Key Word Definitions

Mythic

1.
pertaining to, of the nature of, or involving a myth.
2.
dealt with in myth, as a prehistoric period.
3.
dealing with myths, as writing.
4.
existing only in myth, as a person.
5.
without foundation in fact; imaginary; fictitious: The explanation was entirely mythical.


Godly

1.
conforming to the laws and wishes of God; devout; pious.
2.
coming from God; divine.

Ascended:
1.
to move, climb, or go upward; mount; rise: The airplane ascended into the clouds.
2.
to slant upward.
3.
to rise to a higher point, rank, or degree; proceed from an inferior to a superior degree or level: to ascend to the presidency.
4.
1.
conforming to the laws and wishes of God; devout; pious.
2.
coming from God; divine.to go toward the source or beginning; go back in time.
5.
Music. to rise in pitch; pass from any tone to a higher one.

These words are taken into consideration for designing the Gods of Egyptian Mythology, I want them to look beyond normal human beings and out of their comprehension. With exquisite adornments, altered anatomy of which we do not see of our own world as well as an aura of "power" around these cosmic beings.


Mortality

1.
the state or condition of being subject to death; mortal character, nature, or existence.
2.
the relative frequency of deaths in a specific population; death rate.
3.
mortal beings collectively; humanity.
4.
death or destruction on a large scale, as from war, plague, or famine.
5.
Obsolete , death.

A state of being that will see these characters as above them, keeping this word in mind due to the fact of that this is what I am wanting to keep as the complete opposite of what I am trying to achieve as stated on the Key Word above.


All definitions were found on: http://dictionary.reference.com/

Previous Project Work

As this project is a continuation of my previous term of work on a visual concept for a game I created called "Dominance: Anubis's Tale" in which I had taken the the Myth of Isis and Osiris and adapted it into what could presented for a game.
Creating the main cast of characters by going through a in-depth process of self-analysis and development to produce a series of strong and memorable characters.

The full blog for this initial project can be found at: http://ba6-mythology.blogspot.co.uk/

Osiris

For Osiris show my ideas for making him appear more royal than a warrior, the long robes try and show a peaceful being. Keeping the royal adornments and headwear.

I first started involving the idea of using non-human-like faces for the Gods. Leaving their skin smooth and merging with the headgear, keeping the same material but able to stretch and form when talking and emoting.

Initial Silhouettes

Design Development

Final Concept

Seth

These concepts were the hardest to choose from, the first was the most tyrannical looking and kept the original animal looking face, a choice that was eventually left in the project. 

The next two were more applicable through wearing masks, I also wanted to make them look less royal and more like a warrior, giving him a toned body and exquisite amour. Eventually the third was chosen due to keeping his animalistic qualities whilst looking armoured and mythical along with looking like a warrior and a ruler.

Initial Silhouettes

Design Development

Final Concept

Isis & Nephthys

Seeing as these two female Gods were described as being similar I let them share the design process, adapting the concept to fit them both.

While keeping the more sultry and deceptive design more aligned to Nephthys seeing as she is the wife of Seth and allied with the main antagonist.

Initial Silhouettes

Design Development

Final Concept

Final Concept

Anubis

For Anubis I wanted to experiment with evening out the amount of armour and robes he would wear, with each over taking the other depending on his morality through out the game.
As Anubis was going to be the character in which the player would take control of, I wanted to make sure that his design was one of the most appealing. Mixing armour and cloth together to get both the warrior and entity aspects into his design. This will be taken to the two extremes later on into the design process.

Continuing on with Anubis’s development, I went on to recreate what I had done with Set by doing variants to what is possible with the animal head aspect. But seeing as the human-esque helmet did not seem to go down well with recognition, I decided to do two variants for the Jackal shaped headwear along with the actual animal head.

At the pivotal moment in the story Anubis has the chance to ally himself with Osiris or with Set during the war between them. I needed to embody the aspects of each god to each choice while keeping to the initial design of Anubis.

Initial Silhouettes

Design Development

Design Development (Morals)

Design Development - Shades

Final Concepts

Neutral

Pure

Corrupt

Learning Agreement

Steven Best - 1000606

Games Art & Design – BA7

Proposal

I have decided that for my final project that I shall continue on from my previous project last term of my second year entitled “Dominance: Tale of Anubis”. It was shown that it was some of my best work in through my illustrations, concepts and visualized concepts coupled with a deep background in Egyptian Mythology which provided a rich source of research and potential references.
Having an existing source to work from not only saved me time in developing a story,  characters and setting and let me focus into creating a new image for something that had been created before.
Seeing as what I had based this project on has such large scope, there was only so much that I could cover in the time I had before, which is why I would believe that developing it over this final project will give me the time to cover all assets in which a character can be designed, but not just the character in ways of how they look, talk, move and act but their assets such as props, weapons and equipment.
As a Concept Artist’s job is rarely restricted to just one aspect such as character design I believe that it is important to cover as much as I can to improve my resourcefulness, abilities and use in that line of work.

The characters I designed last year were the main antagonists and protagonists in the story, but through further research there were still key characters that I did not cover. As I further the design process for the originals I would continue on to develop all new designs for more characters but making sure to develop Anubis, the main playable protagonist.
Producing a full design for him to the means that his character will be fully portrayed to the viewer so they can see how he would presented in the final product along with the supporting cast.

To ensure that my work is to the standard of what is to be expected in the industry, I will seek out input from studios and Concept Artists for a critique on my work in illustration, design and research and correct me on developing my skills in the professional practice of working as a concept artist.

Assessment Work

Dominance follows the Myth of Osiris and Seth but from the fictional viewpoint of Anubis that I will be creating myself.
I will be referring to my previous designs for the characters Anubis, Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys and updating them where ever possible and expanding on their designs along with other main characters that were pivotal to the plot of the myth.

As Anubis is the character who the player controls, I will be creating a full character concept sheet including a turnaround chart, examples of emotions and motions along with a full development of Anubis’s weapons. (The symbols that he carries with him)
When portraying these characters in their final concept I will show them in a “mock environment” in a hero shot to show how they meld with the world that they are set in.
To accompany all of this work a blog/journal will be created to log my research, notes and annotations as I continue through this project by researching techniques in concept art, character design and creation of props and assets like weapons and items, art direction and theming.
I will also be contacting and creating case studies on several concept artists in the industry to ask for their input on insights on my work and how to strengthen it to the standards required for production work, asking questions on what they believe makes a strong and recognizable concept and design.

Schedule of work:

September 27^th -­ 11^th October:

- Start to new year

- Gather previous work and research

- Develop initial ideas for brief for Learning Agreement

October 12^th – 25^th October

- Start blog site for research

- Start initial draft for Learning Agreement and Research Report draft.

-  List out required new content for new project, possible redesigns

- Create list of Concept Artists and possible Art Directors to contact towards research

October 26^th - 8^th November

- Finish Learning Agreement

- Further research into blog and start case studies on chosen Artists (If replies are obtained.)

- Start initial traditional sketches in sketchbook.

November 9^th - 22^nd November

- Proof read Learning Agreement for submission.

- Finish and Hand in draft of Research Report.

- Start design and templates for Design Document

- Continue research in blogs from sources and interviewed Artist contacts.

- Start influence sheets and initial speed paintings for concepts.

November 23^rd - 6^th December

- Hand in everything required before Holiday break.

- Continue with needed research and documentation.

- Revaluate work from given feedback.

- Begin development on ideas and designs using gather research so far.

- Start work on 15 minute presentation.

December - January

- Further research through Holidays in blogs and reflective journal.

- Develop Concept Art on Characters

- Send current work to industry concept artists for critique.

- Finalize blog and reflective journal

February - March

- Receive critique and revaluate any work so far.

- Develop final character sheets and begin Concept Art on Assets

- Create show reel to present stages and development of entire project and final production.

- Finish Design Document for hand-in

April - May

- Finalize all assets ready for submission.

Resource requirements:

- Workshops for advanced Photoshop techniques in Digital Painting.

-One on One Tutorials for Critique and Feedback