Team Orange soup sketchy adventures

[D.Labruyere]

Hello all,

this is the sketchbook thread for team Orange Soup. Here we will put all our ideas and sketches, finished works and whatever we feel is needed for the Team Chow.

Our team excists out of the following members:

Nightblue
Delmar
Tommoy
D.Labruyere

I hope the viewers get as much fun out of this thread as we are going to have

Artwork will come here shortly.

yours,

Daniel

[Tommoy]

First scribbles.

Nightbleu's idea to each pic one or two characters and focus on that seems fine by me, but first let us throw in some rough sketches to set a mood.

T

[Delmar]

Yeah Tommoy, that's the spirit!!! ..motivated me to do a few myself..

[D.Labruyere]

*joins the mood setting shizzle*



we really should try and get a certain 'theme' to work on within the next couple off days.

[Tommoy]

Delmar, nice brushwork man

I'm with Daniel we need a theme, from there we could set up a mood, gather reference and sketch on. So what do you guys think of an African theme, mixed with armor, middle ages to start of with. Its just a thought, let us know if you have suggestions for a theme.

Tom.

[D.Labruyere]

I like the idea of an african theme. I'm gonna try out some sketches

just dumping some more quick character ideas

[Nightblue]

I like the idea too, so I ran with it... in my own version Fantastic sketches. More! moooar!

Here's my take on the characters:

Hero: She is tough, but the brief made it sounds like she has been or still is a civilian - she is surprised and terrified that she can fight at all, meaning she lived the civilian life at least for some period of time. She should also appear emotionally vulnerable because of her past and the conflicts between people around her.

Shadow: He dresses in the same vein as hero. To emphasize his mysteriousness, part of his face could be hidden. I made him medium-built to contrast with the heavy protector and the slim rabble rouser.

Protector: I can't think of a very interesting take on this one :| sounds like a typical gentle giant. Will try to dig more into it if necessary.

Sage: She/he should have a completely different vibe than the rest, and her/his facial expression should be kind of spacey. She/he should be slim. indicating that she is not meant for physical combat.

Technician: I took the magic approach to this. My version carries a number of bottled miniature vehicles/creatures and magically blow them to full size. This character sounds like a wide open one but should reflect the genre/tech level of our general choosing.

Rabble Rouser: The handsome rogue. I think he should be slim to indicate sneakiness and lack of strength. I guess my take on him is... a rogue, hehe.

These are just my thoughts, please do share yours... lets get the ideas flowing

[Tommoy]

Nice work guys, great start NB. I've set up a small moodboard, I suggest you guys do the same and show us the influences you would like to add. Some keywords for me: African, traditional african outfit combined with armor, post apocalyptic, wasteland.

[D.Labruyere]

nice work nightblue and tommoy! Here is my current twist to the whole african theme. Ill also make a mood board

[Nightblue]

Having a communal style guide board is a great idea. We can use Tommoy's as a starting point and add to it.

I think we can find a middle ground between D.Labruyere and Tommoy's sketches, while adding some Delmar style. African costumes show a lot of skin, and I think skin + armor = win Who else likes to draw muscle/boobs?

[D.Labruyere]

I'm all for african + medieval armor. You can have a lot of variety in clothing etc, having the characters just basicaly pick up everything they can find and use it to there good. It gives you the oppertunity of finding the most bizar combinations while mantaining one style.

Right! I've simply added to tom's moodboard because I thought he had a great start with it already.

[Delmar]

Yeah that's a great idea with the african theme ! ...but i think we need some kind of technological level in this world.....the technician has to fit in this time and world as well as the sage....

Good stuff already!!

some ideas...

[Nightblue]

Nice style Delmar! That looks like the protector. We definitely need tech level - it would influence the kind of trinkets carried by other characters as well.

It might be a good idea to outline a schedule, so the deadline doesn't sneak up on us We also need to stat thinking about what we want to present. I was talking to Daniel online and he brought up a good point - our characters should go together enough to be presented on one page, standing side by side. Massive Black concept sheets tend to include character (front/back,) action poses, material palette (cloth, metal...), facial expressions (for main characters), and additional drawings for details or structure for complex objects. It would be great to come up with marketing illustrations for each character, but I don't know how much we can do before the deadline.

I'm ok too if you guys don't want to do this like an actual concept art project - I love painting me some pretty pictures too without worrying too much over details. Which direction does everybody prefer to focus on? Concept art that can actually be used in production, or marketing illustrations that sell the characters?

[Delmar]

thanks Nightblue!

Conceptart or illustration is a good point.......

....normally the chows are always more illustrative than conceptual....but we're dealing with six chars now, it's inevitable to create a background story and get the character linked together, also with items they use or have.....make em believeable. I think we should go with a more conceptual way.....i don't think that things like orthos are possible in our timeframe....a good shot from each character in a for him or her likely position, mood etc.. but no actual highly renderd illustration with decent bg and everything. Maybe also one wer'e the whole bunch is together...but just the chars, no bg.

what do you think?

[D.Labruyere]

I think it is best to see it more as a conceptart project then an illustration project. Simply because it easier to get all the characters together as a whole. Also it means a lot less decision making since you don't have to draw the whole environment around it. I think the one pose with mood thing is indeed the best option.

We should also decide who is going to focus on which characters. I had the following idea:

The person who does the hero does one character. This one needs the most attention.

One person does the technician and also a vehicle or animal design or whatever way the technician goes.

The remaining 4 characters are divided by 2 persons. I think that would be best to do:

-protector and rabble rouser
-shadow and sage

This because I think that both the shadow and the protector are very easy characters to design.

If everybody agrees with this we can divide who does what. I think the most simple system for this is, who comes first with there pick gets it. I will simply take the one that is left, because it is my idea

anyways, 2 more ideas, I'm trying to find a nice mixture between african and medieval.

[Tommoy]

Hey Daniel, can you get a little picture up there to guide our sketchbook?

Made a logo (yes, we are the green meatballs) u can use this or something else, just that the empty space is gone.

I understand Delmar's and Nightbleu's wish for a tech element mainly for the technician. When these people are capable of making armor they should have instruments to produce and craft it. Also you could think of natural techniques, creatures in glass pots that can heal wounds , produce light, fire or things like that (like in your first sketch NB).

It would be nice if we could set up a complete game concept but I think we need the time to just produce the chars alone.

Daniels suggestion to just pic one or two characters and focus on that this week seems like a good idea, we can give feedback on each others wips. I'll start of with the hero, blending the Africa theme with the medieval seems daring already.

[Nightblue]

I vote for going the magical/mystical tech level

Either way, I call the technician unless someone else really wants to do it.

I think it's safe to assume color-wise we'll stick to the african color palette. I'm a bit torn on the race of the main country where 5 of the 6 characters are from. On one hand I think it's awesomely cool to paint Africans - I'm pretty tired of seeing white characters On the other hand, African character + african theme seems a bit obvious. I'm probably just over-thinking on this, lol.

D, the 2nd sketch is pretty sweet! I love the trinkets from the first sketch also.

Tommoy, love the logo, that is pure awesomeness I still think that the hero should be 90% civilian and 10% warrior, or even fully civilian with a hint of warrior. She definitely needs to show the conflict that is in her - she can fight, but is afraid of that part of her.

[Tommoy]

Nightbleu, I have to disagree with your interpretation of the hero. Personally I think a hero doesn't blend in with the crowd, she has to stand out. Making her a civilian she would be to much of an accidental hero.

So...

The Hero
- Female, between 20 - 30. Has no memory of anything beyond a year before present. See below
- Stubborn to a fault, but unswervingly loyal to those she cares about, convinced that she could lose her memory of them at any time she makes the most of every moment. A proud, loyal and lively person
- Has a tendency to say things before she thinks about them.No patience
- Rumoured to have a second personality that can remember everything from before, a 'dark' side, as it were, with totally different personality traits. **See below
- A quick learner, but unlikely to pay attention unless something immediately catches her interest. Seems logical for a hero
- Searching for her past but ultimately easily caught up in the present and the worries of others, tending to think of other people before herself. She isn't aware of the spell and the tribal wars are revived, see below.
- Found (to her horror) that she is more than capable of handling herself in a fight, and likely capable of killing.The spell


My interpetation:
She izz a hero, she became that status fighting against evil tribes and defeating the black lords of Zwazulu (worktitel), a year ago when she lost her memory due to a spell. After that she kind of reborn and found out she's a master in martial arts and a blood thirsting bitch in battle, to her own gruesomeness. So although she has forgotten, she can fight like no other. A little armor and a big sword are her basic attributes, but she can handle any weapon. She has a 'dark' side so she can be a corrupt person too, maybe that spell has something to do with that. When the evil side takes over, my idea is giving her a different bodypaint and dark evil looking clothing and armor, lets say Darth Vader meets Grace Jones.

Magical/mystical tech level sounds great, its a theme element we can use in other chars too. You get that technician rolling NB.

Daniel, why don't you first focus on the Rabble rouser. I think the trinkets are suited for him.

Delmar, with your swirling brushstrokes I wonder what you would do with the shadow.

Tom.

[Delmar]

Hey Tommoy great logo !!

If it's cool with you guys, I'll go for the sage and shadow...


Tommoy i have to say that i'm with nightblue regarding the interpration of the hero. Following are a few points that makes my oppinion clear:


The Story:

Beginning:

(Think of the story like a tv-series or a game)....
The first scene would be the protector picking up the hero after she lost her memory
(- She doesn't know anything about her past, neither does we as viewers -) Even if she
was a war godess before,from the point on she lost her memory she is first of all 100% civilian.....vulnarable and confused.
(- Most important is that she got nothing that connects her to the past, only little hints, things like a certain necklace or
a marking on her body from the spell, that along the journey helps her to find information about her past.

This makes the story exciting. If she would have still her armor and weapons from the past there would be
no mystery about her.."No wonder why she can fight"....you know what i mean. -)

During the next year:

team members are joining bit by bit along her quest. There are fights against bandits and other scum where the
hero finds out to her horror(!)(see hero description) that she is capable of fighting and killing.

(- She is scared of the fact that she is capable of doing that...a broadsword would convey a completely wrong
picture of her character. Also why would she wear armor all the time, they ar not in a constant war against
anyone...just on a journey. In the medieval times only knights and guys who protect something (see protector..hehe ) had armor,
and even if she was kind of a knight in her life befor the memory loss, that should under no circumstances influence the way she looks now.-)

Now :

by now the hero and her five companions are a hell of a bunch. Each of them still searching for something, while the
main story line of course is hero's search for her roots.

(- she got a weapon to defend herself when she has to, but nothing that conveys mass destruction.
She wouldn't need a guy like the protector and four other guys, if she would be that kind of hero tom is
speaking of.......because they are not joining her because she is a great leader and fighter.
The protector wants to protect her, Shadow is somehow connected to her (maybe the same spell, or some
kind of tatoos or jewellery that matches up somehow and refers to the past)..that's why he is
interested in her, the sage is also just drawn to her on a spiritual level.-)


What i'm trying to say is..yeah, she is the main character but she is not a
hero that leads troups into wars. She is unsecure about herself and the
signification of her life, but very secure about her feelings for her five friends
that have cared for her and helped her since she can "remember"....that
makes her the hero....a brave heart an iron will and willing to do everything
for her five firends.
That's why She needs to be the most "unimpressive" of all characters
or at least perfectly fit in the group. She can't have her own distinctive style
that seperates her from everyone because everything she knows of the
world has been brought to her by her friends in this one year......What makes
her special are this hints from the past like i said at the beginning.......a
certain necklace, the spell tattoos.....something like that seperates her from
every man and woman in this world.

She needs to be likeable...even if she has some bad attitudes. But Tom, your suggesting that she is a bloodthirsty fighter and
gets even worse when she is under the spell.....that can't work.

We need to think in the group of six.

- Shadow gets completely lame, when the hero has a much "darker" side.
- Protector is jobless, because she stole his armor and sword
- Why should the technician and the sage joining a woman like that, they rather ran off because they are scared to death...

Please tell me what you think guys....I'm feeling like total smartass right now, but it's just, i think we are going
to miss the link between the chars and their function in the story...

..I think this is really important to clarify this before wer're heading off to the drawing board....

[Delmar]

also a little thumb sheet from sunday morning

[Tommoy]

Hmm, I'm a little confused about the hero. She found (to her horror) that she is more than capable of handling herself in a fight, and likely capable of killing. Civilians don't fight and kill. I guess it mainly depends on where you enter the story, chord after losing her memory she prob looked more like a civilian without her weapons and armor that could been have taken away from her. But once the quest to find her history again begins, she needs weapons and armor. Shadow and protector are supporting her in battle, not taking over the hard work of fighting. Nonetheless, made a version of her looking more harmless, but I don't think its a good idea to make her a dull character.

[Tommoy]

Little sketch for the protector.

[Nightblue]

Tommoy - Not saying she shouldnt be able to handle a fight. You are right, it depends on when she enters the story. I do think there needs to be a certain air of uncertainty about her, and the way she dresses might reflect the conflict. She doesn't have to look harmless- in fact, she has a badass side. However, having her fully decked out in armor like a professional, full-time warrior shows only one side of her. This is only my 2 cents though, don't take it too seriously if you disagree

Any more thoughts on the race of the 5 characters? Sage can be whatever since he is foreign.

If there's no objection to the mystical route, I'll be working more on the err, magical technician... magician.

Delmar, fantastic thumbnails, love the silhouette.

Tommoy: That armor stuff look awesome. I wouldn't cross this guy, ever.

Life drawing night tonight + overtime at work on Sunday. Really need some snoozing. I'll be posting initial sketches tomorrow night though, sorry for being sluggish!

[Delmar]

Tom...Cuuool protector guy !!

Ýou'Re right, after one year the hero certainly
equipped herself with a weapon....but i just wanted to take into consideration that the weapon as well as her outfit should maybe reflect her uncertainty and horror of killing......I don't mean that she should look dull or boring, for example a one side shoulder armor/plate, some kind of leather vest and this skirt that she has in your sketches....i dunno, something in this direction.

How are we handling the weaponry in general ? Are we going to make the weapons ourself....a combination of medieval, african and this magical/ tech element....or do we stick with good ol' weapons.?

[Delmar]

ahhh....double post

[Tommoy]

The crits and discussions are welcome guys, don't worry. I understand and agree her uncertainty has to be obvious. Maybe I can achieve that in the body language and facial expression. I think she should wear some armor and weaponry but very basic, she is no real warrior like the protector. Will come back with sketches.

About the weapons I'm totally for designing our own, combinations of African, medieval with a magical/tech sauce. Maybe one of us can focus on that and throw in some ideas.

[Tommoy]

Protector update.

[Delmar]

Tom: Really like where the protector is going...i like the golden armor and his face painting.

Tried to develope one of the thumbs for the shadow.

[Nightblue]

Tommoy: sweet armor! I love the helmet design and the skirt part (sorry, my English vacabulary is bad!) The helmet seems wider in your black and white drawing, which seems even a bit cooler to me, and I also dug the shape behind him - guessing it's a shield? It makes his silhouette even heavier. The red eyes makes him look a bit evil But otherwise the colors look great.

Delmar - I'm jealous of your mad style. He looks a tad young in the face, but I love his expression.

My quick sketch for the technician. Will have to devote some nights to do work stuff this week Ouch!

[Tommoy]

Yeah, great work guys

Delmar, there is something about your brushwork I admire, however, watch that silhouette. The cape seems like an important element, I wonder what its made of, feathers?. I'm curious where you are going to take this, keep posting those wips mate.

Nightbleu, very nice creature companying the technician, did you think of its functionality, is it just a carrier or has it more features. The girl looks very pretty, are you intending to make her a beauty or is she gonna be a 'working girl'? Hope you find the time to work on this sketch, can't wait to see the next steps.

Hey Daniel, how is your rabble rouser coming along?.

Nightbleu, you were right about the shield and helmet. Think I,m getting close to the final protector.