William Nicolas Blayde
Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by Sean Copley in Guardian High, Shows, Timbuktoonblog
[This is concept art and character descriptions taken from Guardian High, our latest show concept. Guardian High is an action comedy for tweens, 26x22 minutes.]
WILLIAM NICOLAS BLAYDE
“Never be idle Chase, we are like vapor and we know not how long we have in our endeavors. Lost time does not return.”
Blayde, 17, is a squire from Northern Wales, 1429. He is a tall and well-built redhead with a deep respect for the code of chivalry. He exudes nobility in his words and deeds despite his lack of knight status and coming from “no great birth.”
Blayde values and defends loyalty, courage and honor as a typical gentleman soldier. His strong faith in these qualities, even when it doesn’t make sense, can rub those around him the wrong way making him come across as self righteous. Unfortunately, Blayde’s view of the world can be too small which often leads to a limited view of himself.
Constance J. Greene
Posted on 22. Jan, 2010 by Sean Copley in Guardian High, Shows, Timbuktoonblog
[This is concept art and character descriptions taken from Guardian High, our latest show concept. Guardian High is an action comedy for tweens, 26x22 minutes.]
CONSTANCE J. GREENE
“Given the right amount of time, one’s imaginations and earnest efforts can establish a bright hope for the morrow. But Chase Lewis if you pay no attention to the present, you will suffer a dull life indeed…in more ways than one!
Constance, 16, is from Baltimore, Maryland, 1906. “CJ” is kind, energetic and the cheerful optimist of the bunch. But don’t mistake her optimism for naiveté; Constance is very intelligent and outspoken. She is tactful with her wit…and her left hook!
Her upper body strength is just as powerful as her mind, and she easily slips into her tomboy personality. Despite being extremely beautiful, she lacks confidence in her femininity and struggles with behaving “appropriately.” Being caught between two very different times doesn’t make matters any easier!
Constance is fascinated with the biological and physical sciences and that is especially evident in her thoughtful approach to problem solving. She is also very concerned with the health and well being of the team, sometimes to a fault.
Kaia Chiyoko
Posted on 05. Jan, 2010 by Sean Copley in Guardian High, Shows, Timbuktoonblog
[This is concept art and character descriptions taken from Guardian High, our latest show concept. Guardian High is an action comedy for tweens, 26x22 minutes.]
KAIA CHIYOKO
(sarcastically) “Chase, this wouldn’t be a problem for you in my future. Progress has left us with plenty of time to focus on what matters most to us. Whatever that is.”
Kaia, 18, is from Kyoto, Japan, 2079. She has dark hair, green eyes and a sleek physique. She is extremely agile and a gifted gymnast…a skill that comes in handy when stealth is required. Her unique blend of martial arts and aggressive style makes her the tip of the spear on missions.
Kaia has great confidence in the progress of science and relies heavily on technology but lacks confidence in her own intellectual abilities. This is especially true in cultural and historical perspectives.
She is stoic and sometimes unexpressive which can easily be misinterpreted as aloof and relationally detached…although relationships are definitely not a strength. Her touch of future snobbery doesn’t help in that department either!
The Emotion of Art
Posted on 03. Dec, 2009 by Todd Hampson in Timbuktoonblog
Don’t draw what you want them to see, draw what you want them to feel. In addition to being a good draftsman, concept artists, designers, animators, and art directors need to pay a great deal attention to mood, lighting, color, pattern etc.
As artists, our goal is not to draw what we see (a camera can do that), but to draw in a way that makes the viewer feel a certain way. Our goal is to tell a story visually relying heavily on emotion.
I think one reason I love animation so much is that it is so expressive. You have many art forms (writing, drawing, color, movement, sound design, voice acting, art direction, etc.) colliding to tell a story around a core story with powerful emotional themes….or very cartoony or light hearted themes depending on the genre.
So today when you pick up your stylus, mouse, brush, pencil, pen, marker, or the like, remember to draw the emotion and tone you want to convey.
Get Some “R” and “R”
Posted on 03. Nov, 2009 by Todd Hampson in Timbuktoonblog
Creatives Need Some “R” and “R”! Not rest and relaxation, but research and reference material.
Before launching Timbuktoons I toured a large animation studio to learn all I could about each step in the animation process.
One area I absolutely fell in love with was the Visual Development Department. Concept art, character designs, inspirational sketches, color studies, prop and environment design all take place in “vis dev”.
One of the things that amazed me was the amount of research, reference, and inspirational material on hand to give the concept artists everything they needed to work their magic. Each artist had a huge (I’m talkin’ 5′x8′) foam core board with tons of visual reference material that someone had meticulously researched and prepared for them.
They had anatomy diagrams, photographs, illustrations, inspirational artwork, lighting and color reference, all right there in front of them.
I point this out because I’ve talked with other artists who feel like they are somehow cheating if they use reference material. Here at Timbuktoons we use a ton of reference material to generate ideas and use as spring boards.
We spent the summer developing the story and key artwork for a show concept we’re going to start pitching in November. The main characters are from different time periods.
The thing with reference material is that you notice details and nuances you would otherwise have overlooked. Those are the exact details you need to make your designs unique.
I confess that I don’t enjoy research…at all! I just want to dive into sketching. Fortunately Sean Copley, our Creative Director (AKA “The Think Tank”) is a one man research department.
For each of our characters, he researched everything he could about their clothing, culture, personality, similar characters, etc. He created a huge digital file of images as well as a reference board with the best stuff for me to have on hand when I designed each character.
I also had images pasted up all over my wall in various artistic styles that inspired me in different ways.
Art doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We build on what others have done. We are influenced by all sorts of visual complexities that we often don’t think about. The job of a concept artist is to unpack those attributes and use them with intentionality in their visual story telling.
So, if you are a creative of any stripe…a little R and R will help inspire you and take your art to new levels!