Character Sketches

Well it's been over a year since I last posted. A lot has happened this past year so I'll just mention the major life changing events really quickly... Out of graduate school. Interned at Breaktime Studios and worked on Mouse Town and Dragon Skies. After my internship I started working at EA as a concept artist for The Sims 4. Got a siberian kitten and named him Ratchet after Insomniac's Ratchet & Clank (he used to be 3.5lbs and now he's 11lbs!)

So anyway, here are some quick messy character sketches. I'll finish them eventually.

PS. I will post Sims 4 concept art sometime later... probably.

Empire of Shadows

This past weekend has been a particularly busy one... A project that I had recently jumped into is called Empire of Shadows. Because the Academy of Art University's Spring Show '13 is coming up very soon, I have drawn a final last-minute submission. Plowed through a weekend concepting one of the characters for Empire of Shadows project (starting from thumbnails to final render). The character I chose to draw is one of the main characters of the game, Galina, a former protector of the previous King. I decided to concept her character when she used to be one of the Blue Guardians. The project is kept under wraps for now, but the artists working on the project has permission to show the work, so here is my version of her...

Scarefari

Another project I have been working on besides my thesis is the Scarefari. A mock Social Game made for This is Halloween minipet site (with the same name as one of the features on the site).This is Halloween Minis is an interactive collectible minis website where players are able to obtain, capture, sell, and trade with other players. The minipets evolve into another stage as more people feed them by clicking daily. 

A select few minipets I have made for the site in the past.

So going back to the Scarefari social game I've been working on, it's ideally for a browser-based adventure game where players can choose between two (originally 3) characters as their premade avatar. The player starts out with a "Home Base" where they can buy items and see what minipets they have captured so far. The first exploration map will be the accessible by both characters and will contain the interactive object (Brimstone and Spectral veil) that allows the player to enter into a separate map. Pumpkins are smashable to collect Pumpkin Seeds (form of currency in game) to buy items. The larger the pumpkin, the more seeds they get from them.

Scarfari (Social Game) Gameboard with assets and characters

Gameboard thumbnails and color comps

Depending on which character the player chooses in the beginning, they may only proceed to one of the two maps they can access. The Firelands for the demon boy or The Graveyard for the undead/ghost girl. In each of these maps there will be a minipet fitted to the theme where you can capture with a FEAR Capsule (basically a Pokeball from Pokemon). Because the player may only pick one character as their avatar, it encourages players to trade minipets with others to obtain the minis they are not able to get otherwise. (Ex. Demon boy can get a Firelands minipet and trade it for a Ghost minipet).

In a nutshell, this is an exploration and collecting type game.

Gingerbread Level

Long time no post, but here I am with a big update to the blog! Here are most of the things I've been working on for second half of the semester. Thought of a game level design for the first Gingerbread stage including top-down view of the map and key assets for the gameplay. The style is more realistically rendered compared to my older thesis pieces, so I may have to go back a rerender/paint the stuff from last year. I did a few material studies, each taking around 20 minutes to paint.

Candy Material Studies

The idea for the gameplay is the player needs to rescue her kidnapped brother from the Gingerbread Witch inside the tower. To get there she needs to go through the map doing a couple of tasks that are highlighted on the map before reaching the tower. 

At the beginning where the player enters, there are clusters of Crystal Candy, a key item that is needed for the first task. When the player travels up to the north end of the cave, the player will see a group of Coalies* being confined in a Pretzel Fence. As the player approaches with the Crystal Candy, the Coalies are attracted to it, causing them to struggle against the Pretzel Fence to get to the player. Without the Crystal Candy, the Coalies will not react to the player. The player needs to break down the Pretzel fence to release the Coalies which can only be done to the cracked parts of the pretzels.

* Coalies are coal based monsters that are basically the "live stock" used as fuel for the Oven (Final boss for Gingerbread level).

Coalie #2

Pretzel Fence

Once the fence is broken and the Crystal Candy in hand, the player can now lead the Coalies to the Candy Campfire in the lower part of the forked road. By using the Gusting Blow attack* on the Coalies, sending them into the fire, setting them ablaze.

*Gusting Blow is an attack where the Big Bad Wolf , from Three Little Pigs fairy tale, conjures partially out of the magic book to blow a gust of wind in a straight direction).

Leona's Magical book (main weapon)

Continuing on the path towards the right, the player will be blocked by the Wafer Stick Gate. The player will need to throw the Crystal Candy over the fence for the Coalies, who are now on fire, to force their way into the gate. The gate will catch on fire and quickly burn and crumble, allowing the player (including the Coalies who are now eating the Crystal Rock) to pass. The player enters into a passing where the Witch's Gingerbread town is.

The town is made of candies and sweets, including a chocolate cobblestone path, liquid candy river and icing frosted ground. When the player arrives to the town, various types of candy minions will be spawned from the house to attack the player. The player needs to fight their way through the town to get to the tower.

Gingerbread House #3

After passing the sugar wafer bridge the player finally arrives at the Gingerbread Tower. Because there is no front door, the player is forced to scale the tower by climbing gumdrop buttons, jumping on ice cream scoops and peppermint candies. Along the way, the player has to encounter a few more minions and have the option to pick up consumable items. When the player reaches the top, they can enter the tower at last which starts the second stage inside.

Hello, Sketchbook.

It's been a while since I last drew in a sketchbook, so I bought myself a new one and decided to have a fun drawing jam last night. Just playing with shapes and different styles. Huzzah!

Doodles and bun-noodle

Dudes

Femms

More Props and Heads

Here are several studies of props you may find at a construction site and shape exploration using a cube as a base. I also threw in a few heads I doodled for funsies.

Construction Props

Shape Exploration

Doodles!

Some Sweet, Sweet Candy!

Here are a couple of characters for my thesis project. The first brother you have to rescue who later becomes a supporting character in the final boss fight and the gingerbread witch who may be made of sweets but look out for her fiery hot temper!