My first ever commission!

I was contacted about a week ago, by a theatre company called Boxtree productions, who asked if I could create a set of still and panning transitional backgrounds for their backdrops during a Wind in the Willows production. They're flying out to Saudi Arabia in two weeks to start performing which didn't give me a lot of time to get everything they wanted done. I've taken the role of art director and background artist, and to tackle the lack of time, I've recruited a second year to help me with some of the workload.

When I asked for artist reference, I was sent a set of very simplistic backgrounds with block colours, very little shading etc. I asked Rebecca to work on the seasonal transition backgrounds, so I created a base for her to work on.

I then started working on a stately interior for a scene in Toad Hall. I still have a way to go with this background, however I'm liking where it's going so far. Since I've never been paid to do any work specifically to fit a brief before, I'm being super critical of what I'm producing. Which in some ways is definitely a good thing, because I'm paying attention to detail. However, it's also making it hard for me to feel happy with what I'm creating. 

The sketchy line work is how I map out ways I can clutter up the scene and create a more lived in atmosphere. I love designing props and it's definitely the one thing that has been pushing my boundaries a little and really expanding my knowledge of background design and how much work really goes into it.

A finished animation background

Recent Personal Art

Something I was lacking during second year, was personal art. I just stopped drawing, painting, creating my own art, which in turn, impeded my drawing ability as a whole. This year (2018), I've made it my own persona goal, to create more of my own work. Some recent illustration and drawing below: 

Quick line drawing with a 0.4 fine liner. - Thailand 

Work in progress pencil drawing - Based off of a photo 

Pencil Illustration of my brother 

Digital illustration I created for my brother and sister's mum! 

One I'm most proud of. For this I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried a little more realism with colour. I definitely have a long way to go but I love the vibrancy of this piece and will definitely be using coloured pencils more. 

Ostrich Illustrations

A course mate's film pitch idea was about an Ostrich police Officer called 'DCI Neck'. Unfortunately, the film didn't get green lit, however in the time we waited for results, I illustrated my idea of what DCI Neck would look like!

Props Props Props

All I seem to be posting about recently is prop designs, but I just love doing them. I've always been a sucker for all the little trinkets you see, or maybe don't see, in animations. The way a toothbrush is kept by the character, the level of clutter they're happy to live with, all of the personal mess surrounding an environment, I love. Coming to an end of the first semester, I think I'll continue to create props and further the personality of my backgrounds in semester two.