BFA is done

My BFA show is finally done and hanging up. I didn't get to do all the pieces that I wanted, but I'm still glad its over and I can start sleeping normally again. Here are some more sketches for it that I haven't posted yet, this time for the Mantis Ant boss design:

S Words

Worked all weekend on sword designs for the BFA, here's a low-res sneak peak

The idea was to come up with something that would feel futuristic, but still be identifiable as a sword. In the story, the sword is found stuck in a rock by some waterfalls. So I've been wrestling with keeping that detail from the story (cuz I think its awesome) and creating a science-fiction weapon - for example, in the future, they obviously wouldn't use plain, old metal swords. If they used any kind of hand-combat weapon, it would have to be much stronger and probably made out of some sort of crazy energy (like Halo's energy sword, or lightsabers from Star Wars). What kind of energy would it be? Light? Plasma? Electricity? And how would the hilt be designed? Would it be bulky? Slim?

All this considered, the sword has to look unique, one-of-a-kind. Its supposed to be a legendary weapon with hidden spiritual power - it can't look manufactured.

Sketches for my Show

I need your help: here are some sketches for characters I've been working on for my BFA show. I want your reactions to them - leave a comment, send me a message, email me, etc. about 2 things:

1. What costumes, designs, hair, any details that you like or don't like (ie what is appealing?)
2. What you think works with the context that I've written on each character, and/or any suggestions you might have to better fit that context

Here's the context for these:
The characters are reboot designs of an old fantasy video game called "Secret of Mana." Here's the original game art (and yeah, that's pretty much all of it). I wanted to redesign the characters in a science-fiction setting but still keep some of the fantasy feel to it. The 3 main characters are a boy, a girl, and a "sprite" child; here are there descriptions from the SNES game that I want to visualize

Boy: All physical ability, no magic, specializes with the sword. In the game, he comes from a small village, is somewhat timid and unsure of himself, and doesn't say much. He's resistant to his adventure at first but eventually accepts it, more out of a sense of duty than anything else.

Girl: Some physical ability, uses healing/defensive magic, specializes in martial-arts combat. She's the daughter of a nobleman in a large kingdom and is very talkative, but she's also hot-tempered and often lashes out recklessly.

Sprite: Low physical ability, uses offensive magic constantly. The comic-relief character who is somewhat unaware of emotional tension around him. Has an untamed, wild feel to him. Likes to play jokes and trick people. In this science-fiction version, he uses advanced technology instead of magic

Final project for one of my classes. Its a scene from a video game I played as a kid: Secret of Mana. Here's the process of how I painted it-

Started with a speed painting to lay down basic composition and colors. The scene in the game is where the protagonist falls off a bridge, down a waterfall, and lands in a valley where he finds a sword stuck in the ground. You can see the bridge in the background on the left.

Changed some of the shapes to be more interesting and added more greens to the closest cliffside. Also gave the sword a red cloth tied to it to make it more noticeable

Stared fleshing out some of the plant shapes in the foreground and added definition and texture to the waterfalls and nearby cliff.

Added detail to the background and refined some of the plants in the foreground; cleaned up the waterfalls farther away and broke the bridge in the middle to tie in with the story. Also added some slight yellows to the nearby cliffside to show the direction of sunlight better and add visual interest through variety.

Really started defining the cliffside, spacing out the waterfalls even more around the sword to seem less crammed in the space. You can also see how the waterfalls draw the eye down and lead them to the sword by the angles they are at. Started sharpening up more of the foreground plants and objects as well as the middle ground. You'll notice the sword is a bit more refined too. I kept the strong sunlight coming in from the left on a separate layer and put it on top of everything to make sure it still worked. It also acts as a compositional element to draw the eye toward the sword as the center of attention.

You can also see in this closeup the attention I'm giving to add visual interest to parts that aren't even that important. This is something I learned from Sam Nielson's class this year - to maintain the basic value in an area, but still maintain interest through slight shifts in color and texture. Even though that rock is not a focal point, it adds to the overall appeal of the piece.

Made some major changes to the foreground plants. I was frustrated with the palm tree for several reasons - it was pissing me with its perspective and trying to get the fronds to look right and it wasn't fitting in the space I wanted without messing with the composition (which was more important). I scrapped it in favor of some more appropriate trees that probably make more sense being near a waterfall anyway. I also ditched the purple and pink colors of the foreground plants; I originally liked having those colors because I thought they would add to the fantasy of the landscape, but I realize they just take away from the color harmony and distract from the real focus. I also started refining the middle ground and the grass around the sword.

Finally, I polished off the middle ground and sculpted it to reflect the strong sunlight. I added in little sun-dust sparklies around the sword as well, more as a gimmicky cool-looking element than anything. Then I bumped up the contrast just a tinsy bit to give more of a bright sunshiny feel to it, and slapped my signature down in the corner.

Inktober, Day 2

Secret of Mana. Oldschool.