Proposal

Unit 13 – Project Proposal

Candidate Name	Morgan Clark
Pathway	2D Concept Art
Project Title	Order & Chaos: The Last Light

Section 1: Review

During my time at college, I have acquired a large range of skills both technical, and also in my artistic abilities. Before starting this course, I had very limited knowledge of both 3D modelling and programming languages, as well as a basic efficiency in Adobe Photoshop. I first started down this career path by choosing a level two qualification, which helped me gain a fundamental idea of the types of areas I can progress into within this industry, and the requirements both in the knowledge and game structure to be successful. When starting my first year into level three, this was much different, and tested my skills in quick learning, and productivity, which only continued to grow as I moved onto the second year. I focused on my specialism being 2D concept art, as this was the area I had the most knowledge and enjoyment when practicing both 2D and 3D art within the course; I learnt and thoroughly enjoyed creating 2D animations, hand painted textures, and experimenting with different art forms such as isometric and pixel art. 

Additionally to this, I eventually started to also gain an interest in 3D modelling, especially as my skills developed in my 3D art sessions, where I produced a Western Saloon and 3D dagger. This form of art also tested my 2D skills, as I got to create hand painted textures, as well as use other types of software such as Substance Painter, and then eventually Substance Designer. Although these were much more technical and harder to learn, it really broadened my set of skills, and made me more enthusiastic to experiment with the types of art I could create. My traditional art has also improved massively since joining the course, my life drawing sessions in particular made me want to focus more on my perspective, shape and dynamics of both characters and environments. I realized that if I wanted to improve my digital artwork, (which is what I preferred) improving these skills would have a massive impact in the overall quality of my digital final pieces. I worked harder on developing these areas, which also had an impact on the range of work I could put in my portfolio. 

Throughout my education, I have had very little interest in purely academic areas, as I considered them dull, and made me unable to express the creativity and fun that I wanted in a potential career. Gaming has always been a large part of my life and also my interest in technology and computers, so when I discovered I could be apart of making an experience that I had seen, this was something I was immediately drawn too and became excited about. My interest in art is something that I had played around with, although I wanted this to be more direct to the interest of environment, character and weapon design which I was passionate about; this meant that a traditional art course was not an option for me, which is why games development was a great step in the areas that I wanted to persist. Additionally, this course was suited to me, as I also had an interest in music, and this course would give me the opportunity to incorporate this hobby within my work, as I look at areas such as sound production. This opportunity to use all of my interests within my work, and create a career which suits my enjoyment is extremely important to me, which is why I take my studies seriously, so I can use games development to progress further into my aspirations. 

Previously to my current final project, I have focused heavily on working on character development, both traditionally and digitally, one of the areas that needed improvement at the start of year one. Further to this, Once I had experimented with character design both in the first year and in my previous level 2, I worked on my environments, as shown in my western and cyberpunk projects, a skill in which I believe I excelled at much more quickly, as well as enjoyed. Because of these experiments in these areas, I wanted to progress in animal and creature design, as this is something I haven’t tried to produce before, taking me out of my comfort zone and allowing me to create a variety of different types of art which I believe is important when becoming a concept artist. Additionally, I have a strong fascination with mythology, and my project focusing on a religious route as stated in my research, allows me to explore this subject as I choose in a genre I particularly enjoy. Importantly, a lot of my projects have undertaken a rather stylish approach, and in this project I particularly want to focus on my detailing and shadows, and really define this realism within my work to show I can work in all different styles and themes. 

Looking at my short term and long term aspirations, I want to use my gap year as a way to grow in myself and in my work. Throughout these two years, I have learnt a large amount of skills, and requirements to work in the game industry, and I think I could do much better if I focused on adapting these skills and using the software that I have been taught to create my own projects, and really learn my own style and type of artwork I can produce both in 2D and 3D, as well as traditional. I also think I need to gain more work experience, and save money so i’m ready for the commitments that university needs both in living and the workloads; which is something I will focus on when leaving college. For my longer-term aspirations, I want to use my year as a confident way to progress into university knowing I have both the skill, money, and mental ability to progress and prosper my future career shown in my grades. 

From leaving university, I would love to progress as either a 2D or 3D artist depending on where my skills in university lead me, towards a career in the industry working for an Indie company. My most important factors during this time, is to develop on all the skills I need for where I want to go, and ensure that I keep improving both on myself and in my education to have a fulfilling career, family and stability. More from this, I don’t want to limit myself to a specific area, as mentioned previously I also have skills and a passion for music, as well as story building, so these are also areas I could look at when moving forward both while in university, and after. 

Section 2: Project Concept

For my final project, I plan on creating five boards representing a contrast of the seven deadly sins and their immorality, and the pure nature of the seven heavenly virtues. These representations will be created as creatures and animals with colours, and visual style that depicts one of its chosen values. For these creations I conducted research around what animals are typically linked to these set of both ‘good and evil’ emotions, as well as their historical links in both religion and in mythology. For example, a unicorn is seen as being the pinnacle of ‘chastity’ as a virtue, meaning they represent everything that is pure in the world. For this reason, my centered board would be a creation of a unicorn concept piece facing forward, where one side of this is pure, and ultimately good, and the other would be fiery and hellish rather showing this as a sin, and also how corruption and chaos can form and be apart of an order. For my other concept boards, I wasn’t able to show all seven of each, as this would not only be too much work, but also there wouldn’t be enough space for display. For this reason, I decided to choose two of each, picking the values I considered the strongest elements of both the sins and the virtues. 

For my sin art pieces, I chose ‘wrath’ and envy, as I believe these could be exaggerated in my pieces effectively, as well as their chosen animals being easier to interpret; for example, the “wrath” would be shown by a wolf, specifically the wolf in Norse mythology called ‘Fenrir’, a monstrous creature known for having a dark soul. For envy, many religions and also opinions suggest a snake is the best creature to show envy, which is why the colour that is usually used to show this emotion is green. Although, I wanted my artwork to show extreme evil and darkness as this is from a religious perspective; which is why I rather chose the beast of a basilisk, as this is found in Greek mythology, and known for being aggressive and causing death via a single glance. 

For the creation of my heavenly virtue boards, I plan on taking the opposite approach and producing a pure and uplifting appearance to show the good nature of the values chastity and patience. For chastity, the stoat was a creature said in ancient times to present purity, especially considering they have a winter white coat. To show patience, the owl is considered to possess this quality with wisdom, as well as being the goddess Athena’s sacred animal; associated with an owls exceptional night vision, symbolizing her abilities to ‘see’ what others cannot. 

List of board creations and assets:

• Centre landscape board with a half and half representation of good and evil shown through a unicorn concept board. (whites, pinks, yellows, light greys/black, dark grey, red, orange colours).
• A ferocious wolf (based upon Fenrir) concept board to show the sin “wrath”. (Dark and light grey, black, blue, green, brown colours).  – Shown on a clifftop forest background.
• Serpent basilisk concept board to show the sin “envy”. (Dark green, light green, red, grey and black colours). – Shown in a cave and dingy environment. 
• Snowy owl concept board to show the virtue “patience”. (white, black, light blue, light brown colours).  – Shown in a light natural forest (bright colours). 
• Stoat animal concept board to show the virtue “chastity”. (white, brown, black, grey, beige colours). – Shown near a riverside with floating logs. 

Software and materials I am going to use: 

• Pens/paper/pencils for initial sketches
• Pinterest to access my mood-board images for inspiration
• Access to WordPress and the internet for dev log and images
• Adobe Photoshop software for work production
• Wacom Graphics tablet and pen

Section 3: Evaluation

When evaluating my work, I will record the progression  of my product using a development log structure. This will be used as a documentation of where I am at currently within the week, and what still needs completing. Throughout this, I will reflect on what I have created, and refer to the improvements that can be made until the finished piece. Looking at my feedback, I will use my tutor and peer reflections and advice to generate new aspects to my project, and ensure that my work is meeting the requirements for the grade I want. When evaluating my conclusion of my finished pieces, I will reflect on the overall presentation and quality through my evaluation, and refer back to what I liked and disliked about my work, my decision making will be recorded weekly, and will be determined by what I produce, and what my feed-back recommends I change; which will be documented throughout my test piece final production stages of my blog. Overall, I plan on using the techniques learnt throughout these two years, such as initial and developed sketches, colour ideas and photo-bashes, as these will help me decrease my work time, and ensure that my concept art is reaching an excellent standard. 

Proposed Research Sources and Bibliography (Harvard Format)

Lerew, J. (2012). The art of Disney Pixar Brave. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, pp.36,38,44,45.

Sunshine, L. (2014). The art of DreamWorks How to train your dragon 2. UK: Deblois, pp.4,17,23,25,40,43,47.

reddit. (2020). Skin Concept: Prehistoric (Saber-tooth) Fortress. [online] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/vainglorygame/comments/dq7tbf/skin_concept_prehistoric_sabertooth_fortress/ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2020].

Longislandpress.com. (2020). http://www.longislandpress.com. [online] Available at: https://www.longislandpress.com/2018/07/15/straight-talk-on-snakes/ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2020].

(1987). In G. Scarfe, Scarfe’s Seven Deadly Sins (pp. 3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11). Hamish Hamilton.

Lightbulb Games Studio. (2020). Pros & Cons of Being Solo Indie Developer. [online] Available at: http://thelightbulbgames.weebly.com/blog–news/pros-cons-of-being-solo-indie-developer [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Birmingham City University. (2020). Life in the Development Studio- Video Game Design and Production. [online] Available at: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/games-film-animation/fast-track/life-in-the-development-studio-video-game-design-and-production [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Bibleinfo.com. (2020). What are the seven deadly sins? | Bibleinfo.com. [online] Available at: https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/what-are-seven-deadly-sins [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Kitagawa, R. (2020). Seven Deadly (Soft Enamel) Pins. [online] Kickstarter. Available at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/monkeyandseal/seven-deadly-soft-enamel-pins/posts [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Amazon.com. (2020). /Posada-Hounded-Engraving-Century-Guadalupe/dp/B07C8BX4XB. [online] Available at: https://www.amazon.com/Posada-Hounded-Engraving-Century-Guadalupe/dp/B07C8BX4XB [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Knight, R. (2020). Everything You Need to Know about Shazam!’s Seven Deadly Sins. [online] DC. Available at: https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2019/04/22/everything-you-need-to-know-about-shazams-seven-deadly-sins [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Moayedi, P. (2020). /artwork/Qkn0x. [online] https://www.artstation.com/. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Qkn0x [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Deviantart.com. (2020). The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath by HellraptorStudios on DeviantArt. [online] Available at: https://www.deviantart.com/hellraptorstudios/art/The-Seven-Deadly-Sins-Wrath-809930099 [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Deviantart.com. (2020). The Seven Deadly Sins: Envy by HellraptorStudios on DeviantArt. [online] Available at: https://www.deviantart.com/hellraptorstudios/art/The-Seven-Deadly-Sins-Envy-810398694 [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

The Evil Wiki. (2020). Hell (theology). [online] Available at: https://evil.fandom.com/wiki/Hell_(theology) [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Deviantart.com. (2020). The Seven Deadly Sins: Lust by HellraptorStudios on DeviantArt. [online] Available at: https://www.deviantart.com/hellraptorstudios/art/The-Seven-Deadly-Sins-Lust-810148993 [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Khose, V. (2020). Concept Art – Whisper Of Hell. [online] Vijaykhose07.blogspot.com. Available at: http://vijaykhose07.blogspot.com/2017/06/concept-art-whisper-of-hell.html [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Community – CCSLC – SportsLogos.Net Forums. (2020). EBA – Elite Basketball Alliance. [online] Available at: https://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/76762-eba-elite-basketball-alliance/page/32/ [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

DK Find Out!. (2020). DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!. [online] Available at: https://www.dkfindout.com/us/animals-and-nature/weasels/stoats/ [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Shutterstock. (2020). Heavenly Sunset Clouds Background Stock Footage Video (100% Royalty-free) 1006915030 | Shutterstock. [online] Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-1006915030-heavenly-sunset-clouds-background [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Heaven?, W. (2020). Who is Waiting at the Gates of Heaven?. [online] Beliefnet.com. Available at: https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/christianity/who-is-waiting-at-the-gates-of-heaven.aspx [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Creativeuncut.com. (2020). Ishgard Landscape Art – Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Art Gallery. [online] Available at: https://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-29/ff14-ishgard-landscape.html [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

DiamondXpres. (2020). Snowy White Owls. [online] Available at: https://www.diamondxpres.com/products/snowy-white-owls [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Flickr. (2020). Pure White Ermine – Short Tailed Weasel. [online] Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alaskafreezeframe/25048429097 [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Sanchez, R. (2020). This Club is Heavenly!. [online] The Cougar Daily. Available at: https://cougardaily.org/8141/student-life/this-club-is-heavenly/ [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Wide Open Country. (2020). 20 Best Country Songs About Heaven. [online] Available at: https://www.wideopencountry.com/country-songs-about-heaven/ [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].

Project Action Timetable:

This was my project action plan that I created to record the progression of my project throughout the twelve weeks. I based this upon my research, problem solving and production stages, which will give me a clear scheme to follow and allow me to have good time management. 

PROJECT PROPOSAL DOCUMENT: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k7FtDDo8KyBy-G-zZLJT8HI_FdwlgLBEgxjViWXIcdg/edit