academy of art character and creature design notes_ the use of silhouettes in concept design

5/26/2018 Academy of Art Character and Creature Design Notes_ the Use of Silhouettes in Co...

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Discussion, inspiration, notes and links for online AAU students

The use of Silhouettes in Concept Design

Silhouette thumbnails are among the most helpful and productive methods of design when

it's necessary to produce a large quantity of variations of concepts within a short period of

time. It's not a method used by all concept artist and it's certainly not a necessity to design

a creature or a character purely based off of a silhouette shape. That doesn't go to say that

all designers don't subconsciously focus on shapes and designs that make a strong impact

on the viewer. We often refer to a silhouette as a black outlined shape, much like a shadow.

This doesn't always need to be the case, as a simple line sketch or simple shades of value

can still provide the same effect and are just as efficient.

Whether consciously or subconsciously we are always designing through the use of

interesting dominate shapes that work well together. One of the best ways to go about this is

through the basic silhouette.

(Note: Artwork below is by Feng Zhu) Feng's work can be found at

http://www.fengzhudesign.com/

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Typically the use of this type of design is a pre-production phase of concept art that is

generally only seen by the artist or art director if working on set or in-house. A lot of times

when freelancing this stage of design isn't shown to an art director and is merely a quick

process of finding solutions and multiple designs for the artist eyes only. The silhouette

doesn't need to be as clean or clear as the ones seen below in order to achieve the same

desired effect. We might often find more chaotic and textured shapes easier to identify with

and productive in letting loose and having fun.

(Note: Designs by Ben Mauro, copyright Sony Pictures Animation) Ben's work can be found

at The Art of Ben Mauro

It allows a designer to produce striking iconic shapes that will stand out among multiple

characters or creatures. The purpose of finding a strong and interesting silhouette is so that

it becomes easily recognizable from a distance to the person playing a video game or

watching a movie for example.

You can see more of Ben's work here: http://benmauro.blogspot.com/

(Note: Designs by Ben Mauro, copyright Sony Pictures Animation)

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Silhouettes can be used in multiple methods of design from the abstract to the symmetrical

and beyond. Whether you have it in mind to design a specific type of creature/character or

something more abstract, you can begin the silhouette process by pasting down large black

shapes on a 3/4 point of view or by mirroring shapes to be used in terms of a front, back or

top down view. One of the best things about this quick design method is you don't need to

focus on hands, feet, fingers, eyes and all the little intricacies that take up time. As seen

below in some examples, you can produce broken shapes and ghost line effects while you

let your mind fill in the gaps. You can worry later and work out the missing elements once

you have chosen a strong dominate shape.

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The mirroring of such shapes is the quickest and simplest solution to producing a huge array

of variants in your original design. These symmetrical shapes as mentioned can be perceived

from a front, top or back view to be used as a reference point and then produced at a more 3-

dimensional angle at a later point in time.

Note: The image above shows the final concept design in detail along with the chosen

silhouette thumbnail. Artwork by Mike Corriero. The image below was a rough 3/4 sketch

designed based on the thumbnails beneath it.

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It's important to recognize that your design needs to provide a striking impact on the viewer

from multiple angles, so although a silhouette shape may appear strong and iconic from the

front or side view, you need to continue to play around with multiple angles to really come up

with something memorable and recognizable no matter where the camera's POV(point ofview) appears.

Orthograph sheets or "turn around" design sheets such as the image above and below show

the designs from multiple angles IE; front, back, side (Ortho's or turn around design sheets

are used by the modeler to produce the CG model)

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(Note: Artwork below is by Feng Zhu)

As a matter of importance, you should be capable of recognizing one design from the next in

the same manner of picking out any existing animal on earth in a profile line up by a mere

silhouette. Most of the world's population is capable of recognizing an animal by a simple

outlined shape, so it's important to try and incorporate this same iconic principle within your

conceptual creatures and characters.


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Inanimate objects as well as living animals and other imagery can be used to begin this

phase in design. You never know where the most interesting of shapes will take form, so

play around with all the tools and tricks of the trade that are at your disposal. The use of

photography and icons can often help kick start the beginning of a unique and original design

that the vast majority of the public can relate to. As per example, you might take the shape

of an animal's skull - reduce it to a black silhouette and begin the process of using that

shape as the body for an original creature design.This method of design can also be applied

to structures, weapons, vehicles, robots, spaceships etc.






When producing designs at this stage of development, it helps to line them up or scatter

them all out on the same page at a thumbnail scale. At this point, you're looking for a shape

and a design that you can relate to and something that has the most potential for a unique

idea. Often some of the more simple shapes become some of the more easily recognized.

This is the case of using dominate and iconic shapes that blend well together. Proportion of

shapes play a major role in this stage of silhouette design, so although it's not always

important to know what's what during this phase you may want to keep it in mind for the nextstep.

(Note: Artwork is from "The Skillful Huntsman" Copyright 2011 Design Studio Press& Scott

Robertson- artwork by Mike Yamada.)





(Note: Artwork is by Khang Le)

(I also recommend checking out another book by Design Studio Press called "Alien Race")

"Body proportion variations: Within a silhouette the basic elements from the abdomen,

upper torso, head, arms and legs can easily determine the size, height and general

appearance of a character. Everything from the width of the chest to the size of the forearm

compared to the size and length of the bicep are ways to distinguish from one concept to the

next when involving human or humanoid designs. It's those little differences of the dominate

shapes and appendages that can help identify one concept from the next concerning designs

with similar body structures.

(Note: Artwork below is from "The Sk illful Huntsman" Copyright 2011 Design Studio Press &

Scott Robertson - artwork 'left' is by Felix Yoon- artwork 'right' is by Khang Le)


Scott Robertson - artwork is by Khang Le)

(Note: Artwork below is by Mik e Corriero)





(Note: Final Product based off of a quick thumbnail, chosen to be one of the stronger

designs in silhouette)

After choosing the best silhouette for the job at hand, you can take that shape and lower the

opacity to begin the process of sketching a rough base of anatomy within the shapes. It's

fine to modify a few things here and there at this point, but the ultimate goal is to make

sense of the shapes in such a way as to retain that striking iconic silhouette you began with.

This can be done in two ways. You can either lower the opacity of the silhouette and begin

sketching in the form of line work, or you can keep the silhouette as is and begin blocking in

forms of lighter values.


Scott Robertson - artwork by Mike Yamada.)


Scott Robertson - artwork by Khang Le)





(Note: Artwork below is by Mik e Corriero)

When you begin to work out the details of the design and anatomy within the silhouette in

the method of values and form, this opens up a lot of options for variations of where you can

push the anatomy hidden within. You may even want to make some minor adjustments to

the outline of the silhouette for some additional distinction.

I hope you find these examples and the information helpful and give this method of design a

try for yourselves. It may help you open up to new ways of thinking and alternate methods in

generating ideas. As is always the case, remember to use reference when necessary. Once

I finished the "Landmine Crustacean" rough silhouette I referred to a photo of a crab's claw

instead of guessing how it's constructed. Photo reference and research is always important

no matter what the job or project involves. - Mike Corriero

Guest b logger Mik e Corrierois a character, creature, and conceptual designer and

illustrator living in New Jersey. Since graduating from Pratt Institute in 2003, Mike's client list

has included Breakaway Games, Fantasy Flight Games, Allied Studios, Kingsisle

Entertainment, Radical entertainment/ Vivendi Universal Games, Liquid Development, Zynga

Inc, Challenge Games, Paizo Publishing and Hasbro Inc, among others. Mike's book

"PLANET to PLANET creatures and strange w orlds" includes hundreds of his sketches

of creatures, robots, alien life forms and their environments. I recommend it for students

focusing on visual development for games, or anyone who loves creature design. - J. G. O.





Posted by Mike Corriero at 2:59 PM

Labels: Ben Mauro, Character Design, Concept Art, Creature Design, Felix Yoon, Feng Zhu,

Khang Le, Mike Corriero, Mike Yamada, Proportions, Scott Robertson, Silhouettes

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4 comments:

That one dudesaid...

Im a litt le frustrated, upset, disappointed..Im majoring in Viz dev, and in my 4years at AAU, i have never come across this site. All of my concept design

teachers, failed to introduce this blog to me and my peers. I've got 2 classes left

before i graduate. I would say, this would have been very incredibly helpful

throughout my AAU studies. Theres always time for later, but unfortunately my

portfolio is DUE NOW! With that said, this is such a brilliant site, thank you for

all your hard work. Everything here is super inspirational, and im looking forward

to really bite deep into it all. Thanks.

March 11, 2011 2:46 PM

Mike Corrierosaid...

It appears the blog has only been up (since the first post) for a little over 5

months.So although I can completely understand the frustration as I myself am a an

artist and I had attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NYC graduating in 2003. I

hadn't even known about any art forums (because I don't think they existed just

yet) nor did I know about art blogs like this (again because they didn't exist).

I think the point I'm getting at is that students these days, whether attending a

college, an atelier, or taking online courses have a multitude of information and

ways to research, learn, study, ask questions, network and interact with artist in

ways that weren't even available 8-9 years ago. I'm not saying I wouldn't attend

college, but I think I'd be more well informed as to which colleges were a better

choice for an entertainment design career (as far as I knew, there weren't

many..and Pratt didn't offer any in 2003). So it's up to the students as much as it

is the teachers to provide that extra little push; be it for motivation, research,

information, inspiration etc. As mentioned, I can only tell from the sidebar but it

seems this blog has only started September of 2010.

It's frustrating when you feel you missed out on something you feel teachers

were obligated to provide but you're going to continue learning after school and

after you become successful as an artist and you'll still continue to learn well

after you're incapable of drawing..it never stops. So keep following the blog and

in some ways, it's as if you'll continue classes. There are also more than a

handful of art forums out there and multiple blogs, websites etc.. all filled with

free info.

March 11, 2011 4:22 PM

Jennifer G. Oliversaid...





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Guys, the internet didn't exist when I attended college. :P but I'm glad that you

like the blog!

March 12, 2011 1:29 AM

Duccccsaid...

8-9 year , everything's change

April 29, 2011 11:38 PM

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