Silhouettes CHARACTER DESIGN 1The 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/
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 MauroIt 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)
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.
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.
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 of view) 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) (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. (Note: Artwork below is by
Feng Zhu)
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. (Note:
Artwork below is by Feng Zhu)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 next step. (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 Skillful Huntsman"
Copyright 2011 Design Studio Press & Scott Robertson - artwork
'left' is by Felix Yoon - artwork 'right' is by Khang Le)
(Note: Artwork below is from "The Skillful Huntsman" Copyright
2011 Design Studio Press & Scott Robertson - artwork is by
Khang Le)
(Note: Artwork below is by Mike 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. (Note: Artwork
below is from "The Skillful Huntsman" Copyright 2011 Design Studio
Press & Scott Robertson - artwork by Mike Yamada.)
(Note: Artwork below is from "The Skillful Huntsman" Copyright
2011 Design Studio Press & Scott Robertson - artwork by Khang
Le)
(Note: Artwork below is by Mike 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 blogger Mike Corriero is 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 worlds" 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.
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