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Feng
Zhu)
Feng's
work
can
be
found
at
Typically the use of this type of design is a pre-production phase of concept art that is
generally only seen by the artist or art director if working on set or in-house. A lot of
times when freelancing this stage of design isn't shown to an art director and is
merely a quick process of finding solutions and multiple designs for the artist eyes
only. The silhouette doesn't need to be as clean or clear as the ones seen below in
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order to achieve the same desired effect. We might often find more chaotic and
textured shapes easier to identify with and productive in letting loose and having fun.
(Note: Designs by Ben Mauro, copyright Sony Pictures Animation) Ben's work can be
found at The Art of Ben Mauro
Silhouettes CHARACTER
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Silhouettes CHARACTER
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Silhouettes can be used in multiple methods of design from the abstract to the
symmetrical and beyond. Whether you have it in mind to design a specific type of
creature/character or something more abstract, you can begin the silhouette process
by pasting down large black shapes on a 3/4 point of view or by mirroring shapes to be
used in terms of a front, back or top down view. One of the best things about this
quick design method is you don't need to focus on hands, feet, fingers, eyes and all
the little intricacies that take up time. As seen below in some examples, you can
produce broken shapes and ghost line effects while you let your mind fill in the gaps.
You can worry later and work out the missing elements once you have chosen a strong
dominate shape.
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The mirroring of such shapes is the quickest and simplest solution to producing a huge
array of variants in your original design. These symmetrical shapes as mentioned can
be perceived from a front, top or back view to be used as a reference point and then
produced at a more 3-dimensional angle at a later point in time.
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Note: The image above shows the final concept design in detail along with the chosen
silhouette thumbnail. Artwork by Mike Corriero. The image below was a rough 3/4
sketch designed based on the thumbnails beneath it.
It's important to recognize that your design needs to provide a striking impact on the
viewer from multiple angles, so although a silhouette shape may appear strong and
iconic from the front or side view, you need to continue to play around with multiple
angles to really come up with something memorable and recognizable no matter
where the camera's POV(point of view) appears.
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Orthograph sheets or "turn around" design sheets such as the image above and below
show the designs from multiple angles IE; front, back, side (Ortho's or turn around
design sheets are used by the modeler to produce the CG model)
Silhouettes CHARACTER
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Silhouettes CHARACTER
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Inanimate objects as well as living animals and other imagery can be used to begin
this phase in design. You never know where the most interesting of shapes will take
form, so play around with all the tools and tricks of the trade that are at your disposal.
The use of photography and icons can often help kick start the beginning of a unique
and original design that the vast majority of the public can relate to. As per example,
you might take the shape of an animal's skull - reduce it to a black silhouette and
begin the process of using that shape as the body for an original creature design.This
method of design can also be applied to structures, weapons, vehicles, robots,
spaceships etc.
(Note: Artwork below is by Feng Zhu)
Silhouettes CHARACTER
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Silhouettes CHARACTER
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of using dominate and iconic shapes that blend well together. Proportion of shapes
play a major role in this stage of silhouette design, so although it's not always
important to know what's what during this phase you may want to keep it in mind for
the next step.
(Note: Artwork is from "The Skillful Huntsman" Copyright 2011 Design Studio Press &
Scott Robertson - artwork by Mike Yamada.)
(I also recommend checking out another book by Design Studio Press called "Alien
Race")
"Body proportion variations: Within a silhouette the basic elements from the
abdomen, upper torso, head, arms and legs can easily determine the size, height and
general appearance of a character. Everything from the width of the chest to the size
of the forearm compared to the size and length of the bicep are ways to distinguish
from one concept to the next when involving human or humanoid designs. It's those
little differences of the dominate shapes and appendages that can help identify one
concept from the next concerning designs with similar body structures.
(Note: Artwork below is from "The Skillful Huntsman" Copyright 2011 Design Studio
Press & Scott Robertson - artwork 'left' is by Felix Yoon - artwork 'right' is by Khang
Le)
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(Note: Artwork below is from "The Skillful Huntsman" Copyright 2011 Design Studio
Press & Scott Robertson - artwork is by Khang Le)
(Note: Final Product based off of a quick thumbnail, chosen to be one of the stronger
designs in silhouette)
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After choosing the best silhouette for the job at hand, you can take that shape and
lower the opacity to begin the process of sketching a rough base of anatomy within
the shapes. It's fine to modify a few things here and there at this point, but the
ultimate goal is to make sense of the shapes in such a way as to retain that striking
iconic silhouette you began with. This can be done in two ways. You can either lower
the opacity of the silhouette and begin sketching in the form of line work, or you can
keep the silhouette as is and begin blocking in forms of lighter values.
(Note: Artwork below is from "The Skillful Huntsman" Copyright 2011 Design Studio
Press & Scott Robertson - artwork by Mike Yamada.)
(Note: Artwork below is from "The Skillful Huntsman" Copyright 2011 Design Studio
Press & Scott Robertson - artwork by Khang Le)
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When you begin to work out the details of the design and anatomy within the
silhouette in the method of values and form, this opens up a lot of options for
variations of where you can push the anatomy hidden within. You may even want to
make some minor adjustments to the outline of the silhouette for some additional
distinction.
I hope you find these examples and the information helpful and give this method of
design a try for yourselves. It may help you open up to new ways of thinking and
alternate methods in generating ideas. As is always the case, remember to use
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