Illustration & Visual Narrative : Task 1

30/4/2025 - 18/5/2025
Ameera Rihana binti Remy Ansara
IVN / Bachelor of (honors) in creative media
Task 1: Character Design

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INSTRUCTIONS

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Task 1: Exercises (Character Design)

Recap

You will be provided with some techniques for exploration for the digital and analogue medium. Assessment is done on a weekly basis. Produce 3 character design illustration using the silhouette & line art method OR the vormator exercise.

- Sketches
- Moodboard
- Rationale
- Final Artwork (ai files, png)
- A3 Format

1) Planning & Inspiration

Gathering inspiration:
Before we illustrate the characters, we have to make plans beforehand by gathering information. My type of inspiration for this project is from a game called The Hollow Knight, a 2d game that depicts a story about the adventures of a knight.

Fig 1.1 Game: Hollow  Knight

Fig 1.2 Hollow Knight: Art Style

The thing that captivates me the most is their gothic and cute style with a twist of dark fantasy which gives off a spooky vibe. The game was beautifully hand drawn and this inspiration is closely aligned with what I am looking for.

Tutorials / Guidance

Fig 1.2.5 Week 03 Tutorial

Mood board / Visual Reference
To plan out the characters, I began gathering pictures to create a mood board in order to guide me and bring ideas to my sketches.

Fig 1.3 Mood board

Sketches
With the mood board in mind, I sketched out three different characters with their own quirks and roles.

Fig 1.4 Sketches

Rationale
Rationale of each characters:

1) Merchant (Snitches): Snitches is a sneaky merchant that creates impossible deals that can make them come true but expecting a price in return. It only appears when someone desires more than they should have. To hide itself in mystery, it covers itself with a worn cloak, ears protruding outwards, floating on ground, with a bell tugged between his collar.

2) Traveler (Harrow): Harrow is a hero told by tales, with his trusty weapon at his side and traveling across the world to defeat his enemies. However, he prefers to live incognito, far away from people's gaze. He is dressed modestly with a blue cloak, with a big wizard hat and a red scarf fluttering in the wind behind him.

3) Guardian ( Elderoot): To prevail from darkness, Elderoot has been protecting the forest and rises above them countless years. Born from the nature itself, his body is carved by wood, adorned with a peculiar mask attached with leaves and horns in order to cover his identity.

Further Rationale: 

The project is inspired by the enchanting world of Hollow Knight and features a theme centered around cute, fantasy and magical creatures. The goal is to create characters that evoke a sense of wonder and mystery, blending whimsical designs with mystical elements.

The visual direction is focused on charming wizards, mystical forest beings and mythical creatures, all illustrated with a playful yet atmospheric style. This approach aims to capture the magic of exploration and discovery in a beautiful crafted fantasy universe. At the end of the research, I visualized the characters with their backgrounds, roles and characteristics and settled with three characters. (merchant, traveler, guardian).

2) Digital Process
Software used: Adobe Illustrator

a) Line arts and Trace
Based on the sketches, I traced out the characters using a pen tool and overlapped the lines while making minor adjustments. After that, I used the shape builder tool to trim the excessive lines that exceeded the outline to make it look neater. This technique is based on what I learnt from the tutorial.

Fig 1.5 Pen tool & Shape Builder tool

 
Fig 1.6 Traced Characters

b) Line Art Exaggerations
To exaggerate the lines, I used a width tool to provide thick and thin strokes to make it more appealing. I carried out the same technique with the other characters as well.

Fig 1.7 Width Tool

Fig 1.8 Final Artline

c) Coloring, Shadows & Highlights

Once I have prepared the silhouette of the characters, I need to ensure that all the lines are connected and no gaps in between in order to use the live paint tool. (press K)

Fig 1.9 Live Paint Tool

In order for the tool to work, I highlighted silhouette and created another copy of it. Then, I proceeded to erase the outlines and activated the live paint tool (press K) and click on the silhouette. 

Fig 2.0 Initial attempt at Live Paint Tool

This was the outcome of what I had of trying the tool. However, this is not the final when I felt the color is slightly out of place.

Fig 2.1 Gradient Tool

In some places, I also added a bit of gradient (press G) to certain parts of the area to give a bit more depth to it.

Coloring with Shadows & Highlights
Once I was happy with the color schemes, I began the next step by adding shadows and highlights in various places to show where the light is coming from and to add more depth to avoid looking flat and plain. To ensure the highlights and shadows did not overpower the base colors, I reduced their opacity.

Fig 2.2 Shadows

Fig 2.3 Highlights

3) Final Artwork

As the final outcome, I added a simple background as a placeholder for the next assignment. I changed the texture of the background into grains for special effects.

Fig 2.4 Final Layers

Fig 2.5 Character 1: Guardian (Elderoot), PNG

Fig 2.6 Final Character 2: Traveler (Harrow), PNG

Fig 2.7 Final Character 3: Merchant (Snitches), PNG

Fig 2.8 Final Character Design, PDF

Fig 2.8.1 Final Compilation Task 1, PDF

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REFLECTION

Experience: Overall, I think this exercise is splendidly fun. I enjoyed making a small narrative for my characters and visualizing them into a whole illustration. I love how I can bring my idea characters to life and showing the processes of my thoughts. This exercise also assists me to regain my memories and polish my skills in the software. It definitely assisted me in progressing the assignment smoothly although it did take time to get used to it. In addition, I also discovered new tools that I haven't tried it yet such as the live paint tool. It makes things faster and more convenient.

Observation: Every time when I tried to use the shape builder tool, some lines can be overlapping with one another and create a tangled mess. This causes me to lose track of the lines which takes me time to get back on track. There are also a few gaps it created when I trimmed them.

Findings: Sometimes I realized the outcome of my artwork looks completely different from the other students. I tend to exaggerate the shadows and highlights of the characters and put them in unnecessary places. In addition, I lack the patience sometimes to get the outlines neat and proper.