09-20-2013, 09:15 AM
Visual Library Building 11: The Plains of Africa - Part 1
Hey, been slack with both doing and posting these the last couple of weeks.
To start this again I thought it could be a 'pick your own adventure' style. So, choose an aspect (animal, location, tree etc.) which you would find on the African plains, and use that as your focus.
I'm going to be doing a Hyena, since I am working on a piece with hyenas in it lol. But I would be interested to see what other come up with.
For living topics focus on:
- Anatomy and how they are similar/different to human anatomy. This will help you understand how to create your own, more realistic creatures from imagination.
- Visual Communication i.e. Dogs have their ears back when they are scared, cowed, or the hair on the back of their necks stands up when they are being aggressive. Some things may be subtle, some will be obvious.
- Colour/Patterns It's always good to have a library of natural colour schemes/ideas for patterns to suit the look you are going for. No one wants to see a menacing creature with bright pink plaid patterning...
- Movement because static drawings aren't interesting drawings, even creature concept art can look dynamic, and it really sets it apart from static art.
---
And the boring stuff I will include with every post so that new comers don't have to go searching:
- Each week I will come up with a topic, it can be anything from boots to machinery.
- Find some images to study, but don't just copy them, maybe do some technical drawings, take written notes (I'm not asking you to write an essay, just things worth noting), some specific detail and generally just get a better idea about a topic.
- I think I'm going to put a new one up each Monday (NB: My time, Sunday for the western world.)
- It's not a competition, its really just about sharing knowledge, one person may pick up an interesting detail or a keen observation than another person may have missed. Just building the number of visual cues that can be extrapolated to design something interesting and new when necessary.
- One last thing, the drawings do NOT have to be pretty finished renderings. A quick sketch of a building façade with details marked and notes will have just as much use as a beautifully rendered copy of a photograph. The point is the content and thought behind it, not how well you can render.
Hey, been slack with both doing and posting these the last couple of weeks.
To start this again I thought it could be a 'pick your own adventure' style. So, choose an aspect (animal, location, tree etc.) which you would find on the African plains, and use that as your focus.
I'm going to be doing a Hyena, since I am working on a piece with hyenas in it lol. But I would be interested to see what other come up with.
For living topics focus on:
- Anatomy and how they are similar/different to human anatomy. This will help you understand how to create your own, more realistic creatures from imagination.
- Visual Communication i.e. Dogs have their ears back when they are scared, cowed, or the hair on the back of their necks stands up when they are being aggressive. Some things may be subtle, some will be obvious.
- Colour/Patterns It's always good to have a library of natural colour schemes/ideas for patterns to suit the look you are going for. No one wants to see a menacing creature with bright pink plaid patterning...
- Movement because static drawings aren't interesting drawings, even creature concept art can look dynamic, and it really sets it apart from static art.
---
And the boring stuff I will include with every post so that new comers don't have to go searching:
- Each week I will come up with a topic, it can be anything from boots to machinery.
- Find some images to study, but don't just copy them, maybe do some technical drawings, take written notes (I'm not asking you to write an essay, just things worth noting), some specific detail and generally just get a better idea about a topic.
- I think I'm going to put a new one up each Monday (NB: My time, Sunday for the western world.)
- It's not a competition, its really just about sharing knowledge, one person may pick up an interesting detail or a keen observation than another person may have missed. Just building the number of visual cues that can be extrapolated to design something interesting and new when necessary.
- One last thing, the drawings do NOT have to be pretty finished renderings. A quick sketch of a building façade with details marked and notes will have just as much use as a beautifully rendered copy of a photograph. The point is the content and thought behind it, not how well you can render.
![[Image: 130923-2.jpg]](http://jaikart.com/art/2013/09/130923-2.jpg)
![[Image: 130923-3.jpg]](http://jaikart.com/art/2013/09/130923-3.jpg)
