【2015】 Weekly Journal

【Week 11】11.30-04.12

    On Monday we learned some concepts and had some instruction about the 3D-model. For example , the composition, material, lighting and rendering, etc. This course is very interesting and I would like to learn more and gain a greater skill in creating 3D-models.

 

     On Wednesday I had a Photoshop course and learned how to make different brushes and use different texture in PS. In this image I use different combinations of brush mode to achieve a different result.

 

    I like to make my own brushes because it's a good skill for creating artwork and making it easier to get the desired effect. Then I tried to use these brushes to do a drawing. The rough brush is suitable for drafting and the fine brush for doing the detail. Some brushes I have yet to use but I think they will be still useful for other work e.g. metal texture and ruderal texture.

    After I finished my brushes I tried to use them to draw a picture in Photoshop. It took me about 2 hours to draw this and I had to think about every brush's merit with it's construction.

 

    I looked at some modern Chinese paintings when I finished my class. Compared with the realistic style of canvas, the Chinese classical painting style is more inclined to reflect the artistic conception. Artists use water-soluble pigments with a soft brush to draw and soften the colours in their paintings. I think this style makes the paintings more abstract but with simple elegance. Some artists like to use Chinese ancient poetry linked together with their paintings. I think I could adopt some of these ideas and try to use them in my artwork.

Three Kingdoms and games.

Origins Of Romance of Three Kingdoms:

    The Three Kingdoms was a period in Chinese history near to one thousand years ago. It is believed to nave begin from the first year of Jianan which is the last title of Han emoperor's reign (AD 220). The period contain  kingdoms such as Wei, Shu and Wu. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the kingdom became over populated and the economy had been seriously damaged because of constant war. So the three kingdoms all attach great importance to economic development. And with the development of science and technology in war, the Three Kingdoms become a very splendid era. Talents and heroes were constantly emerging in the Three kingdoms, they all receives great respect from the people.
    In ancient times most scholars become government officials. Chen Shou also was an offical in Shu. Towards the end of Three Kingdoms, he joined Jin and then started writting the book named “History of the Three Kingdoms”. But the most popular book of Three Kingdoms is a couplet novel named "The Romance of Three Kingdoms". People used this novel as a basis in Tang poetry and Song Ci. In Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, the story of Three Kingdoms is more familiar to people. There are always some stories about Three Kingdoms in folk art, Dynasty and plays.
    Luo Guanzhong takes about the history of the Three Kingdoms, and collected folk stories, poems, and literary works  since ancient times. Finally Luo wrote a historical novel named "The Romance of Three Kingdoms".This book is also known as one of China's four famous novels. His influence reached Asia first and then reached all over the world. As a novel, it also has a lot of fictional plot. ( For example three Heroes Combating Lü Bu, force five passes and slay six captains and so on in "The Romance of Three Kingdoms"). Even to this day, These stories are still well known and is widely used in TV plays, movies and video games.

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Literary development of story：

-One of China's four classic：
    "The Romance of Three Kingdoms"'full name is "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms' history". It is an ancient chinese historical novel. The author make a combination of fantasy and reality. The book is deeply popular in folklore . People are full of praise for this book even in today.

Main versions of "The Romance of Three Kingdoms":
1. Jiajing of Ming "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms' history"
2. Biography in Ming "Xinke Anjian Quanxiang Piping History of the Three Kingdoms"
3. Li Zhuowu in Ming "Li Zhuowu Xiansheng Piping History of the Three Kingdoms"
4. Li Liweng in Qing "Li Liweng Piyue History of the Three Kingdoms"
5. Mao Zonggang in Qing "The first of four masterpieces "

    It is generally believed that the author of "The Romance of Three Kingdoms" is Luo Guanzhong. But there is also a view that this book is written with his teacher Shi Naian. But there is no clear evidence to prove this view.

    As an example, these were mentioned on WIKI. Besides the famous Peach Garden Oath, many Chinese proverbs in use today are derived from the novel. For e.g 'Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives.'. This sentence interpretation on Wiki is meaning 'Equivalent to speak of the devil. Describes the situation of a person appearing precisely when being spoken about.' Obviously, there are many Cultural impacts of Three Kingdoms are still in use today. It reminds me of a sentence that someone told me like 'history always repeats itself by different ways'.
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Identify the first Digital Game Character

     Pac-man is a classic in arcade game history. The game was designed by Toru Iwatani of the NAMCO company and issued by the Midway Games  in 1980. When Toru Iwatani start to eat his pacs, there's 2 parts slices short of a full pie, the idea for one of the greatest arcade games was born.  Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of 1980s popular culture. This image is used as the company's mascot and logo, It's still in use today. The aim of Pac-Man is controlling Pac-Man through a maze to eating pac-dots (also called pellets or just dots). Only when all pac-dots are eaten, the stage will clear, and Pac-Man could be taken to the next stage. Four enemies (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) are running in the maze,and their aim is catching Pac-Man. If an enemy touches Pac-Man, Pac-Man will lost a life and Pac-Man will die after be touched three times.

 

     Near the corners of the maze, there are four larger dots, these flashing dots are known as more powerful pellets, they could provide Pac-Man some temporary abilities to beat the enemies. The enemies change there colours to deep blue, then they will reverse direction and their speed of movement will be slower. After an enemy is beaten, its eyes will return to the center where it is reborn in its normal color. Blue enemies flash white to signal that they are about to become dangerous again and the length of time for which the enemies remain vulnerable varies from one stage to the next, generally becoming shorter as the game progresses. In later stages, the enemies go straight to flashing.

 

     In May 21–23, 2010, around Ut 15, Google changed the Google logo on its homepage to a Google Doodle of a fully playable version of Pac-Man in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the game's release. This game is not produced using the popular program like Flash, Sliverlight and so on, instead use Html, Css and JavaScript, And used Flash only when making sound effects. When we double click the botton of Insert Coin, There will appear doubles mode. Each level is the same layout. Otherwise known as the "split-screen level" or a "kill screen", the Map 256 Glitch is, when you clear 255 stages to the 256 stage, the right side of game screen turns into a jumbled mess of  insignificant numbers and letters. It make the game play ti be impossible.It also occurs in the Pac-Man Google Doodle as an Easter Egg. There is even a game based on this glitch. The game remained online for 48 hours before the Google doodle reverted to the usual logo. Because of the great acclaim, Google made the homepage of this to be a permanent version. 

      For the Fool's day of April 1, 2015, users can play Pac-Man game in Google Maps.

Self-Evaluation Form BA1a

   I would like to talk about the knowledge I have gained in this unit of conceptual design. In this unit, we have covered insect design, timepiece-design and Tinderbox character design. Beside this we learned all about how to use the ZBrush and a life drawing course. I am enjoying the lessons of this unit. Because I have learnt a lot of important things about design skills .This unit also lets me know things I may need for future projects. I receive a new task every two weeks, so I would like to finish my design in each two week period. Then I could use the remaining time to check my work and to complete my research.

   Whenever I am ready to do a new design I would first research and source information about the design. For example I would find out the history, culture and fashion style. Also I would look at other people's work to find some inspirations. Because in the process of looking, I always think of something which may spark my Interest. I will then start to design and draw my tasks when I find the material. I always record my thoughts when my idea is 'fresh'. I would like to select and combined them to make them look better for people. Then I would choose the design materials with my interests for more practical ideas. Because I would like to make my work more technical. I hope the tasks have a historical feature because I would not like just to make my works beautiful looking but also to make it more interesting and powerful to people.

   This unit made me strengthen the ability for original design. It also showed me my own shortcomings. I think I have many problems I need to overcome; For example, use limited time to make my work, to be fluid with my imagination. Or use existing resources to construct more attractive works. I think my work is just on the track within basic guidelines but they haven’t got more sublimation. Especially in the design of Tinderbox, I find a problem for myself which is if I know the story of the task I will be bound to create the work. When I decided to choose the Witch for my final character, I knew she would be an ugly woman as depicted in this time period of history .So I was then influenced by  this storyline; I followed the setting and stuck to the original requirements . But the good thing is I learned how to use elements and used them in this age period.  It also lets me know people's views on something in that age. But I think my works not good enough. I hope whatever I do I can improve on my original design.  Like my insect design. I would like to use a wide range of creative power to design a more complete role, Instead of just using the existing possibilities to create roles. I hope I could design both in a fantasy way, and make them attractive to people. The work on my timepiece, I found problems of which I devoted too much energy to design its appearance and connotation, but practical considerations in the game are not considered enough.

   Now I would like to talk about my other study course.  When I started to use the ZBrush I really didn't know how to use it because different languages are very hard for me to understand. But my course tutor is very patient and understanding this and some online tutorials help me in my class. So I think this is the easiest way for me to learn new things. I have learned some basic operations and applications. I’m looking forward to use 3D software to create my own character in the future. Then I would like to try to do some 3D-CG and 3D animation in my spare time. About the life drawing course, I think it's a very important course because in this course I strengthen the drawing skills of the human body. I also would like to practice the life drawing skills in my spare time.

There are more small problems that frequently occur when I was doing my artwork. I cannot summarize each of these trends and give brief examples, but I will try to gradually improve these problems in the future. I would like to strive to be able to make my work exemplary in a short time. I hope my artwork has the connotation and appeal to every audience even though I do the work as my job or for my own personal gratification.

【2015.10.29】Seven Stories.

Memu:

1.Overcoming Evil/Monster

Super Mario Brothers / Metal Gear Solid V ：The Phantom Pain / Mega Man / Devil May Cry

2.Rags to riches:The Sims series / Metal Gear Solid

3.The Quest:

Super Mario Brothers / Alice: Madness Returns / Mega Man / Final Fantasy / Devil May Cry

4.Voyage and Return:Metal Gear Solid / The Sims series

5. Comedy:Neighbours From Hell

6.Tragedies:The Binding of Isaac / Mega Man

7.Rebirth:Metal Max

【19.10.2015-30.10-2015】TinderBox character design

——————SIHOUETTES——————  

 

   

    I made the body look very different because I think it will be more exoteric for me to think about the feelings of people. I think the Soldier could be a dwarf because he needs to go to a great tree in the story. So I think that is why the Witch requested the Soldier to take the tinderbox for her, Maybe the reason why the soldier is so very small. The Princess is a beautiful woman. So I would like to make her looks very fetching. I thought about the 'S' shape for her body and the hair style, after all I think she could be a gentle person. The Witch is a very hideous person, and her lower lip hung down upon her breast. She is a hunchbacked woman because of this she will be like the witch in the story. Then I thought about the character silhouette of her, I would like to make her look like a curious oddity .

【18.10.2015】Research of 'Alice: Madness Returns'.



     I watched a game commentary with interest .The game is called 'Alice: madness returns'. I think the sense of this game is very interesting. In particular, I feel there are a lot of artistic elements. I think this is a good game.

 



    The art style is very abundant in this game. The main atmosphere is very strange, it combined gothic art, steampunk style, story elements, 2D and 3D modality etc. I think the art layout is brilliant.

【03.10.2015】History and development of representation in games.

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    The cathode ray tube amusement device is the first one which is known as an interactive electronic game to use cathode ray tube named CRT for short. This game is constructed by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann from analog electronics in 1947. And it is a game never published, but it was also patented in 1948.
Entertainment is a device that records and controls the quality of an electronic signal. The intensity of the electronic signal generated by the entertainment device is controlled by a knob affecting the beam path of the CRT. The device uses purely analog electronic devices, not using any memory devices, digital computers, or programming.
    The CRT beam appears a bit of a trace of a parabolic path through the screen when the switch is activated. The spot represents a projectile's trajectory, which is dispersed on its tracks, representing the shell, like a time fuze.
    On the screen there are several coverage targets, such as the object, the player will control the knob of the direct spot of the motion trajectory with the shell of the delay, in order to hit a target superimposed with the shell burst deadline.


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    OXO was a computer game developed by Alexander S. Douglas in 1952 for the EDSAC computer, which simulates a game of Noughts and crosses, also sometimes called Tic-tac-toe. Douglas game programming as a part of his doctoral thesis on the University of Cambridge. OXO is the first game of the game known as the video monitor.
    In this game, the player will use the input and output of the rotary telephone controller, the computer is shown on the 35 x 16 dot matrix of the cathode ray tube. Every game is a match for an artificial intelligence.

【14.10.2015】Trial to use Zbrush.

     Today I gained some more skill on Zbrush software. I reviewed the how to operation . I think Zbrush is an easy tool to make 3D-models, because when you use it it's just like playing with clay.

 

 

 

     First of all I made a Chinese eucharist type cup, but it did not really look like a cup I had planned to make..so I would like to try something else.

【2015】 Weekly Report

【Week 0】09.14-09.18
    This week is the first week for my university life. I start by exploring  my new city. I went to the Castle Museum to do some drawings. I don't feel very smart ,I think I did  a wrong piece for my homework..
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【Week 1】09.21-09.25
    This week we are doing a insect character design..I have never drawn any insects before  in my life. My research  used Wiki and others on the web to find more infomation to help me do my work. Insects  are very interesting. I would like to think about how to create them and tell a story about them. I found some infomation about history of primitive times, Victorian society and the future of mechanical development . I will use them all to create my characters. I'm starting to learn more how to desgin character/model sheets .( I hope I have done it the right way )
    We had a course on learning how to use Zbrush  this week. Zbrush is very useful for making  a 3D model because I can draw on to the softwear and create something very easy. I would like to find  some online coures on Youtube.

【22.09.15-04.10.15】Concept Design — Insect

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【Week 2】09.28-10.02

【05.10.205 - 18.10.2015】Concept Design — Timepiece

——————SIHOUETTES——————

 

 

 

    There are some scrawled images of my timepiece. First I drew silhouettes to find some ideas. I would then use them and mix them together because I think the combination would be interesting.

     I like the use of the 'Gothic' theme for my timepiece because time is meaning 'Life' for me. Such as time time is the only thing we can never get back. Many historians tell us time is the witness,the dark tone of life filled with blood,death and despair.
    We can not resist time we can only surrender to it. We are the genuflector( worshippers) of time.We cherish time,pursue the sun and plan our around it. Time is irresistible. We can do anything with time. But the rule of the world is ; End of life we die .Time has run it's course. Gothic is embroiled in the darkness the ghostly obsessed dark side of humanity. So I would use this genre to make my timepiece. To remind humanity not to lose or waste time. In it self time is valuable for everyone.

( Gothic Info detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_art )

 

【28.09.2015】Composition & Light

 ———— Composition ————

 

   Today I studied some compositions of drawing; we talked  about 'The Rule of Thirds', 'The L', 'The cross' and the 'Iconic'. I think they are very useful for me,they will help me to improve my artwork.  

 

 

   This image I used was 'The iconic cross' . I use the cross to distinguish 2 characters. In image, one the character is propping other character because I would like to make these two have a relationship so they have an interaction together.

    I put these characters up and down of the image.  The up one is light in the dark and the below one is opposite. Because the story of these two characters is strange. I made the main colour dark green because I want to give the image a gloomy atmosphere. This drawing is not very detailed but I think is good enough for me to depict in next time.

 

    Now I would like to talk about these two character: 

【02.10.2015】 Contextual Studies

    Here is a grid showing Caillois’ classification of games. I put 12 games I admire most into the grid according to the classification.



Notes:

【22.09.15-04.10.15】Concept Design — Insect

     

 

    Here is my concept design of the 'Insect'.

    First I think the insects as I have drawn them in the image the ant, butterfly, cockroach, bee, dragonfly, centipede, earthworm, scorpion and so on...
    I pick the Eurypterid, Ant and Bee for my concept design because I would like to make my character background story about them.

 

———————————————ANT—————————————

 

---Idea of Ant---

    I think 'Ants' have good programme of survival, they are very adapted to avoid disaster and masters of foraging much like native people of old. We have many different cultures and we are still evolving. Justice and evil things happen in our world as they may the insect world. It could be same. So I would like to quote the Ant and make a new world for them, I will metaphor the Ant world . I think this idea will be nice to try. An Ant world, what are they like ? Are they the top of Food chain?

 

info link：https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant

 

 

    The beginning I start to create details silhouettes of my work. I think about the skill they have and how to make them more games like.

 

    After that I try to do some concept of rationalization change; like this one, I thought about the evolution process of ant. Because walking upright is a big ting of evolution in the human world, so I would like to make ant walking upright as well. Then they could have a era similar to the 'Stone Age' and so on..

 

           

 

 

 

    Secondly, I think about how to create the body of character, because I would like to make my character pretty and attractive to people. even the internal structure of the body.