Illustration Activity - (New Activity-Month Long-join before Dec. 7th)

**rick_hershey** · April 3rd, 2005, 06:36 PM

The Deal: Every week I'll post a different art brief, every couple of weeks we'll have a guest AD. Some briefs are more detailed then others, but enough information is given to complete an assignment, and sometimes more then an Art Director will give you. Each brief will be as different as possible, so you get to cover a wide variety of subjects and learn what it is to be a working illustrator.

This is a learning activity, but hopefully fun for everyone. Please respect that and try and finish activities you commit to joining. We expect to see your best work and these activities should be viewed as real world jobs, thanks - and good luck.

**rick_hershey** · April 3rd, 2005, 06:44 PM

Assignment # 1 Character template.
Type : Black & white or greyscale
Subject: Full body illustration, no background

Description: Futuristic Gladiator in desolate future. Large man in his 30's with cybernetic limbs (several or singular ex. arm) ritualistic body scars and an assortment of modern and possibly primitive clothing. Several weapons, but must have battle axe. Also, he usually wears a helm of some type, although he could be holding it. Powerful fighter, champion among men.

Deadline: Sunday- April 10th

CLOSED

**rick_hershey** · April 4th, 2005, 10:38 PM

I did a quick one up to get the ball going, thanks to those that pmed me and are interested in this. I hope to see some activity, if not. . .no big deal. Later.

**look** · April 5th, 2005, 10:18 AM

It sounds fun and seems to be a good practice. Out of curiosity, how do you assign art directors?
I'm thinking about trying it out, but first I have to figure out my schedule for the rest of this week.

**rick_hershey** · April 6th, 2005, 04:43 AM

well we don't actually assign art directors, I sort of "play" art director. . .the activity really just gives an idea of what art directors expect and how they might interact with artists. Mainly to give an idea of how the whole thing can play out.

**dedguy** · April 6th, 2005, 10:23 AM

i'll be making an entry

**skullsquid** · April 6th, 2005, 05:16 PM

I'll make an entry I need to get off my ass and do some different work.

**syngeist** · April 6th, 2005, 06:23 PM

Sounds like fun, futuristic, gladiators, cybernetic limbs, it can't get any better then that, well except maybe if you add in killer bunnies. Other then that, I think I'll give it a shot.

**skullsquid** · April 6th, 2005, 07:57 PM

Here's my entry.

Edit:

Grayscale version

**dedguy** · April 7th, 2005, 09:38 PM

lines:

"colours":

secondary attempt, all done hard black and white no gray scale. i think i like this one alot better.

**Belligergerum** · April 8th, 2005, 12:21 AM

alright guys, here is my humble submission. i realize its not full body but i ran out of paper. maybe i can do another and complete it. sorry

hope ya like.

**rick_hershey** · April 8th, 2005, 01:45 AM

These look great guys, thanks for participating. I'll leave more comments on deadline day. . .can't wait to see more.

**rick_hershey** · April 9th, 2005, 04:44 AM

Hey guys,

Just a reminder that sunday is the deadline, so if anyone else is doing this you got till then. The next assignment goes up then, and I'll comment on the ones posted. . .thanks again.

**jfwalls** · April 9th, 2005, 09:41 AM

what time sunday?

**rick_hershey** · April 9th, 2005, 01:11 PM

um....Late (eastern time) if it helps. . .

**dogfood** · April 9th, 2005, 09:58 PM

Thanks for reigniting this, Rick. Here's my piece. I tried to bring the focus to the face by lessening the detail as you go down, but since the face is the obvious focus in the first place, it's probably just poorly done. I have run out of time, though, because I just got an idea for the C.O.W. and need to step over.

As an aside, I really hope that folks read the directions and only post one piece per week (dedguy, evildisco) and do not post after the due date. Not that it's that big a deal and folks can do what they please in this anonymous atmosphere, but as a sign of respect for what's going on, I would really like to see this as a clean exercise. I recall on the last one where goblin assassins were popping up a month after they were due. I may be a tad anal retentive on this, but it just messes up the flow. A better idea would be to post it independently and advertise that it was done for this thread, but was late. That will potentially get more folks to participate.

**syngeist** · April 10th, 2005, 12:00 AM

Ok, I have finally gotten to a point where I am content to post this for this activity. I do have to say that this was a lot of fun and actually motivated me to get off my butt to actually do something. Oh and a little tidbit about this guy, the bladed weapon on his left arm can be detached, in case he loses his axe.

I'll probably still continue to work on this some more later on.

**jfwalls** · April 10th, 2005, 12:42 AM

Does it have to be black and white or grayscale? Wouldn't a little color be nice?

**rick_hershey** · April 10th, 2005, 02:01 AM

Hey jfwalls,

Color is nice, but not for this assignment. We will be seeing color assignments in the future, but the majority of art is still black & white (now also greyscale) for most interior artwork for books. This activity is to get you to learn and use properly many different styles, follow directions, and create quality work in short time - skills you need as an illustrator.

Can't wait to post the next one - it's going to be fun.

Also, if anyone is interested my friend (and great artist - great guy)
Jon Hodgson has an art brief thread that could really help make a strong portfolio - based on real art briefs, also check out his work if you get a chance.
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40765

**Kaoki** · April 10th, 2005, 04:28 AM

ok it's 9:30 am and i've been up all night, noticed this thread an hour ago and decided to do it, so excuse me if this is a bit shit hehe

good idea for a thread btw

**jfwalls** · April 10th, 2005, 11:10 AM

Here you go.

**rick_hershey** · April 11th, 2005, 12:57 AM

First up, a few comments on the submissions.

jfwalls- Nice strong picture, good use of greyscale. My main problem with this is the detail in the legs (upper thighs) just seem a little to "bubbly" compared to the rest of the image, but great rendition and kept the description.

Kaoki- I'm glad you participated, like the picture, probably for the reason you may not. . .it looks rushed. I like the very "sketchy" look to this. My main concern is the head, the lack of detail with such an important part might throw a viwer off.

eXus- Great job, and I checked out your progress thread, very cool. The rendering in greyscale is a little rough, but not bad enough to turn off a viewer. The anatomy needs a little work, mainly where the arms attach (placed to far away from torso) Great work including the cool arm and posting a description.

dogfood- hey man, like this. . .I think you accomplished pulling focus to the face, and it works well. I also like the spinning blade hand, inventive without being to far out there. I'd really of liked to seen some scars on him and some darker greys or blacks, to make it pop more.

Belligergerum- I think you were really heading in a cool direction with this, especially the helmet. would of been happier with the full body as the direction state, but thanks for posting.

dedguy- I like the second image the most, maybe with a white background (dir.-no background=white) But the strong points are there, the arms are very daring, nice skeletal feel.

evildisco- very strong greyscale, brings a lot to the pic. Would of worked better with a little clean-up (dir.-no background) Love the helmet, the exhaust pipe, and the spikes.

These are great everyone, and I hope you stick around as these will cover all types of different illustration/commercial art jobs.

**rick_hershey** · April 11th, 2005, 01:11 AM

Assignment # 2 Characters - background illustration
Type : Black & white linework (classical)
Subject: Boy and captive monkeybird

Description: Bust shot of a young native boy (s. american/african/asian/etc.) who is travelling through a jungle/wooded area. The boy has captured a monkeybird and is possibly on his way to a market or village.

Boy- poor, tribal wear, possibly tattoos or face paint (bust shot of him)

Monkeybird- any type of monkey (but bird size), wings and feathered tail.

Example of Style : HERE

Example of Classic style pen and ink by Bernie Wrightson
(click name to visit this great illustrators home page)

CLOSED

**willpaxton** · April 11th, 2005, 07:51 PM

how far down should we go with the pic i know bust is like shoulders up but your examples are like waste up?

**rick_hershey** · April 11th, 2005, 11:22 PM

The Examples are meant only to show the classic style of pen and ink, but I can deal with going as low as waist if needed.

**rick_hershey** · April 14th, 2005, 04:18 AM

half-way through the week and nothing yet?

**dogfood** · April 14th, 2005, 07:26 AM

This was a tough one. It took me about 6 hours and I was rushing, not taking the time to really lay down each line like it should have been, which gives it a far rougher feeling in spots. I also changed my method about a third of the way through, also changing the look. What killed me in the end was that I did his hand and the monkey last and while his hand was properly proportioned in the sketch, it was tiny after inking it. So, I had to repair it (and now it's screwed up, disconnected from the wrist and the wrong rotation in the forearm). But, man, this was tough. Boy, those monkey wings are disappointing.

**syngeist** · April 14th, 2005, 08:56 AM

I had a lot of other work that occupied most of my week. I'll try to see if I can wip something up in time for this activity as well.

**Carnifex** · April 14th, 2005, 09:33 AM

when's the deadline for this? sunday again?
perhaps i'll be able to re-enter this thing again.was fun the first time...for a while...hopefully it'll last longer now.

**rick_hershey** · April 14th, 2005, 01:47 PM

Deadline: Sunday- April 17th

good to see you here Carnifex, This time the activity will stick around (if people participate) I actually composed assignments well in advance, so I just got to post when it's there time to go up. Also, the activities are more broad, I tried to cover lots of different types of illustration work. . .so expect to jump around a lot. I hope this becomes useful to people, which for new artists I think it is especially, and hopefully more will join.

Thanks-