Secret Agent Entry: Andrew Hilton-Wigg

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http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1247436826_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1247436826_medium.jpg)

I'm not really sure what sort of style I'm going to end up with for this. I love the rough ink style used for the Street Fighter IV art, but A: I'm not sure how to do it, and B: I don't think it will suit the setting I'm going for.

I'm going with a Shirow Masamune/Ghost in the Shell type near future setting.

The idea is to have a techy spy/thief descending through a window (Or vent) in a ceiling down towards some documents, or a computer screen or something that they will be taking a picture of with a hand held camera.

I just have a bunch of the style, mood and setting influences I've been looking at posted above. I'm going to try a limited pallette with some high contrast in lighting.

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Unfortunatly I don't have access to a real model to photograph/draw/paint but with the release of a free version of Daz Studio 3. I did find the next best thing.

Finally... an artists mannequin that can be put into ANY pose you want. I've always found that artists dummies were too restrictive for anything dynamic. Especially for movements where the bones got close to one another.. ie: Touching one's shoulder with their hand.

So. I grabbed a model, posed it, set up a few different lighting ideas and experimented with camera angles I would have never been able to get the forshorting right for before.

Here's all the exported images of my thief.

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outlining the figure. I have no idea how I'm going to go about doing the background still.

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Ive seen that many artists start things off with just a value study, no colour, so I figured I'd give that a try and see how it works. I have all the shadow information I need on the Daz3 models so I just have to colour it all into my outline now and then start adding all the details to her suit.. hair, gear.

I also still need a background.

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http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1247620241_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1247620241_medium.jpg)

My idea keeps evolving.

I've decided that I want to make her right arm cybernetic so I'm working on ways to do a mechanical arm, influenced highly by the works of Yukito Kishiro and his Manga "Battle Angel Alita"\

So I'm working on that. To go with the techy feel I want to make a compute monitor reflecting up on her face to some extent however, I also like the shadow on half her face so I'm not sure how I'll compromise between the two.

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I took the linework I did with the tablet, printed it out and decided to go about doing some different design ideas on paper for a bit because I find myself a bit better at it for freehand sketching.

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I've decided on a different style altogether. I want some really nice linework so I'm doing it in illustrator.

I have no idea why this picture doesn't show up. It's basically the linework without hair.

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I have no idea why my last addition of linework is just showing as a big black square, hopefully this one works better.

I think I've finalized the design now with maybe some minor tweaking left. I hope to start colouring it tomorrow.

I've pretty much abandoned the idea of doing a real background. Instead it's just going to be the window she's descending through, and then something more abstract I think.

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I recently came across the art of Joshua Middleton and... well, I love it, it's so simple but his characters are so expressive.

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This is the final version of the linework (unless somebody suggests some easy changes).

It's all done in illustrator via a drawing by hand that was then live traced and modified. The cleanliness of the linework after importing to illustrator is incomparable, far better than I've ever got just from scanning and playing with levels.


In this image I've added the missing leg and added the rope she's descending in on. The legs look a bit funny from this perspective, but they are in the right places. Also, the line weights have been changed in many areas, most of the internal lines are now thinner then the exterior lines.

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Colouring has started. A lot of experimenting is going to happen here. I want a limited palette, but I'm really not sure how to approach the skin in this situation. Particularly with the drastic lighting from left to right.

Also... I have NO idea how to do the metal arm. I'm debating doing it copper or gold as well as silver, but regardless, I'm not sure how to make it look like metal. If anybody can help or has suggestions, that would be great. I don't want it to be super reflective like chrome however.

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Here's a closeup of the eye WIP. I wanted something that looked somewhat mechanical and interesting.

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This image consists of several different tests.

Firstly.. a way of texturing the metal on the arm.. not happy with the results: going to look for something better, needs colour for starters.

The face: It's way too desaturated, needs some colour in her complexion if I go this route.

Left Arm: Trying just doing a black and white value study and a somewhat painterly style. I think it clashes with the line work so I'm going to test some others.

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A much simpler colouring style, but I like it. It goes well with the linework. Still needs a lot of work though, including colour modification. I also have no idea how to go about painting the mechanical arm.

The hair and eye are done in a different style to the skin, but I like it, gives them some "pop".

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http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1249438157_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1249438157_medium.jpg)

A little more progress. If I get this done in time, it will be a miracle. I'm not in it to win, I'm in it to motivate myself to learn new skills and complete something.

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Two things of note here.

One: The lips need to be toned down a bit. They are way too bright.

Two: The Bionic Arm. I've experimented with overlaying sheet metal texture and setting it to multiply here. Not really happy with the results. If anybody has any suggestions on how to make it look good, I'm open to them!

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I'm pretty happy with this. I didn't manage to finish my entry for the last contest. I'm proud that I will get this one done. I'm not in it to win, but I wanted to learn new skills and finish something. I've done that.

I'm going to look it over for minor tweaks before I submit it as final.

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Hurrah! I finished! It's no winner but I learned a ton... at the end.. I learned how to tint the mechanical arm with a blueish light like the face.

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http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1249784847_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1249784847_medium.jpg)My image is refusing to load..

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http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1249786311_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18419/18419_1249786311_medium.jpg)

Software: Illustrator,Photoshop

The idea behind this image was a techy spy decending from a cieling down to take pictures of something on a desk.

As the project evolved she ended up with a a mechanical arm and bionic eye as well as a cloaking field seen by her feet vanishing into the background.

I wanted a unique point of view for the image. I've never been good at coming up with orriginal points of view with interesting lighting. I used Daz3D to find out the pose, lighting and camera angle I wanted and then redrew teh figure as I wanted her.

In the end: We have an information thief photographing the image on a computer model for a prototype piece of technology. This can be seen reflecting in the lens of the Camera. The point of view of the viewer is from inside the desk she's decending upon.

This is one of the few digital images I've completed and I learned a lot in the process, I'm quite happy with how it turned out and I think my skills can only develop from here.

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