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or this tutorial, Im going tocreate a Berserker characterfrom scratch and present himas a character turnaround. Ill

call him Bjorn. Character turnaroundsare a common task for any concept artist

working on games and films. They formthe basis for 3D models or sculptures.

They must have accurate proportions andgive a clear description of a charactersfeatures, clothing, props and anatomy.

I use the proportions given in humananatomy books only as a guide,

Create your own Berserker concept and present it as a fullturnaround for 3D modelling or sculpting. By Jonny Duddle

GO BERSERK IN PHOTOSHOPparticularly when designing a stylisedcharacter, like Bjorn. Ill make his headsmaller proportionately to accentuate thebulk of his body.

Depending on the deadline, aturnaround could be several full colour

views from different angles, or threerough sketches that block out the mainelements of a character design. Someturnarounds are in a formal arms-widepose for use as a template in a 3Dpackage, while others are in dramaticposes and serve as a visual guide. Im

producing a posed figure from threeangles, which should provide plenty ofinformation to a 3D modeller.

Before getting started on an originalconcept its good to get immersed in thesubject matter. I like to spend a couple ofhours browsing the internet for images ofbarbarians, armour, skulls and weapons.I look through my book collection andflick through fantasy art and historicalreference books. After a couple of hoursmy head will be buzzing with ideas, soIll start drawing.

F

Workshops

DVD AssetsThe files you needare on the DVD

FILES:Character_revolve.tiffBerzerkaround_00Berzerkaround_01Berzerkaround_02Berzerkaround_03Berzerkaround_04Berzerkaround_05Berzerkaround_06DOWNLOADS:Photoshop CS (Demo)

Jonny DuddleCOUNTRY: UKCLIENTS: S ony, Crave,Universal, Warner Bros,Buena Vista.

After stints asa painter,childrensentertainerand teacher,

Jonny moved into thegames industry in 1999,where he still works as aconcept artist.www.duddlebug.com

www.adobe.com/products/ tryadobe/main.jsp

T o v i e w t h e s e

i m a g e s , a d

d

a . p s d

f i l e e x t e n s

i o n t o

t h e e n d o f e a c

h f i l e !

February 2006

Photoshop

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1 ThumbnailsI normally approach a brief with abunch of thumbnails. I sketched Bjorndigitally, using the Conte Pencil brush,

which is one of Photoshops Dry Mediabrushes. This brush gives a lovely lineand gives the sketch a real pencil look. Ionly produced six thumbnails for theBerserker, but I generally scribble until Ifeel Ive got a strong idea or direction.

2 Set up a sheetIf the height lines are set up correctlyat the start, the template can be used forfuture images. Use Photoshops gr id,guides and the Line tool to produce thetemplate. Begin with an A3 sheet (420x297mm) and set the units to mm. With thegrid and rulers showing, drag a guide forthe top height line at 30mm. This is quick

and easy with snap turned on. Draganother eight guides down and place themevery 3cm, which fits within an A3 sheet.Create a new layer and use the Line tool,set to 1mm, to draw in the lines. Sett ing upthe turnaround height lines is the leastinteresting job, but it helps create accurateturnarounds and it helps the modellers.Name this template: eight heads.

3 Designing BjornCreate a new file at 480x290mmand drag across the height lines from thetemplate. I use Edit>Transform>Scale tostretch the height lines across the widthof my new canvas, then choose one ofmy thumbnails to work up into the front

view of my Berserker. Where appropriate,I like to add humour and character, so Iplump for the final thumbnail with theBerserker and the little bird.

Drag your chosen thumbnail onto theturnaround image. Set the blendingmode to Multiply to keep the black lines

visible and the white areas transparent.Scale the sketch to roughly fit the heightlines and reduce the layers opacity. Use

this as a rough guide. Once again, I usethe Conte Pencil. I dont worry aboutgetting all the details in for now, but thedrawing needs to be proportionatelyaccurate to form a good basis for thepainting (apart from accentuations like asmaller head and longer ape-like arms).

4 The back and side viewsOnce Im happy with Bjorns front view, I copy the layer, flip the copyhorizontally using Edit>Transform>FlipHorizontal and drop its opacity. It canthen be moved over to the right-handside of the image as a template for theback view. The back view has the reversesilhouette, so I trace the edges whileadding details and think carefully aboutthe shapes and orientation of limbs andobjects. At this stage I realise that I needto scale the front and back views to givemore space for a side view. The side viewis tricky due to the different angle. I usethe copied front view at 10 per centopacity and the height lines as a guide.

On a turnaround like this, I think itsmore important to clearly show all theelements of the characters design than toget hung up on a perfectly accurate siderendition of the front view. I keep theback and side views rough for now,because I may alter the front view.

Layer masksIm a big fan of layermasks. Layer masksenable me to paint outareas of an imagewithout actually deletingthe pixels. If you paint onyour layer mask in blackthen you hide areas ofthe layer; painting in

white reveals themagain. For example, Iused a layer mask on theheight lines layer to paintout where the linesintersected with Bjorn.As I made changes toBjorns silhouette, I couldeasily reveal and hide theheight lines using thelayer mask.

PROSECRETS

Mo v e l a y e r u p o r d o w nC t r l + [ o r C t r l +] ( P C ) A p p l e + [ A p p l e +] ( Ma c )T h e se sh o r t cu t s m o v e lay e r s u p a n d d o w n w it hin t h e La y e r s p a le t te , to k e e p th e m o r g a nise d .

In depth: Go berserk in Photoshop

February 2006

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ManaginglayersAt 480x290mm and 300DPI, an image canbecome cumbersome asthe layer count rises, andeven a fast machine withplenty of RAM can startchugging, which canaffect the performanceof my brushes. With thisin mind, its good to keeplayers organised. Givingyour layers names cansave time. Use the Locksto lock pixels, position ortransparency and avoidworking on the wronglayer. And try not tocreate layers willy-nilly.Remember that morelayers mean bigger filesand a slower machine.

PROSECRETS

Workshops

D u p l i c a t e l a y e r C t r l +J ( P C )

A p p l e +J ( Ma c )T his sh o r tc u t is u se f u l f o r d up lic a t in g w h o le lay e r s a ndis g r e a t f o r s e p a r a t in gse c t io n s o f a la y e r .

5 Blocking colourI create a new layer and fill it with amid grey to give a neutral backgroundcolour. I then paint in a base colour forBjorns front view. I often work with adeep desaturated blue as a base colour,because it gives a neutral backdrop. Myfavourite brush for blocking colour isPhotoshops Chalk 17 pixels with opacityset to Pen Pressure. I scale the brush upand down a bit while Im working, butthis brush works perfectly for me.

I create three initial colour layers abovethe line drawing and build a layer set forthe background elements to keep my

Layers palette tidy. I have a main colourlayer, a detail layer and a separate layerfor hair to allow some experimentation

with Bjorns hairstyle and beard. I try tokeep the layer count down to avoidconfusion and to keep the file at amanageable size. I crop the image toinclude only the front view. I wont needthe back and side views for a while, so Illreassemble the turnaround sheet later.

6 Adding facial detail With the base colours blocked in, I

start adding detail to the face. The face isimportant in establishing the characterand personality, and I like to get itpainted early to help clarify where Imheading with the design. With the faceand the other areas of skin, I use blobs ofpink and blue to add interest to the fleshcolours. I give Bjorn a pink nose because

I imagine him on a cold and windybattlefield. I also give him a confusedexpression as he stares at the little bird.

7 The shadows layer The shadows layer is a quick cheat.On more illustrative pieces, I tend topaint the shadows into the image, but onconcepts a separate layer is good for

flexibility and speed. I like to play withdifferent blending modes. For thisturnaround I use Vivid Light and set theopacity of the shadows layer to 50 percent. I paint most of the shadows in adark saturated blue which transformsinto interesting browns and greys overthe painted layer.

8 Painting furFor the hair and fur, I paint a darkbase layer which I work over with lighter

and more saturated brush strokes tobuild up the strands and flow. Workingup from a darker layer gives a good depthto hair and fur, particularly if there are

variations in the detail colours. The fur ispainted quickly with a straggly brush.

9 Painting metalMetal painting either seems toflow from the brush and work just how

you want it or become a terrible struggle.It usually demands high contrast, tomimic reflections across its surface, so Iblock in most of the metal in very darktones and then begin adding desaturatedgreens, blues and browns to build up thesurfaces. I like to experiment withdifferent brushes with varying opacitiesto help develop texture. I gradually worklighter until Im painting in white to pickout highlights.

10 Finishing touches With the fur, hair and metalrendered, I work around the imageadding in and tightening details, such asbelts, straps and hanging objects. I finish

with the bird; a robin. When Bjorns front view details are complete, I drag himonto the turnaround sheet and starttidying up the image for presentation. Forclarity and flexibility, I opt for a whitebackground, but I leave silhouettes ofgrey within the back and side views. This

gives volume to these views against thefull colour version. I check the heightlines and edit the layer mask to ensurethey dont intersect Bjorn. Once Imhappy with the alignment and masks,Bjorn is finished.

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