Developing a boss part III
I started the week off by getting some feedback on Matramara’s phase 1. My feedback was mostly clean-ups and tweaks, but otherwise this sketch was green-lit for rendering. Below are my mentor’s notes. He told me to be careful about the center line and to keep it consistent. He also gave me some small design suggestions to push the forms of the character and make it look more three-dimensional.
Below is my response. After my mentor brought up the center line, my drawing definitely improved. The clothes made more sense and showed off the character’s form better. After taking a good look at my first drawing, I also realized that the actual character underneath the clothes was leaning back too much and looked like she would fall over. I fixed this by drawing the form underneath first, and then adjusting the clothes to fit on top.
My mentor also told me to apply the same concepts to the phase 2 design. He told me to think about ways I can make this look more 3D.
I then realized that the wing-arms looked flat, so I redrew the arm poses so that some arms would reach towards the camera. This definitely added a sense of depth and three-dimensionality to the design compared to the original pose.
I also felt like the cloth in the back was lacking but I needed a break to see it with clear eyes again. I decided to do some thumbnails for my planned illustration.
My personal favourites where D,E and H. However, A and G where quite popular when I showed my peers and tutors. I wondered why people like A more than D but when I took a step back and compared the two, I found that although they where similar, A looked has a more interesting composition because the ratio of Matramara vs Yul exaggerated the size difference, with the demon queen taking up most of the composition. This makes her look much stronger and more menacing as an enemy. However, I really liked how I posed Yul in D so I might mix that into A’s composition.
I also ended up doing another prop; the lantern that Yul’s blade is attached to.
I think these each of these sketches have a very successful element. My favourites are E and I because they match the blade the best. For this prop design, I challenged myself to minimise my reliance on tutor and mentor feedback and tried to remember what I’ve learnt from my previous feedback sessions in another context. For the most part, I was able to recall and apply my previous feedback. For example, my previous feedback on making my drawings look 3D — I drew these lantern sketches at a subtle angle to show off form, instead of drawing them flat at an isometric view. I feel that by drawing them this way, I was able to convey shape and form much better. One of my previous critiques was that I needed to be bold with shapes, so for these sketches I focused on either creating interesting silhouettes or including interesting shapes and patterns within the design. My success with these sketches was confirmed when I showed my mentor, who said was impressed by these designs and simply told me to proceed with my favourite iteration!
Overall, I was proud of myself because I was able be more independent. I was able to apply what I learnt from my tutors and mentor in independent work and came up with some really cool designs on my own. I really learn a lot from getting feedback, and now I feel more confident to view my own work critically and improve by myself. Though, of course, feedback is always a great tool for improvement!