The main task in front of me now, as I work toward assembling the teaser trailer, is streamlining the design ideology behind the Bad Metal assets I've built so far, while establishing a theory that I can use for future designs.
The next series of sketches will be about drawing the characters and environments that already exist, changing the designs if necessary to achieve a common look. It won't mean any drastic changes to my existing models, instead it'll be about making the designs reflect a sketching approach to their details, proportions, and shapes.
Right now, because of my jumping-in-head-first approach to the design-decision-making, everything was sculpted and built on the fly - which means the level of detail and kinds of flourishes on each model reflect an isolated kind of problem-solving. I had ideas about how the characters and robots and environments should relate to one another, but never really ironed out the specifics. For example, the robots are supposed to reflect the wardrobe and look of Vince and Les (their pilots), and they do somewhat, but not quite. Also, there are aspects to the robots' construction that are the way they are simply because of my limitations as a modeller at the time I was building them. Now (in most cases, many, many years later), my modelling skills are at a level where I can effectively create something based on a doodled blueprint.
None of this is to say that the existing models won't also inform what direction I take with my future designs. There are many things about the robots that probably would have only come about because of the fact that I was designing them based on what worked from a sculpting perspective, rather than a sketching one. There is, indeed, a massive difference between drawing something out and actually creating it in 3D. There are issues and solutions that present themselves when working in 3D space that never require consideration while drawing lines on a flat surface. The future style of Bad Metal will be informed by both approaches.
I understand that going back and reworking assets that already exist may seem detrimental to my goal of finally bringing this project to a conclusion. What I'm hoping is that this exercise will actually make the further development of the whole project's progress unfold that much quicker. A clear, well-rounded design foundation will inform all future asset creation, and cut down all future decision-making time.
That's the theory at least.
First challenge for myself: drawing out scenes that contain characters, robots, and environments. Everything should flow from the same imaginary place, appearing connected and built from a common logic.
The sketches over the next while will deal with familiarizing myself with the current designs, as well as looking forward to achieving a fundamental cohesion.
- Max
Designing the Lord of All Evil was a daunting task. I probably did six versions of each of these drawings before I found the right approach. I'm happy with the results though. The full-body picture is obviously the first one I did - it's pretty stiff, but it gives a clear idea of his overall design. My favourite one is the last sketch, the one where he's looking kinda confounded. He looks like a dirty sock.
The script I finished writing last week calls for a lot of evil souls running amok wherever Satan appears. The opening scene calls for a massive "vortex" made up of them, and subsequent scenes have them meshing and blending together to form Satan himself in various incarnations. I therefore wanted the souls to have an almost paste-like appearance - something that would work with all of the visual tricks I want to play with them.
Vince was the first character I took the time to doodle out, and over the years he became a really easy sketch - but Les has never flowed as easily. So here's some practice with the little guy.
