Friday 6 May 2016

What I learned this Academic Year (1005 words)

Referring to September 2015 - May 2016

This year has been one of my biggest leaps in skill level and knowledge, We have undertaken many different assignments that forced us to try different skills and learn new things. I remember for my alternative techniques  module when I was tasked to create a 3D model of a chess piece that we were actually going to print needless to say I was pretty exited about the process, we learned how important units and measurements was in that assignment otherwise we could accidentally print a huge chess piece.

I also learned a ton this year about 3DS Max all the short cut keys for quickly creating 3D models, loop cutting, extruding bevelling, the list goes on, I was able to create a few 3D models this year and it was great fun too actually hold something in my hand that I created.

But by fa the most fun module for me this year was Games Simulation, I was able to actually create a game level, and I did it by created all the assets, learning how to use the node coding modules supplied with unreal and watching enemy AI react to a player presence and understanding the work that allows it to happen is amazing to understand.

Both Tony and Murry have aught me loads for many of the subjects but I particularly enjoy when Tony teaches at the board and we draw along to his ideas, I have learned how to create a vast amount f things in Photoshop and even some tips and techniques he uses(and doesn't use).

I learned about lighting and shading and how to understand where lighting is coming from and how it effects different materials and textures, which is a very important skill to have when aspiring to become a concept artist.

I have been given the names of many different artists that I aspire to be like and the inspiration that they give me really helps my drive, I love seeing the work of talented artists, even my classmates are all impressive in their own way.

I learned a large amount of hotkeys for 3DS Max and Photoshop that greatly increase my speed when I am creating, I can get a drawing or a detailed model done in about a day, still a long time but I'm still learning!

This course has also increased my timekeeping and organisational skills, my room has never been as clean as it has been this last year, I learned that mess just confuses everything and hurts your time, not only has the course has an academic effect on me but also I find myself rather clean and tidy recently.

I learned at the start of this year how to create a proper model sheet for a character that is going to be passed up to a animator or a modeller, I learned that the character has to have facial expressions, a view from the front the side and the left, and also some poses for the character are also to great effect to the animators and modellers know what kind of personality the character has.

Environment design was more fun for me then hard, I very much enjoyed using my new-found skills using opacity and masks to help create loads of new effects.

My artbook was a very great assignment I learned alot about what is attractive to certain audiences, creating logos and a house style is typically something that you would see in graphics design, but it is greatly welcome or me as I found great interest and loads of fun creating my own logo for myself.

I was also able to create nice looking new business cards for myself and hopefully at final show people will take some off me, I would love to get some work over summer.

I also learned how to create a CV and even a creative CV I had heard about how to do these elsewhere but this course allowed me to further increase my knowledge and form a new nice CV,

I learned how to texture my 3D models using different maps and a thing called a texture atlas which is basically all the textures for a certain model on a single document that can be wrapped and applied to the model.

Murrey taught me how to create AI in Unreal engine to that they react to sight and sound, we were also able in that lesson to get the AI to patrol and move around, this was an amazing lesson and I only wish we could have done more that involved AI and unreal engine.

I also learned tons about modular design and the process in creating it, a very healthy non destructive way to create models/ designs/ illustrations allowing all the little parts to link together in the grand scheme of things is amazing because it is little effort for a big pay-off, I could create a whole game with the assets I created for Games Simulation and the Pixel Part of digital skills.

Collaborating in a team for the Alternative Techniques assignments was a very fun experience, working with the others to end up with matching chess pieces was very fun and it allowed us to gain more skills to allow the team to work in a diplomatic way, no fights happened and everyone (at least I hope) was happy with the end result

We used Facebook messenger to form a group so we could talk about our efforts and if we had any ideas for each other.

But to finalize and evaluate this ear, I would say that this as been a very effective year at university I have learned so much about the industry and expanded my own personal artistic skill so much that It is hard to be disappointed with the results.

So I will take my degree(Hopefully if these final assignments are ok) with my head held high waiting to learn more next year when I begin my honours degree,

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Work Based Learning

This Module has been the most valuable to me personally, it has allowed me to gain a Art Station account, New contact details with Atomhawk and nice reading list from their team, and my very own Artbook!

I was tasked to find a competition online and take part, this allowed me to choose my own brief, I chose to work on an environment piece  for Art station entitled Journey, At first I had the idea of creating a shop environment  filled with tools of the trade for an adventurer but the idea proved difficult.

So I changed my idea to see If I could make a contrasting utopia environment with a dystopian foreground, so the journey idea would be to make the foreground journey to get to the background.

I looked at many references and eventually sat down and just painted to see what would happen with the references in mind.



SWOT

Strengths
Amazing reading list from Atomhawk themselves, I also created a great art book that displays my work in a professional way, I was also able to create a piece of artwork that looks very different to what my work normally looks like, at least in subject matter, this helped me expand my artistic range.

Weaknesses
It took me a while to actually create the artwork as I kept bouncing around ideas, the original shop front idea would have been cool but I was having difficulty with the perspective, I feel like I could have used the 3D MAX trick but I was 100% convinced by the idea and I'd rather just do a painting.

Opportunities
The contact with Atomhawk is great hopefully I will be able to continue conversing with them and hopefully land an internship I would love to work amongst pros and learn more about the industry that way.

Threats
I rushed the painting really and feel like I could have done more with it, I must not do this any more in the future. the time sheet was helpful and it allowed me to create a steady workflow that allowed me to finish on time, but the painting I feel didn't come out as well as I had hoped.

Monday 2 May 2016

Inspiration: Artbook Collection/ CG Scenes

I have a artbook collection that has inspired me over the years of my learning process, and as they have all helped me in some way, the main book I would like to talk about is a book entitled CG Scenes




This book  a a straight up developer notebook with interviews that talk about the artwork by the artists themselves and it is my favourite book I own.



Many of the tips and techniques have came from this book and the artists within, they're workflow I have adopted and am slowing getting better because of their input,

Most of my inspiration comes directly from my artbook collection, I have a quick scan through the artbook with the subject matter I want to create and take references and ideas and make them my own.

Book full title: "CG scenes from sketch to finish"

Here is a video like of a gentleman flicking through the pages of the same book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7yifzv9ID0

Inspiration: Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment are a large company known primarily for their amazing work over the ears in games such as World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Diablo, Starcraft and Heroes of the Storm, recently a new contender has entered the art battle between these games and its name is Overwatch

What really inspires me about Blizzard Entertainmaent is their huge scope and range, Artwork and style for example from hearthstone is very funny, stylised and childlike, but Diablo 3s style is very gritty and dark and scary, It has inspired me to attempt different art styles myself(Another reason why I love Will Terrell so much)




I own a official Blizzard Entertainment artbook which is amazing many of the artwork in that book has influenced me over my whole time learning how to become a concept artist the style use of colours is incredible.




Inspiration: Banksy

I absolutely love Banksy, not necessary because of his amazing art, but because of the thought behind it, every single Banksy piece littered around street corners all over the world has some meaning behind it, normally known for his anti oppression paintings he is also known to d sculptures and even decorated the inside of a old van to look like a waterfall paradise.




He inspires me to think about what I am drawing and see if I can really put across an idea or feeling, as a designer this is my main goal and must strive to make this happen.

His influence on me has effected the way I see art, finding deeper meaning in the artwork he produces makes me very exited for his next located piece.

Inspiration: Will Terrell

Will Terrell is an amazing caricature artist with his own YouTube channel, his videos consist of very insightful comments about working as a freelance artist and he talks about the struggles he has faced

He compliments his ideas and processes with anecdotes, (I saw this little old lady at the coffee shop and she was adorable) then he goes on to draw her in a stylised cartoonist way, the way he does this just makes him seem like a very down-earth person. which is very relatable ad helpful to aspiring artists such as myself


He talks a lot about how you are always learning in the art industry and you are never fully happy with your work, but you always get better, so when you are feeling bad about your art, you shouldn't feel discouraged but happy that this piece is better then the last.

Saturday 30 April 2016

Inspiration: Bob Ross

While he is an very popular artist known for his calming personality and afro, no one can deny his talent and skill when it comes to traditional painting.

When the stress of deadlines is drilling into my head I like to watch some Bob Ross, it calms me down and I learn a lot as he speaks


He also helps me calm down and not take myself so seriously, I need to just calm down and just paint and do what I love most rather then worry about the result at the end, just keep painting those "happy little clouds"




Inspiration: Feng Zhu

Any aspiring digital artist is highly likely to know the name Feng Zhu, His artwork is astounding, he has his own design school in Singapore and has gained much knowledge over the years of his career.

I watched his YouTube channel for many years, I have seen all of his videos that I know of. I love listening to his as he paints as he always talks about the industry as a whole and helps me understand the realism of design, what I mean is, design and art are two very different things.

In design the most important thing is to get an idea across, and help people understand it.

Inspiration: Xia Taptara

Xia Taptara is a artist with his own Youtube channel, he creates many different illustrations and talks though his process as he creates them, what he is thinking at the time.


Its amazing to see a painting form out of nothing in his videos and I have watched many of his videos and he has yet to disappoint me.

Amazing art that is almost photo realistic, the lighting and shade are very well done and I can't wait until I am skilled enough to create art such as this, (if it ever happens).

I plan on watching artists like Xia in order to not only gain their knowledge but also learn how they think. Xia has videos that help artists understand what a painting needs to be successful.



Inspiration: Fromsoft, Darksouls 1-2-3

Fromsoft are a video game company that have created another one of my most favourite franchises, Dark Souls.

These games are infamous for their difficulty, but I think its true likeability comes in its art style, the dark, gritty, lonely feel the game portrays adds so much to the game play that some people find the game hard to finish.



The art style of the concept artists that Fromsoft employ inspires me and I have used them as a reference multiple times throughout my university course and for my own personal artwork.

I love the lost, cold and ruined feel of the whole game , every single bit of art, game objects, characters help enforce the fact that the game is very hard, and there are no short cuts in the world of dark souls.

I love it when games art styles help enforce story, and mood and Dark souls is one of the best examples for this.

Inspiration: ArenaNet Guild Wars 2

ArenaNet is a video game company that created one of my favourite video games Guild Wars 2 they are a major source of inspiration, their loading screens in the game for example greatly inform the player of the style and mood of the zone that is loading.

The artwork is beautiful and I aspire to be this talented one day, I love how mood and emotion can be conveyed with something that just doesn't exist, like with the creature above.

Some loading screens are also a collage of images, a different art style that is effective and I think it looks great for just a collection of images and over-paint.

Inspiration: Josiah Brooks, Draw with Jazza

Josiah brooks is a popular artist with his own YouTube channel (Draw with Jazza) in which he creates character designs, environments, animations, emotional help videos and even tutorials.

He shows his process and even has his own How to: books and Photoshop brushes on his own personal website for sale.





He has greatly influenced me over the years and I have learned much from his videos, especially his character design videos in which he talks about all the key components of a good design.


Friday 29 April 2016

Personal Professional Development

This module has been active the whole year and mainly involves this blog and its posts, to technically I am evaluating something I am doing currently...

But anyway!

This has been a very beneficial module to me, It has allowed me to create a house style and my own colour scheme which I now use for my own personal branding!

Check it out:

Logo/ Small version


Business card



Creative CV

Art Book!

SWOT

Strengths
I gained much from this module, Artbook, personal Blog, Branding, Buisness Cards, Creative CV, and the ability to create them was also gained.

Weaknesses
Took a long time to do the blog and alternative parts when other modules are going on.

Opportunities
It makes me seem way more professional, my own branding highlights and helps it greatly creating my own logos really helped me get my name noticeable.

Threats  
This was such a huge module, that it was daunting at first when it was first told all the parts we had to do, it also ran over alot of other assignments.


Digital Skills

This module was very open, we could choose our own brief basically. I wanted to create an illustration to show my digital skills but I also did a combination of caricatures and pixel art.

This was very fun and it is the most recent piece of work I was able to create after increasing my knowledge about lighting and distance.

This is my final for Digital Skills
This piece is called Woodrot mire, a creepy uneasy painting of a traveller traversing a wet swampy forest

I am very happy about the piece as it turned out.

SWOT

Strengths
I was able to show how good I can be currently with my digital skills, I was able to demonstrate my advancement over the last 2 years.

Weaknesses
I wish I did a better job with the lighting, only one source of lighting made the image seem a little unreal and blocky.

Opportunities
All art created in this assignment will make great additions to my art book for future employers to look at and enjoy.

Threats
This was a very board module, I could have gone in any direction, and it could have taken much longer than necessary.

Contextual Studies

Contextual Studies

This module consisted of a rather lengthy 2500 minimum word essay, I chose to talk about the battle between Traditional and Digital Art Formats and the controversy they both face, no artwork was really submitted for this module. It was an interesting assignment as it allowed me to understand the opinions of certain people who either loved or hated digital art, some people even believe its not "popper art".

I was able to give my own opinion and become informed on the great amount of effort artists go though in both styles to create their work.

On the subject of essay writing I was able to learn how to proper structure and complete a bibliography, using Harvard referencing, something I had never done before.

SWOT

Strengths
I learned how to Harvard reference, create bibliographies and structure essays, I learned a great deal about the battle between traditional art and digital art.

Weaknesses
No Art

Opportunities
This helped me prepare for my huge dissertation next year, and perhaps I can create structured writing more effectively now.

Threats
This was a huge writing task, I was afraid I was repeating myself and the time it took to finish took make days.

Alternative Techniques

Alternative Techniques
This module allowed me to gain more key skills and broaden my horizons, I learned many new skills that involve 3D modelling, a new design process and I also gained a lot of references involving space objects and soviet union.

I was tasked to create a 3D chess piece that had a combo of 2 themes, space and soviet union, I have posted about this previously but here I am going to evaluate the module and give my thoughts.

I loved it, prior to this module i did not like 3D modeling at all, but because we were forced to use alternative techniques within our design process I was able to learn more about 3DS Max and the work involved.

I was able to work more with silhouettes and this was something brand new to my process and I learned more about the technique, I ended up alot creating a nice illustration of my intended design, though at the time of this painting, I had no idea what the end result would actually look like.



I was also able to create a moodboard for the model this module helped me gain a more firmer grasp on the design process that is required in industry.

In the end the model looked like a 3D rocket/vodkabottle with a seal able lid.

SWOT analysis

Strengths
I was able to pull off multiple 3D models that I had previously not been able to create using 3DS Max, I learned new processes within the design phase, that involve the the use silhouettes to get many different designs down at once.

Weaknesses
I was unable to actually fit the top of the bottle to the lid, the indentions were both too small and did not fit, it would have been nice to create a larger version so I could have fit the design together correctly and see what it would have looked like.

Opportunities
I was able to use the 3D printer which is the first time I've ever done anything like that, it was very great to see my model come to a physical appearance and to be able to touch it was very great and in the future I hope I get more chances to do that again.

Threats
I spent lot of time doing the design steps as that is what I wanted to focus on, because of this I ended up will lots of designs  and only one final, I would have liked the time to create more of my designs in 3D model form, but this would have cost money.


Tuesday 26 April 2016

Concepts and Illustrations by Ryan James Mutch


Concepts and Illustrations by Ryan James Mutch | Make Your Own Book

I am very sorry everyone for the lack of posts over the last few weeks I have been very busy creating my very own Art Book! which I am very happy with, it is up and available for sale right now, so check it out if you are interested in adding it to your collection!


I am sure to post more frequently now that this milestone has been achieved.

Friday 1 April 2016

Weekly Update 10 26/03/2016 - 01/04/2016

Weekly Update 10 26/03/2016 - 01/04/2016

This week is my week off uni but I have been trying to practice  my sketching and just being chill and not taking myself too seriously as I have done alot in the past, I have been watching alot of Videos from Will Turner on youtube and alot of his advice is to just calm down and draw for fun and for my self, so I am going to add this to my digital sills assignment and talk about my sketches, I am still learning and I am still on my learning journey.




I am learning more and more each time, I am still not happy but I am trying and I will get it. 



Wednesday 30 March 2016

Weekly Update 9 19/03/2016 - 25/03/2016

Weekly Update 9 19/03/2016 - 25/03/2016

Because of difficulties with unreal engine porting sprites and images I have abandoned the pixel art idea as it became a huge thorn in my side, I have continues designing logos and expanding on the original page of initial ideas.


This week I made progress with my Logo designs and eventually came to create a finished version,

The logo is mainly the head and face area the background is there to make it fit in profile picture boxes, but if it would appear on Books and Boxes the head would be the only thing visible, with no background. 

I was also able to make a start on the Digital skills module and I created two landscapes as a kind of starter, the colours change by use on different computers though for some strange reason so neither of them look the same, but I feel as if the tones and colours work well anyway.

Idea 1 Rocky City

Idea 2 Crystal Cave
I use a limited colour pallet on these two designs to challenge myself, I use only two colours but I use different tones in them to indicate distance and form

I have also created a Toolkit of colours tones and a spectrum wheel to help me in the future when creating work.



For the Journey Work based learning I am doing for Art Station I have created a prop for the environment using references and a selective colour scheme, it is a huge bag with lots of traveling supplies.

It is supposed to look very large on the person, comically so and just equip the bag with useful Journey necessities such as fishing poles, frying pans, and berry bags.



Friday 18 March 2016

Weekly Update 8 12/03/2016 - 18/03/2016

Weekly Update 8 12/03/2016 - 18/03/2016

This week I received the Digital Skills module, I was very happy about this because it is very open to any outcome, but I have having difficulty deciding what I should do for it, Tony introduced us to a pixel art approach to modular design which I quite enjoyed but I also would like to simply create a good illustration that could also go into my Art book for another module.

I have created some pixel-art backgrounds for use in the unreal engine but am currently having some difficulty importing them as I have some weird transparency layer, I suspect it has something to do with the alpha channel but I am unsure.

Pixel Art:







This week I also spent time researching and practicing Techniques and tools within Adobe Illustrator to create my logo.

At this point I have just been making interesting shapes with the programs vectors I have had a lot of fun with this.

Logo Designs:


S.W.O.T

Strengths:
I have discovered a new love for pixel art and have enjoyed creating them using Photoshop, even though I have some problems when importing it.

Weakness:
No progress was done on the competition Work Based learning module this week, I must quickly pick up the pace and keep up with the timetable I created for myself instead of getting distracted with other modules

Opportunities:
A new discovered love for pixel art has allowed me to research new and exiting artists that work with pixels, A lot of good new references have spawned from my endeavors this week.

Threats:
I need to prioritize my work more effectively if I am to hit popper deadlines.


For Next Week:
Make progress on my Work Based Learning Competition , I will also continue work on my Digital skills, deciding whether or not to continue with Pixel Art ot just do an Illustration.

Art of the Week:
Unexpected Visitors
I wasn't really doing anything with this one other then practicing distance drawing, Trying to make a small village look far away.

I really like the colours of this piece but the composition is lacking in my opinion