tiafernandes

I feel that this unit (BA1A) has given me many new challenges and lots to think about. Following this is a self-assessment of my performance throughout the unit, mentioning what I feel worked well and what requires improvement.

During the first few weeks of BA1A, while completing the "Insect" project, I felt I needed to organise my time better; I spent far too long on the silhouette stages, which led to me having less time to complete the final piece as a consequence. However, this was resolved in the "Timepiece" project, where I weighted my time sufficiently for each aspect of the project, allowing me to finish in good time. I also felt that my drawings were too static in the "Insect" project, but had to wait until "Character" to work on this issue. However, I felt that my character sheet was a vast improvement on my first one, and the small drawings showing movement were much more dynamic and interesting.

Another more consistent issue I had was getting the correct amount of exploration done during the iteration phase. I felt that I had decided too quickly on my first two projects, but endeavoured to explore in more depth during the "Character" project, creating a large quantity of design and colour iterations to pick from.

However, I do feel that I have learned a lot from this unit. Before the project, I used Clip Studio Paint over Photoshop for digital art, but during my time working on my BA1A projects I learned many new Photoshop techniques and how to make the most of default and custom brushes through the settings. Although I am still getting used to drawing in Photoshop, I feel that the repeated practice will benefit me in the long run as Photoshop is far more widely used than Clip. I also learned how to use Alchemy in my "Timepiece" project, and found it a valuable tool for creating interesting silhouettes.

Furthermore, I have begun to utilise information I recieved in the lectures about colour, composition and the design process, which I know will be relevant to every piece of work I do in the future. Although I don't think I am using these concepts to their full extent at this early stage, I do feel like my knowledge of these subjects has improved vastly and it has had a visible effect on my artwork.

Similarly, my life drawing classes have introduced me to new ways of working and I feel much more confident in my figure drawing skills already, although I feel that I would benefit from further practice.

Life Drawing: 1

Life Drawing: 2

Part 3: Character Sheet

Part 4: Model Sheet

Part 5: Final Piece

Part 1: Silhouettes

Part 2: Iteration

Part 3: Model Sheet

Part 3: Final Piece

Part 1: Silhouette

From the start of the project, I had trouble in visualising a 'timepiece' as more than a simple clock or hourglass. In an attempt to create something more exciting, I moved to Alchemy to create silhouettes, creating some large architectural-looking pieces such as clock towers. From this, I picked my favourite silhouette to develop further.

Part 2: Iteration

From the silhouette, I decided to draw out a more solid design, making the lower face into a pool of water which the upper clock would be projected onto. I also added clock hands and waterfalls, as well as drawing in the stairs properly. I was most concerned about iterations regarding the clock face, since I knew I would have to paint it in the concept painting later, but did not have any clear ideas for how the clock hands and pointed 'roof' part would look like. To remedy this, I drew some iterations for the top section of the timepiece.
This helped me to visualise the clock clearly. In the end, I decided to go with simple clock hands as the rest of the timepiece is so large and detailed, but the side parts of the clock and the roof part I made more intricate, adding roman numerals. This meant I could paint the subtle details of the clock aspect in the concept painting later, and add them to my model sheet.

Part 3: Character Sheet

Part 4: Concept painting

I used greens, browns and oranges to paint the piece, with the majority of the lighting coming from the firefly's glow. I'm mostly satisfied with this piece, and think that the atmosphere is right for the insect, but consider that perhaps the background blends too much with the bug itself.

Danball Senki Wars: Agon and Mimicry
Danball Senki Wars follows the player's avatar, a new student at a school called Kamui Daimon, as they operate small robots known as LBX. The character is sorted into a 'virtual country' and engages in battles with other students and their LBX from other virtual countries. This game is highly agonistic, with it being necessary to defeat your opponents to continue with the game. It also involves aspects of mimicry, as the player is required to take on the role of a student at Kamui Daimon - Danball Senki Wars also allows the player to use their own avatar (the options are shown on the right) and set their own name, as well as the name of their virtual country (default Harness) to make them feel even more involved with the mimicry aspects of the game. The invention continues with the LBX the player uses to fight being completely customisable - the player can change the appearance and functions of their LBX throughout the course of the game.
Logo and avatar art belong to LEVEL-5.


Love Live! School Idol Festival: Agon and Alea
Although Love Live! is a rhythm game, possibly the most well-known aspect of the game is the scouting system, where the player gives up a certain amount of premium currency for a chance at obtaining Member cards of high rarities. The rarities go from N (lowest rarity) to R, to SR, to UR (highest rarity). Although the chance of getting a UR card is just 1%, players still spend their money on purchasing in-game currency to throw away for a chance to acquire SR and UR cards, the most significant and valuable cards in the game. However, sometimes this pays off; a player hitting the 1% chance of gaining a UR Member card can be shown below. These occasional successes, albeit rare, encourage the player to use their premium currency even more often in an attempt to get the cards they want. This scouting system makes up the aleatory aspect of the game.
However, if the player is successful in gaining high-rarity cards, it increases their scores in the rhythm section of the game; this is my reason for also classifying Love Live! as a partially agonistic game. Particularly in a type of event known as a 'Score Match', the player is required to play songs at the same time as three other players in a battle to get the highest scores. The player with the highest scores then gets more event points and better overall rewards from the event.

All images are screenshots taken from the game itself. Love Live! School Idol Festival belongs to Bushiroad and was developed by KLab Games.

Animal Crossing: Mimicry
The only game I have categorised under just one title is Animal Crossing, which I view as pure mimicry. The player takes on the role of a new villager (or mayor, or home designer in the newer games) and must live their life in a town full of cute animal characters as well as designing their own home, having a job, paying off their mortgages and the like. This game typically does not feature any competitive aspects and is all about creating a town that suits the player and allowing the player to live their virtual life. The game even mimics real-life passage of time using the internal clock and calendar.

Animal Crossing belongs to Nintendo.


Pokémon: Agon and Mimicry

The well-loved Pokémon series combines agonistic and mimetic aspects. The main aspect of the game is agonistic, with the player commanding their Pokémon in battles against other trainers. Even contest aspects can be considered agonistic, since the player's performance is judged at the end and their overall goal is to win each contest. However, the game also falls under the category of mimicry. The player takes on the role of a Pokémon trainer in the main series games, and locations within the game are based on real places. The player can change their team as they wish. In some games, such as X and Y, the player also has the option to change their outfit.

Pokemon was developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo. Screenshot is from the game.


Dreaming Mary: Mimicry and Ilinx
Dreaming Mary is a game revolving around the protagonist, Mary, as she investigates the world of her dreams and converses with her animal friends. As the player takes on the role of Mary in this game, it can be classed as a mimetic game. However, the game quickly takes a dark turn and the player is forced to run from monsters with the capacity to instantly kill Mary in a panic, which is why I have also classified it as Ilinx. The entire game is highly disorienting, with the dream world both hiding a dark and dangerous side and Mary's disturbing real life as Mari.

Dreaming Mary is made by Dreaming Games. Both screenshots are from the game.

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney promotional artwork and composition

Fire Emblem: If cutscene and light/colour

Danball Senki Wars promotional artwork and composition

Kid Icarus: Uprising boxart and light/colour