Project Planning - Semester 2's Study

Semester 2 Project - Fantasy to Science Fiction - Source Material: Terry Pratchett's Jingo


Aim is to practice as many skills as possible that are relevant to the concept artist. The problem now is to get a sense of exactly what these skills are so that I can compile a list.

My initial list of things I think I should tackle:

• Characters
• anatomy
• expression
• clothing/costume
• Locations
• organic environments
• architectural/urban design
• room plans
• Inanimates
• Weapons
• Vehicles
• Furniture
• etc
• Shot Design
• Storytelling and storyboarding
• lighting, colour, mood, etc
• camera angles
• matching specific lenses (research link)
• Various skills
• Design processes
• Design theory - colour, composition, form, etc
• Design language/style matching and development
• Production painting

Researching around this problem:

Posted the above list on the Conceptart.org forums (as well as the community Facebook page) for feedback. No useful replies just yet.


Started looking at the timeline for the Feng Zhu Design School's one year Advanced Diploma program.
A 3-term year with 15 weeks in each term (45 weeks total compared to our 24 weeks).
Modules that they complete during this diploma are as follows:

Term1

Design Sketching 1 - design basics, thumbnails, research, shape regocnition, proportions, balance, audience focus.
Visual Communications 1
Perspective
Digital Painting 1

Term2

Design Intro
Visual Communications 2
Design Sketching 2
Digital Painting 2

Term3

3D Visualisation
Digital Painting 3
Entertainment Design

A more visual version of the above (with examples) is here.


From this article on Creativeskillset.org:

"They must also be conversant with film imagery and have a good understanding of what Directors, Directors of Photography and Editors require from a scene." 

From an article that featured an interview of four practicing concept artists:

Per Haagensen: You need a good foundation of traditional art skills and an understanding of different styles. You should always be open to exploring new designs and ideas through proper research and experimentation.

Devon Cady-Lee: Draftsmanship, the ability to understand forms in space and being able to illustrate them for others. A keen sense of design and problem-solving skills help in making believable artwork.

Discussion:


Weekly:

1. One topic for visual library studies - landscapes, materials/surfaces, colour studies (theory of colour on objects, colour palettes, etc), camera lenses and cinematography, weather conditions, skies
2. Perspective practice
3. Anatomy practice
4. Design theory study
5. Project research and development

Making sure to work the list of skills I want to look at far above into this system.

An open list of design theory stuff to look at

• 'mood boards'
• 
  

when is it appropriate to use different methods - superclean line drawings, painterly drawings, etc