ongoing internal debate with myself about my future as well as my aspirations and ambitions. I had been so lost on my second year that I ended up quite torn inside by the time summer came. I wasn't happy, I tried to embrace every aspect of game art as a second year (don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the projects) but in the end, I didn't even know what I enjoyed to do anymore, I had lost my spark, my flame was slowly dying. If I were to survive 3rd year I had to do something about this situation and so I looked deep within me and eventually found the answer I have known all along 'I want to do 2D'.  I believe it was towards the end of my first year that I felt that my 2D wasn't good enough and compared to other people in my course, I had no chance to become a concept artist. I was afraid and intimidated so I tried to focus on other aspects of game art in order to find something else that I could do. Now I realise that I was a fool. I don't regret what I learned on my second year, but I am angry for giving up on myself and for not having the courage to carry on no matter what. But I will not run away anymore, I know I have a long road ahead but I am ready! I will face any obstacles head on, no matter what I have to do, I will become the artist I want to be, however long that process might be!



For the first time in a long time I feel like I am myself once again, confident and eager for adventure! Being chairwoman of the Taekwondo club has also helped me shine once again. So many people are dependent on me and my decisions that I had no choice but to (excuse me for the language) 'grow a pair of balls'. So I have dusted myself off and honestly, I have started to learn to care less about what others might think.

Well, emotional stuff aside, a good chunk of my summer has been dedicated to plan the coming Taekwondo year and being leader has been tough! It is hard to 'let go' of your power. What I mean by that is that sometimes I take on tasks that other committee members should be doing because it is easier to do it myself. It is also hard to keep a good balance of discipline and friendliness, but I always try to have a diplomatic attitude no matter the situation.


                         Yep, that's me (the red belt) on DMU's matriculation ceremony.

And because of taekwondo related activities + lack of money I have missed plenty of gaming related events such as industry workshops and EGX...It really sucks not being able to go to those places but I hope to go at some point in the future.

Last but not least I would like to talk about this first week back at uni, which has been...surprising.

I went into our first lecture with no idea of what my third year was going to be like and I came out very excited! For us third years, they have created this style matrix which means every single one of us can specialise either on 3D, 2D or VFX /UI. We have a wide range of briefs to choose from and each one of them is tailored to a specific style.
I have chosen to go for the 2D oriented ones and my goal is to do a realistic, a semi-stylised and a fully stylised project. I want to have a verity of styles on my portfolio which in theory, should make me more employable in the future.

The first project I have chosen is a realistic brief, to be specific, the armoured character project. The tasks are pretty straight forward, gather reference material, concept, iterate, colour test and create a final illustration of the character. The challenge is making it realistic. My drawing is slightly stylised (do to the many years drawing manga...) and I will have to try hard to stay within the realism realm.




Considering this year is about pushing myself and my skills I though 'because making a realistic character isn't enough of challenge, let's create a futuristic character!' I never do sci-fi, like ever. I always thought it's awesome but I am more drawn to fantasy, medieval and organic looking things in general. I have always struggled to draw futuristic things, but hey, I can't run away from this forever!

I started off with a military mood board to observe how contemporary armor looks like, and to understand how technology can enhance a soldier's strength. Then I moved into a more urban style of armor, more sleek and futuristic. And then I moved onto my ultimate goal, to make my armoured hero a cyber/arcade/avant-garde looking character.


And these are my first set of characters I created. I have struggled with every single one of them, I just didn't know how to draw armour. I used line drawing for all of them and some took well over an hour to make...I know, it is embarrassing. I could've photobashed images or work with silhouettes but I think working with a brush has helped me understand their shapes and their functionality better. Also, I probably won't get a better time to take my time to analyse what I am doing than university because once I get a job, everything will be 'produce stuff quickly!'.

Anyhow, my main concern is how much can I push the futuristic design before it loses its sense of realism. I was meant to see a tutor on Friday to discuss my project but no one came to see me (they ran out of time) and it left me with all these doubts on how to go about this project. I am annoyed because everyone got feedback except me...So I'll trust my instincts and carry on with what I had in mind, maybe I'll get to talk with someone next time.

I want to push some of my designs forward, once happy with them I will move onto material definition and colour testing. Finally I will make orthographic views of my character and a final highly rendered illustration.

And this is it for now, until next time!

Carla.


miércoles, 8 de julio de 2015

A little sunshine

Hi, I know I haven't been posting much recently but I have been pretty busy...I have also been worrying quite a lot about results day BUT results were given on the 30th of June and I got 65% or a 2:1 which it is awesome! I thought I was going to get a 2:2 therefore I was incredibly happy to find out that I did better than I expected. What surprised me the most was having 70% on Critical Studies and Visual Design which has given me a boost of confidence towards next year. On the other side I thought my Game Production module would sit at 60% but it went down to 56%... I know 3D is my weakest aspect and I need to work on it if I want to have an awesome looking FMP.

Therefore, happy times! If I work twice as hard as I did this year, I am in the position where I could achieve a first on my degree.


And results aside, I have been sorting out accommodation for next year as well as my holidays. I recently realised that my passport has expired and I have a month to renew it before I have to go to Spain (I already booked my tickets), yes I know I should've done it earlier but I already have an appointment with the Spanish embassy in London and I should be okay...



I have also been doing some speed paintings from time to time although I struggle to put in enough detail in 30min...and I hate them all afterwards. For some reason I seem to struggle to blend colours and define shapes. I feel like I haven't found that one brush that works with my style of drawing and painting. I guess I'll keep experimenting and see what happens...


It is so much easier to grab a a pen and make random doodles on a page. I suppose it is partially due to the fact I have been drawing with a pen since I was a 3 year old. I don't think on how to use the tool anymore, I know exactly how to be gentle and harsh with it, I am in control of my strokes and line work, I just let imagination shape what I have in mind. I just wish I was the same with digital media, it is definitely harder to handle than traditional media. There are too many options, too many tools!




To conclude this post I just want to talk about some of my sketches I did a few days ago around Leicester. For those Game Art students and Alumni who are still around, we meet from time to time to sketch together around the city. It is a great idea since I don't really like to go out by myself and draw in the cold weather even though it is summer (English weather yay...)

I was planing on going to some art lessons over the summer but money isn't too good so it is great to be able to keep practicing my traditional art skills.

And this is it from me, I'll be going home in a week and get my passport sorted! Oh yes, I almost forgot, there is something I am working on but it is a secret (I don't want to get my hopes to high..)

Until next time!

Carla.

domingo, 21 de junio de 2015

Awaiting for results

Hello! I know I should have posted a while ago but I've just been procrastinating the task...I guess I've just been very bored since I parted off from uni...I have been doing my own stuff but it is not the same as working at uni.

Anyhow, I went to the DMU Game Art degree show about a week ago and I was pleased to see how good some of the third years work looked like! I really want to be as awesome as them by this time next year! (fingers crossed). I didn't really talk to anyone since they all seemed busy showing their work to family and friends. It was nice to see their FMPs finalised and on display though, it definitely inspired me.

In terms of my life, I have been doing quite a lot of work for TKD since I was elected chair for next academic year. All I can say is paper work, paper work everywhere! It haunts me...well, I am exaggerating but the amount of forms I have to fill in it's ridiculous. Apart from that, I am happy to be chair, it is a big responsibility and I like to see it as a challenge, a way to prove my leadership skills.  



Talking about skills....last post I mentioned that I wanted to practise my fundamentals and so far I have been doing alright. I need to keep pushing myself to do it, and do it more often! My plan is to dedicate every day to a different aspect of drawing and eventually move onto 3D.



I also, realised how hard it is to draw technically. It is almost mathematical and my head hurts after every drawing session! It is fascinating how everything can be broken up into smaller and smaller components, until only lines remain. I guess that's the difference between being an amateur and a professional artist. I always used to think that great paintings were freely drawn but I was very wrong...


I am also keeping up with my digi paintings! I try to do speed paintings everyday but sometimes the topics are quite abstract and I give up half way through...(I know, I should keep going, even if it looks terrible).
My current tutors are mainly 3 awesome books:

Figure Drawing for all it´s worth - Andrew Loomis
How to draw - Scott Robertson
Digital painting techniques - 3D total

I also follow some online tutorials from time to time since I learn better when someone is talking. Words confuse me sometimes.


I have so much to learn in a small period of time but I will keep on working and see what happens, I am just tired of doubting myself...

I have more to tell but I think I'll leave if for next post, see you soon!

Carla

domingo, 31 de mayo de 2015

Some personal work

Hello everyone! I hope my last post didn't put you to sleep! Well this time around I will be posting some pictures instead, mainly work I have done on my spare time since I parted off from uni.


On my quest to become a concept artist (one day..) I do little bits of concepting here and there, to be fair I barely keep any of the projects because I am not happy with them.

The image above though was an experiment I did after watching Feng Zhu's Design Cinema ep 70. The main idea is to pick a scene of an old game and carry out a re-design. It was pretty fun and I really enjoyed integrating photo textures onto my own painting!


Next is an entry for a fan art challenge which I actually won! The character belongs to Clash of Lords 2 by IGG and my idea was to make a more realistic version of this hero. I got a lot of support and compliments for it which has made me more confident to show my work on public sites.



The last two pictures are speed paintings I have done since I joined the daily spitpaint facebook page. Everyday they post four different topics and we have 30 min to come up with something (no photo textures allowed). I kind of like it. It gets me into the habit of generating ideas fast and producing something within a time budget.

Right now I am working over the fundamentals of drawing which I will be showing you guys on my next post, possibly...

On a side note, I just passed my red stripe TKD grading! Only two more gradings for black belt!

Until next time!

Carla.

jueves, 28 de mayo de 2015

Reflecting upon this year

Hello! This blog post is a shorter, more informal version of the reflective essay we had to submit a few weeks ago.


My second year as a Game Art Design student at De Montfort University has been a journey of personal growth and self-acceptance of my own weaknesses and strengths. It has been a period of change and transformation, a time for experimentation but, above all, it has been a stage for important decisions to be made.

Working in a team has been a positive and rewarding experience. Every group project I have worked on this year involved a process of adaptation. From time to time I disagreed with the group and in some cases one would attempt to enforce an idea, resulting in an uncomfortable situation.  To begin with, I found it difficult to convey my ideas and thoughts and I felt invisible to the rest of my team members. This could be attributed to a lack of confidence in my own skills, as I am an introverted person.

As I progressed through the year, I gradually came to realise that my ideas were at least worth consideration and that certain projects could have been different with my input; I wanted to be heard. It was not until the Container City project that I broke through the shell and began to have a bigger impact on group work.  

Being part of a team has given me a sense of responsibility and tolerance. Working together meant we were able to share the workload, thus achieving a higher productivity rate within the time limit. As artists we work in diverse manners, with different speed and it is only when we move in accordance to our colleagues that we progress. I have experienced both sides of the spectrum this year, for example working in fast-paced dynamic teams would occasionally result in falling behind on my work, which made it seem like I was slowing our productivity. I discovered the complexity of adapting to a pace one is not comfortable working at and I learned that rather than riddling myself with guilt I should strive to contribute faster every time. On the other side of the matter, working within a team with a lower productivity rate can often become frustrating.  If I would try to push each one to produce work faster then it would only decrease performance. Therefore, the only available action was to be patient and encourage them to work harder via positive reinforcement. In theory this may have been the correct method, but it also proved to be tasking in terms of meeting a deadline.


Also, this year has been demanding in terms of technical skills required and I have been under constant pressure to achieve the expected high level of commitment to the course. From day one I was asked to produce vast amounts of work over small time periods. I also switched from working in traditional media to digital media (with exception to life drawing) almost instantaneously, which I found overwhelming. Furthermore I had to change diffuse and specular maps methods for PBR texturing. It was difficult to adopt this complex method and I struggled trying find the logic behind it, causing much frustration. As the year progressed I began to understand the concept of PBR texturing in depth and it resulted in lower stress levels, whilst instilling a boost of confidence to my skills as a game artist.  
 On the Visual Design side of the course I went out of my comfort zone by using new methods of creative designing such as silhouette design and photobashing. 

The biggest challenge I have faced this year has been presented in the Off the Map competition, sponsored by GameCity and the British Library which we just finished.  In such an ambitious project I set high expectations for myself, thus I decided to create a fully animated rabbit that would run through the level. Our course promotes independent learning and as one progresses into third year the amount of taught lessons decreases, meaning for this animation task I was to work alone. I sought help from books and video tutorials and gradually the pieces of the project began falling into place. As the project continued, I became familiar with independent problem solving and, because of this, partially losing contact with teaching staff was not a huge concern. I now realise that upon entering the workplace, in this case the gaming industry, constant work supervision will not be provided so I also appreciate this process of detachment that my university tutors encourage. Furthermore, this has given me a greater analytical way of thinking when perceiving feedback, as I have learned to decipher key information to react, implement and change. After a trial-and-error animation process and several challenges I came across when implementing the character into the game engine, my group currently has an AI-controlled rabbit guiding the player through the level. The appreciation I have received is the most rewarding feeling I have had of yet and feeds my appetite for producing more successful pieces of game art.

During the course of every project, I have had to present them in front of a small audience, mainly composed of the Critical Studies team and peers, with focus on testing my “soft skills”.  I approve of this method, because I believe that in order to succeed one must be able to present themselves properly, to communicate well and to convey their ideas in a non-imposing manner. Positively reacting to feedback is also important, so through publically exposing myself to constructive criticism is a great way to improve and build confidence. I still feel nervous when talking in front of an audience, especially if it is a topic I am unfamiliar with, but I have learned a certain degree of improvisation and also to stay positive throughout presenting.

            I can see now that not only have I refined both technical and soft skills, but also my personality and future vision have both been enhanced for the better. At the beginning of the year I was adamant that I wanted to become a concept artist, because I have always been enthusiastic about expressing my creativity through drawing and painting. However, as time progressed and I became more proficient using 3D tools I started second guessing my career vision as I questioned whether concept art was the path that I desired to take. As a result, I sought clarification by choosing to experiment with as many aspects of game art as I could. At this point in time, I have sculpted figures via 3D software, completed VFX work, animated characters and completed forms of coding via blueprints in Unreal Engine 4. After having a feel for all those different aspects of creating games I thought I would be able to establish a preferred area to work in, but the truth is that I still cannot choose one and this worries me. Not being able to see a goal in my future career is proving a daunting thought. I feel that my third year focus should be to improve all range of skills previously stated in order to provide an excellent understanding of many aspects that will make deciding job aspirations easier. 

If I had to pick my ideal job then it would likely involve working as a freelancing concept artist. My main reason is the freedom given to work from anywhere in the world and the enjoyment of working in many different projects and clients instead of being bound by the restrictions of being part of a company. However, I have been considering other options due to the realisation that it would take me many years to develop the skills needed to become successful. I feel may be so focused on my weaknesses that I tend to disregard my strengths. I think I need to analyse my personal findings and reflect upon them to choose the best course of action.

I am uncertain of what career lies ahead so I will learn as much as I can on various aspects to end up with a broad range of skills that would improve my employability. My plan of action for the next few months is to train my fundamental skills such as life drawing, perspective drawing and rendering techniques. I also want to revise my character work, produce better models by improving silhouettes and topology as well as learn new techniques to be able to work more efficiently. I wish to improve my texturing skills for stylised and realistic characters, as well as improving mesh deformation in the case of applying animations. Last but not least I'd like to learn more about Unreal Engine 4 to create better looking games. I also need to brainstorm ideas for my FMP (Final Major Project), considering it is the pinnacle of all the knowledge I have gathered during my three years as a game art student.


To conclude, this academic year has broadened and refined my technical knowledge, from sketching the human body to placing playable characters into a game. It has taught me about the value of team work within the video games industry and by losing the fear to speak my mind I have been rewarded with the necessary tools to be able to communicate properly and to work in a sociable environment. This experience has also promoted my independent learning as well as increasing my adaptability and tolerance to work with different people. It has also fomented the importance of good organisational and planning skills and opened my mind to new career paths that has made me question my future aspirations. 


I know it's still long but this has been my second year at DMU. Thank you for reading and see you soon!