Project proposal

Creature research

for my project i wanted to add elements of wildlife including plants and animals, i wanted to put a dragon into my work to further emphasise the fantasy theme so i brainstormed different ideas on different styles to make it look unique, things like wings from different creatures to have a mixed creature.


i looked into different wings of creatures like butterflies and different birds and i went with a doves wings for my design, doves being a symbol of peace, i decided to make my dragon look peaceful by not having large horns like typical dragons usually have.

While looking at reference images for doves wings i noticed that showing light passing through their wings was a common trend so i thought about how i could use this in my work since my main focus was the lighting.

Another creature i looked at for research was gryphon's as they were already similar to the creature i had already thought of  but i decided to keep my design as i thought it was more unique.

Rule of thirds

while i was creating my final piece i had tried to stick with the rule of thirds having the top of the bridge sit on the top horizontal line and trying to fit different points into the intersections and poutting the trees to the sides, they don't line up perfectly with the grid but they are close enough to partially demonstrate this technique

Evaluation

The theme I had chosen for my project was medieval fantasy

To develop my ideas I first began looking for reference material of artwork that has already been done on art station and look at what similarities these all shared for me to implement into my own design, doing this led to me discovering that there were many different styles people conceive to be fantasy and because of this I used different aspects to influence my own.

I then started experimenting by creating basic outlines of different layouts of a fantasy styled landscape I would later pick and choose different aspects of each layout in my final piece.

To build on my skill on creating landscapes, I took different pictures I had already taken from similar outdoor terrains to what people already create concept art from, out of these I picked out one picture I took from Scarfell pike located in the Lake District national park in Cumbria, in Photoshop I tried to mimic the photo as realistically I could using the paint brushes.

While researching my theme and similar concepts that have already been done I found lots of reference images from different films and games that would help me while I created my own concept.

These reference materials helped me as it gave me ideas on how to convey a fantasy theme on a landscape like having unique wildlife and plants and very vibrant lighting.

This affected my design with how I developed it, I would have to come up with a variety of different looking trees that looked very unnatural to have in the real world until I came up with a design that I was pleased with.

With my research If I were to do it again I would watch or play some of the films and games that I was pointed towards by some of my classmates, that way I’d have had a lot more material to look at and be inspired from instead of looking at screenshots from them.

When creating my final piece I tried to add subliminal lines in my piece that would lead from one eye catching section to something a little bit less obvious making the viewer explore a path left in my concept art.

When I created my piece I wanted to create the feeling of life waking and coming into motion, I did this by having it set at sunrise, I also created a creature waking up and basking in the sunlight to emphasise this.

I created a canyon where there was less light showing that the sun had only just risen above the skyline shining over only a few sections that were high enough and faced the rising sun.

I am partially happy with my final piece, some sections like the bridge and the creature I am very happy with but I feel the background was lacking after I removed the water from it as I couldn’t get it to look how I wanted, another thing I am unhappy about is the clouds, I feel as if they should be a bit more darker on the sides facing away from the sun and a lot less transparent.

when i did the rocks in my final piece i used what i had learned from my earlier experiments and focused more on the shape and shading of the rocks instead of the texture as the experiments i did never had a clear shape you could see.

Comparing my work to another piece of research I had earlier found shows how I was inspired by a certain layout of having a high foreground, a low middle and then the skyline would be a mountain top with the sun creeping over.

If I were to re do my project I would look more into different artists and maybe look at how they create there final pieces and the skills they used to do these and then experiment using the techniques I found to give my work a different look. 
i would also do more experimentation with what didn't work first the first time and look at tutorials on how to do them better.

Final concept time-lapse

https://youtu.be/hI64EGcFUls

This is a 10 minute long time lapse of my progress while creating my final piece.

i started my final 

Final Photoshop concept art

when I created this concept I first decided that I wanted it to be in the morning so I could use the sunrise in the back to highlight all the edges of my scene and I tried to mimic some of the bright sunrises/sunsets I found in the research of different films and games in a fantasy setting.

I had used one of the unique tree concepts I created with a twist in the trunk as they were different but not too striking that they draw too much attention from the centre of the scene where i put my main eye catcher which was the bridge, I made the bridge a contrasting colour to the surrounding scenery so it would stick out more, I also created vines that were growing underneath wrapping around the supports to make it seem very old and the plant life is growing around it making it part of the natural scenery.

bellow the bridge I created a creature that was a cross between a bird and a reptile because I thought it was an interesting and unique idea, I wanted there to be some animal life in the scene to make it more interesting to look at and imagine how they would live within the scene.

I origionlally planned to add a lake in the back ground but I decided to remove because I was struggling with the lighting and making the surface of the water reflective, I decided to instead leave it as an open field so its not so distracting from the foreground.

Having done experiments creating rocks i used what i had learned to create a more realistic looking attempt, i did this by focusing more on the shape and shading of the rocks instead of the texture like i did with the experiment

simple sketches

In Photoshop I did 2 quick sketches to get an idea of how I wanted my scene laid out when I come to creating it in Photoshop for my final piece, I added black and white colouring to the second sketch as I was leaning more towards it and thought it would be a more interesting scene, however, the placement of the trees are too close, when I come to create my final concept I will move them much further back to allow me to create more space in the scene.

I would later take different aspects from both layouts when I developed even further, things that had altered is reducing the amount of man made structures to make the scene look more natural

I later on took aspects i liked from each concept and created one i was happy with and would use to later develop my concept art work further.

Experimentation

using an existing photo i already took as reference i tried to re create it within Photoshop as accurately as I could, this was good research for me as to how i can create realistic looking terrain in Photoshop.

If i could re-do this experiment i would put more time and detail when creating the clouds as I thought they lacked.

Experimentation

to practise creating realistic looking terrain in Photoshop i found a reference image and tried to re create it as best i could, i believe i could have done better with the rock as it doesn't look as realistic as id like, to achieve this i will have to spend more time in making sure the depth and shading for the shape of the rock is better as its hard to get a clear picture of the form.

Having done this experiment i can use what i learned when doing my final Photoshop as i now know what i need to do to improve from my experiment work.

I also tired to make different fantasy styled trees, some have slight differences like odd shaped trunks which i prefer the look of compared to the brightly coloured un natural trees.

Reasearch

From the suggestions my other classmates gave me i looked into the different games and films and found reference images that i could in my final concept use as reference, taking different aspects like the floating terrain from avatar and the pink hue of the sky in the witcher.

A game source that inspired my work was the elder scrolls series because it had many of the elements that i want to include into my final piece like the unique looking wildlife and the way the scene is set out to have a foreground, a lower middle ground and hills in the background to create a skyline.

Another game which had influenced my work was the legend of Zelda the twilight princess, a game i played a lot when i was younger, i used this game as research mainly due to how the lighting in the game was portrayed in some parts of the game, light being a main theme of the game, a lot of the memorable scenery was due to the way the light created a twilight effect having the sun bellow the skyline or just falling or rising filling the scene with an orange glow, this is a prominent feature i wanted within my scene.

Suggestions for development

1: LOTR, Witcher, Destiny, Nomans sky

From the films and games suggested I found reference images I liked that I could take inspiration from in my concept piece. 

2: Robert + Shana parke Harrison    Jerry ulesman     Dominal+Subduminal forms in painting

I found an image I liked by jerry ulesman which showed a floating block in the middle of a field.

3: Asset research and studies. Think about what you could use in your final concept. Think about a backstory behind the land scape.

4: Look at every fantasy type environment. Avatar is a good reference. Look at faund (sci-fi and fantasy)

The terrain in avatar is very un-natural with its floating islands and very colourful glowing plants, some things I want my final piece to include.

5: Look into different time zones. Has the area been destroyed, why does the area exist, how was it built.

Primary source research

i put together existing pictures of landscapes i have taken and compiled them together, i can use them in reference in regards to layouts of the hills and build my own fantasy scene on top, i also added certain pictures i thought already had a slightly fantasy touch like the bottom left picture of a sunset in Ibiza because it showed interesting and vibrant colours in the sky, also the middle picture the hilltops peak above the clouds, I thought in a fantasy world they could be floating islands above the clouds.

MoodBoard

i assembled images from different artists on art station which i thought had similar ideas to me as they all have a natural scene with a fantasy twist to them.

they all have a semi realistic look which i want to achieve with my work

Mindmap

I put together a mind map of things i could in my concept piece, i want it to include a lot of natural elements like rocks, plants, wildlife and also include a fantasy element within, this is something i can later go back and look at when thing of things to put in my concept