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The only participant in the project who, like the rest, carried out a large amount of work , but about whose work I can say so little - an artist. More precisely, a few months before the start, we already had two artists, but my understanding of their principles of work did not increase.
I, undoubtedly, see how much they had to do for the project, but I see only the final result in the form of a heap of illustrations, page design, and sometimes intermediate sketches. We contact with the artist so little that the history of Skype correspondence can be put in a couple of pages of the doc document for the entire time of the project. This is because the artist and I are completely different in character, and if the coordinator can adapt to the communication with each team member, then the artist and I, roughly speaking, are incompatible.
To describe part of the work from the point of view of the artist, I had to carry out a full-scale investigation, allowing to see and understand the main subtleties of his work. At the same time, the article contains the author’s text of the artist himself, since without his vision of his work on the project, this article would have been incomplete.
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More than two years ago, as an ordinary developer, I watched how our project was formed in a relatively short period of time - it was like the “Big Bang” - a set of critical mass of specialists was recruited, something somewhere loudly “babakhnul” was born. Out of nothing For his birth, minimal factors were required to allow the beginning of the chain of events leading up to us at the present time - the main element of the system in the person of the coordinator was found, the “mass” of which in the form of character and circle of friends allowed us to “pull” the developer, artist and conceptualists.
As it turned out later, the artist did not immediately accept the proposal, and our project could not have happened at all, or we could not boast of such a level of graphics. It is worth noting that the artist in his main profession is engaged in the design and design of urban buildings. Drawing illustrations, and especially design, was not part of his basic skills. But the very day when the artist agreed to the drawing of illustrations actually marked the beginning of our journey and the reality of our plans.
The start of the artist's work turned out to be so correct from my point of view that for a long time I simply envied that he could afford to work this way. In fact, a study of the subject area was conducted - data on birds, habitats, habits, descriptions of the appearance, and skeleton structure were collected. The information was collected in a kind of open blog, where it was possible to trace the extent to which the person’s responsibility approached the matter.
Immediately after realizing the scale of the problem, studying the theoretical material, the artist began the next stage of the preparatory work - an attempt to "fill the hand" in drawing copies of other people's images. So in our project there were anatomical drawings, variations of wings, heads, images of famous characters from animated films.
All the training sketches were made on a sheet of paper in the breaks between the artist's main employment, were later scanned and added to the archive for further use. Subsequently, the process was repeated in a similar way for many other types of illustrations. For example, in the game there is a section "mail", where the image of the postman squirrel is located, and to create such an illustration, the artist also made a batch of training sketches.
But, of course, the most attention was paid to birds, and precisely to those species that are involved in the main game process.
Attempts to develop a single style of illustrations at the initial stages of the project actually ended in failure. In fact, the artist didn’t have enough experience in our current business to create for the one project a multitude of various images creating a common single picture.
In order for the project to somehow get off the ground, it was decided by the artist, approved by all the remaining project participants, to create basic illustrations in the 3D editor. This approach made it possible to quickly correct the illustrations in terms of position, size, colors, shadows and other elements. But, of course, the basic basis for creating a 3D image was still pencil sketches.
Thanks to 3D-illustrations, we could adjust the level of detail of the image depending on its size without complete redrawing and global fixes. In addition, after such basic illustrations, it was possible to understand what style of drawing we are striving for at the moment, and for a certain period to accept it as a general vector of work.
Over time, instead of 3D objects, it was possible to make 2D by computer processing of pencil sketches, which later managed to be taken as the new “trend” of creating illustrations for the project. Thanks to a proven modeling technology, the artist was able to create an initial set of icons, determine the direction of his future work style and have a motivating effect on the rest of the team - in particular me.
For more complex works, rather than the trivial icons of one simple object, first of all, a kind of “script” is needed - an idea for the scene, which will be shown in the illustration.
It would seem that if a person knows how to do his job, he can perform any task, but it was scary to invent something completely unimaginable - probably, the experience of “play with a duck” from the times of developing unpretentious sites presses. On the one hand, the phrase “a rooster standing on one leg in the middle of the field, holding a mug of coffee and a feather of the second wing as a stirring sugar in a mug like a hand” reflects the idea as well as possible, and it is quite realizable. On the other hand, I personally can not imagine how this can be drawn, so I had to limit my imagination and constantly ask again: “Is it possible? Will it work out? ”
As a result, almost all the plots of illustrations had to come up with our coordinator. His ideas were simple enough, at the same time accurate and interesting for the overall design.
Each idea ends on a sheet of paper in the form of an outline - schematically with a pencil. Some blanks inspire the artist stronger, and colors immediately appear in an upward gust of mood.
With the advent of the finished outline, the process of detailing and simplifying it begins at the same time. It should be clarified that our current finished illustrations are made in the form of a simplified vector image - many details of the original picture are removed, the number of colors is reduced, the shadows are simplified. But at the same time a detailed study of the sketch allows you to select a set of elements that fall into the final version.
At the stage of detailed study, the process of image correction takes place - the position of the object, interaction with other objects, the overall picture of the plot.
Together with the elaboration of details, one of the longest stages of drawing begins - a clean stroke. At this stage, at a certain time during the life of the project, the main artist was helped by a new girl in our team, which I mentioned in the first article. Due to this division of labor, the process of creating illustrations has accelerated many times - a similar effect happened to me when the project coordinator saved me from typesetting.
With a stroke, basic shadow accents and hints of color usually appear, and the stroke can, in turn, take place in several stages with a gradual clearing of the wrong lines.
The final step on the path to the ideal is only refinement in the editor and giving the final form of illustration. Everything that could not be done at the previous stages is completed - the final fillings with color, the imposition of lighting and shadows, correction of contours and emphasis.
It may well happen that even with the introduction of very minor changes during the entire rendering process, the illustration as a result becomes completely different from the original sketch - it may just look different or display a completely different character.
Almost a year and a half it took for the project to have a final logo.
The logo has come a long way of improvement - I always wanted to say about the very first sketches: “Sorry, dear, our owl seems to have a broken wing.” And do not be surprised at the Gopnik bird on the first sketches - it was originally supposed that other birds would take the place of the eagles.
A similar approach should be applied to the avatars of the players - there should be no obvious favorites and outsiders, each avatar should be especially liked by a certain circle of people. And again, for each avatar, warming objects were added to the new year to match the logo atmosphere.
The looming amount of work that the artist will need to accomplish in order for the project to complete the next stage of development, expected after the final start, it seems so great that you have to change the established traditions of the project on drawing illustrations.
When the text of this article was created, there were only a few weeks left before the start of the project, but in the process of agreeing with the artist, picking up illustrations, editing and main work on the project, the time passed almost unnoticed. We have come a long way of evolutionary leaps in the graphic component of the game, and in fact have come to a new stage in the development of the project, which will allow the world to develop faster and with higher quality, satisfying more and more players in terms of aesthetic pleasure.
Without our artists - without any of the two (or even three), the project would not have taken place and could not achieve current results. There were stages of calm, when we waited for several months with the coordinator for several months, but now the work is going at an accelerated pace in the launch process.
A sufficient amount of energy was invested only in order for the project to begin its existence, and very soon it would be necessary to find out how much more energy it would take for the project to continue its development. Obviously, each new player will extend the life of the game, and we will soon have to take on the role of advertisers, salespeople, entertainers - but about this some other time.
I, undoubtedly, see how much they had to do for the project, but I see only the final result in the form of a heap of illustrations, page design, and sometimes intermediate sketches. We contact with the artist so little that the history of Skype correspondence can be put in a couple of pages of the doc document for the entire time of the project. This is because the artist and I are completely different in character, and if the coordinator can adapt to the communication with each team member, then the artist and I, roughly speaking, are incompatible.
To describe part of the work from the point of view of the artist, I had to carry out a full-scale investigation, allowing to see and understand the main subtleties of his work. At the same time, the article contains the author’s text of the artist himself, since without his vision of his work on the project, this article would have been incomplete.
')
Artist work
More than two years ago, as an ordinary developer, I watched how our project was formed in a relatively short period of time - it was like the “Big Bang” - a set of critical mass of specialists was recruited, something somewhere loudly “babakhnul” was born. Out of nothing For his birth, minimal factors were required to allow the beginning of the chain of events leading up to us at the present time - the main element of the system in the person of the coordinator was found, the “mass” of which in the form of character and circle of friends allowed us to “pull” the developer, artist and conceptualists.
As it turned out later, the artist did not immediately accept the proposal, and our project could not have happened at all, or we could not boast of such a level of graphics. It is worth noting that the artist in his main profession is engaged in the design and design of urban buildings. Drawing illustrations, and especially design, was not part of his basic skills. But the very day when the artist agreed to the drawing of illustrations actually marked the beginning of our journey and the reality of our plans.
The theme of birds, initially, was for me a very distant and least interesting of the whole animal kingdom. And rather it came from experience. At that time, my experience was limited to drawing people and default animals (cats, dogs, horses, bears). Therefore, when the coordinator offered me participation in a project as a main artist, I doubted for a while. But having decided, he began drawing hundreds of sketches, training and mastering cartoon graphics. Gradually, the creative process captured me and began to gain momentum. In order not to be cunning, it is worth mentioning that the creative process is “creative”, which it releases for periods, forcing it to stagnate. And if you want to get a unique pattern, rather than stamping “on request”, then you need “time” and sometimes a lot of time. This does not explain the coordinator or programmer. But over the 2 years of our collaboration, an understanding has emerged.
The beginning of the way
The start of the artist's work turned out to be so correct from my point of view that for a long time I simply envied that he could afford to work this way. In fact, a study of the subject area was conducted - data on birds, habitats, habits, descriptions of the appearance, and skeleton structure were collected. The information was collected in a kind of open blog, where it was possible to trace the extent to which the person’s responsibility approached the matter.
Immediately after realizing the scale of the problem, studying the theoretical material, the artist began the next stage of the preparatory work - an attempt to "fill the hand" in drawing copies of other people's images. So in our project there were anatomical drawings, variations of wings, heads, images of famous characters from animated films.
At the very beginning of the journey it is very difficult to move the heavy steam engine of creativity, to unleash the mythical flywheel of free ideas. After all, the game is not just an “order” for a couple of dozen drawings in the same style, but a whole world that will develop and grow. It seems that now you take a pencil, sit down in front of a white sheet, and amazing images will flow like a horn of plenty. So I thought, and so continue to think people who are little familiar with the creative process. But that was not the case at all.
It turned out that nothing of me "pours", except for irritation and despair. In these moments only the images of future images described in detail in the technical task helped. It required training the eyes and hands, daily practice in drawing, and, of course, “time” - before the result was satisfactory.
Subsequently, I relied less and less on the description in the TK, and later, the description disappeared altogether. This meant that they now rely entirely on my experience and taste. I definitely liked it. Probably something similar feels a man who walked for a long time on crutches, and then started running without them (remembered Forrest Gampa).
The important point was that I began to feel responsible for the appearance of the project. Being a concept artist is not an easy task! After all, the way I see the image of the icon, the environment, the character - everyone else will see it. No more, no less! Along with responsibility comes the understanding that you are not just the “employee for hire” who completed the task and received the money. You have to constantly think about what the final style should be - “How do I want to show the city? How will our players see this? How to immerse them in the atmosphere and maintain interest? ". And if I feel that it should be different, I will redo the work, whatever it costs me.
I do not accept participation in the creation of the ideological part, and I can only influence the audience through visual means (although, of course, my concept art influences the final concept of the game). But these funds are very diverse.
Each new task requires a different degree of immersion. Before drawing sketches, I make sketches from photos. For artists, this is called “reference work.” When the moment of “self-reliance” comes, I proceed to the sketches, most of which are born “between times” in pocket notebooks. Having scanned the sketches, it is time to fine-tune them in a graphic editor.
All the training sketches were made on a sheet of paper in the breaks between the artist's main employment, were later scanned and added to the archive for further use. Subsequently, the process was repeated in a similar way for many other types of illustrations. For example, in the game there is a section "mail", where the image of the postman squirrel is located, and to create such an illustration, the artist also made a batch of training sketches.
But, of course, the most attention was paid to birds, and precisely to those species that are involved in the main game process.
Style and idea
Attempts to develop a single style of illustrations at the initial stages of the project actually ended in failure. In fact, the artist didn’t have enough experience in our current business to create for the one project a multitude of various images creating a common single picture.
In order for the project to somehow get off the ground, it was decided by the artist, approved by all the remaining project participants, to create basic illustrations in the 3D editor. This approach made it possible to quickly correct the illustrations in terms of position, size, colors, shadows and other elements. But, of course, the basic basis for creating a 3D image was still pencil sketches.
Thanks to 3D-illustrations, we could adjust the level of detail of the image depending on its size without complete redrawing and global fixes. In addition, after such basic illustrations, it was possible to understand what style of drawing we are striving for at the moment, and for a certain period to accept it as a general vector of work.
Over time, instead of 3D objects, it was possible to make 2D by computer processing of pencil sketches, which later managed to be taken as the new “trend” of creating illustrations for the project. Thanks to a proven modeling technology, the artist was able to create an initial set of icons, determine the direction of his future work style and have a motivating effect on the rest of the team - in particular me.
To be able to portray an object is only half the battle. The most important element of the final image is, of course, stylization. Comprehension of the art of stylization requires time, attentiveness, analysis and constant practice. I daily look through a huge number of pictures. Downloading, systematizing. It takes a lot of time, but this is what develops artistic taste. What do you like, what do not like, what is expressive, what is lacking. This can be seen by a person without any artistic education. But my task is to comprehend the essence, to identify patterns, to understand which elements distinguish the most upscale characters, icons, environments. And how can I make my images as spectacular.
For more complex works, rather than the trivial icons of one simple object, first of all, a kind of “script” is needed - an idea for the scene, which will be shown in the illustration.
It would seem that if a person knows how to do his job, he can perform any task, but it was scary to invent something completely unimaginable - probably, the experience of “play with a duck” from the times of developing unpretentious sites presses. On the one hand, the phrase “a rooster standing on one leg in the middle of the field, holding a mug of coffee and a feather of the second wing as a stirring sugar in a mug like a hand” reflects the idea as well as possible, and it is quite realizable. On the other hand, I personally can not imagine how this can be drawn, so I had to limit my imagination and constantly ask again: “Is it possible? Will it work out? ”
As a result, almost all the plots of illustrations had to come up with our coordinator. His ideas were simple enough, at the same time accurate and interesting for the overall design.
Each idea ends on a sheet of paper in the form of an outline - schematically with a pencil. Some blanks inspire the artist stronger, and colors immediately appear in an upward gust of mood.
Details and lines
With the advent of the finished outline, the process of detailing and simplifying it begins at the same time. It should be clarified that our current finished illustrations are made in the form of a simplified vector image - many details of the original picture are removed, the number of colors is reduced, the shadows are simplified. But at the same time a detailed study of the sketch allows you to select a set of elements that fall into the final version.
At the stage of detailed study, the process of image correction takes place - the position of the object, interaction with other objects, the overall picture of the plot.
Together with the elaboration of details, one of the longest stages of drawing begins - a clean stroke. At this stage, at a certain time during the life of the project, the main artist was helped by a new girl in our team, which I mentioned in the first article. Due to this division of labor, the process of creating illustrations has accelerated many times - a similar effect happened to me when the project coordinator saved me from typesetting.
With a stroke, basic shadow accents and hints of color usually appear, and the stroke can, in turn, take place in several stages with a gradual clearing of the wrong lines.
The final step on the path to the ideal is only refinement in the editor and giving the final form of illustration. Everything that could not be done at the previous stages is completed - the final fillings with color, the imposition of lighting and shadows, correction of contours and emphasis.
It may well happen that even with the introduction of very minor changes during the entire rendering process, the illustration as a result becomes completely different from the original sketch - it may just look different or display a completely different character.
Logo - all head
Almost a year and a half it took for the project to have a final logo.
It is difficult to overestimate the value of the logo for the project. It reflects the essence of what is happening, inspires to immerse in the process. And just pleases the eye. In our game there are three factions, three types of birds. And the main task was to make them equally attractive to players. The logo is dynamic. That is, it can react to the seasons, generally accepted holidays or some kind of game actions. In other words, "something will always happen to him."
The logo has come a long way of improvement - I always wanted to say about the very first sketches: “Sorry, dear, our owl seems to have a broken wing.” And do not be surprised at the Gopnik bird on the first sketches - it was originally supposed that other birds would take the place of the eagles.
One of the three factions of the birds were originally "thrushes". But when sketching and styling, it became clear that this is the least winning fraction. It was decided to replace it with "eagles". And not lost! Now all three factions are equally majestic and easily styled, having characteristic features and habits.
A similar approach should be applied to the avatars of the players - there should be no obvious favorites and outsiders, each avatar should be especially liked by a certain circle of people. And again, for each avatar, warming objects were added to the new year to match the logo atmosphere.
An avatar is primarily a character that attracts. Character who is cute to the player. When creating them, the most important task was to make all birds equally attractive, so that only a few of the most successful were not preferred.
Before proceeding to the sketches, I individually studied all types of our birds (owls, eagles and parrots). Features of anatomy, characteristic postures, color. In parallel, making sketches of people in the positions I need. Podnatorev, I schematically sketched sketches, and all at once to feel the differences and individuality. Drawing "all at once", it is possible to withstand all the characters in the same style. Therefore, the first brainstorming is the most important, though not the longest. Later, in graphic editors, it will be possible to clarify the details, to work out the curvature of the lines.
A new series of avatars has been prepared for the start of the game, with a greater degree of detail and realism. I am sure that players will appreciate the new style of characters.
Development of "Zhelezyaki" demanded the search for a dramatic silhouette. And only after this drawing color. And now looking at him I don’t want to change anything. Is that a little move the hood.
Toolkit and methodology
I am obsessed with the toolkit. I will not call myself a hostage, but I really like to experiment with different “tools”. This has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, experiments give different styles of images created at different times (this is a flaw that has to be corrected). On the other hand, the sample of various tools allows us to more deeply comprehend the subtleties of the visual arts, makes me more creatively relaxed, helps to understand the essence of objects, forms, proportions, silhouettes, compositions and colors. I try to draw sketches regularly. These are mainly people and animals (the most difficult topics). The first sheet, which I draw, I think is warming, or "sheet of shame." In art, as in sports, a warm-up is required. And already the fifth sketch gains ease and freedom of the line. Also these trainings develop visual, fluent memory. After spending an hour at drawing like this, I walk along the street and only for a split second, seeing the object, the imagination immediately takes a photo, noting only the most characteristic lines and features of nature.
For sketches I use ink pens, felt-tip pens, markers, pencils. I try to master acrylic and watercolor in fragments. Plans to practice sculpture.
Creating posters for locations, I sketched a sheet with all sorts of objects. And after that I could only successfully arrange them in the final image.
When drawing “the flock square” I used images inspired by travels to the Himalayas and northern India.
Back to the Future
The looming amount of work that the artist will need to accomplish in order for the project to complete the next stage of development, expected after the final start, it seems so great that you have to change the established traditions of the project on drawing illustrations.
After starting the game, a gradual restyling of the game will take place throughout the year. The graphics will retain their cartoon mood, but will become more elaborate and thorough. Locations will immerse the player as much as possible into the atmosphere of the game, making you believe in the possibility of the existence of her amazing world. The concept of “browser” does not imply spending hours behind it, but for the short time that a person is in the game, he should receive maximum pleasure and positive emotions, and perhaps inspiration. For example, draw ...
From the Big Bang to the present day
When the text of this article was created, there were only a few weeks left before the start of the project, but in the process of agreeing with the artist, picking up illustrations, editing and main work on the project, the time passed almost unnoticed. We have come a long way of evolutionary leaps in the graphic component of the game, and in fact have come to a new stage in the development of the project, which will allow the world to develop faster and with higher quality, satisfying more and more players in terms of aesthetic pleasure.
Without our artists - without any of the two (or even three), the project would not have taken place and could not achieve current results. There were stages of calm, when we waited for several months with the coordinator for several months, but now the work is going at an accelerated pace in the launch process.
A sufficient amount of energy was invested only in order for the project to begin its existence, and very soon it would be necessary to find out how much more energy it would take for the project to continue its development. Obviously, each new player will extend the life of the game, and we will soon have to take on the role of advertisers, salespeople, entertainers - but about this some other time.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/214547/
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