Leavon Archer – A Concept Artist.

At the age of 15, Leavon was creating amateur comics for a small business before taking an interest in fantasy art which he achieved through airbrushing and pen and ink.

He came to Chesterfield College to do Fine Art, but found he wasn’t well suited for it as he much preferred graphics. At the age of 17 he was creating games! Unfortunately, because of the time period he began in, he didn’t have many colour options to work with and only created 2D games, so he had to brush up his skills on palletisation, which is where you take the colours you are given (in this case, sixteen) and try and make as many as you can. E.g. in different tones or shades of the same colour.

He found he was inspired by Disney and would create many different demos for games with different story lines and main characters to try and get a producer interested, but he admits that 9/10 of your designs get “canned”.

He started with very basic characters (again because of the time period), starting with polygons and working materials onto them to make them look more realistic. But when Photoshop came out, he found that he very much enjoyed working with 3D characters and so moved from the job he was at so he could join Sony and start the mission with Playstation. Everything was hand drawn and then edited on the computer.

Some of the work that Leavon showed us was absolutely amazing! He has worked with the makers of Pirates of the Caribbean and made the Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom characters. He says that the actors always wanted a say in how they looked and Orlando Bloom wanted to be more bulky than he was in the film.

He says that working in life drawing was probably the most beneficial thing he had done at college and still attends classes now. He uses the human body structure to inspire him when he creates bizarre creatures.

He created one character from a book series but he only had the man himself as he looks now he’s in his 60s and one blurry photo of him back in the day. It was amazing. I noticed as he was speaking that he very much enjoys working with new projects and experimenting, which is why he was thrilled at the chance to make a horse statue. He also says that there are many variables to do with how successful a game is other than just how well the team works… The contract could be running out and therefore time is cut shorter.

He has different ways of inputting his designs onto the computer, one way is to draw straight onto the computer via the drawing tablet and then bulk it out and make it look nicer, or he’ll sketch out in pencil on paper and take a picture on his phone to upload onto the computer and then he would edit it to make it look more professional.

One of his projects was for a game that needed an angel on every level; each one would be of a different element. The one that he showed us on his slideshow was one of a water angel, he told us how the colours had been taken from the striking markings of a colourful tropical fish and how the fins were from an angelfish… The wings were designed from jellyfish tendrils and then mirrored and flipped to mimic the wings of a butterfly.

He told us also of how he often used a base mesh for his characters which enabled him to start the actual design straight away instead of starting from the beginning each time. Once he has made the initial design about how the character should look, he will have to assess each little detail about the character to see if it is believable and functional in real life. He had to redesign the shoulder pads of some of the soldiers and redesign the weapon because it was too bulky and wouldn’t have made sense. Because of all this redesigning, Leavon suggested that you don’t become too precious about how you get to the final stage of your design and instead you should just concentrate on how it looks.

He said that he worked with Hellboy and Hulk and, because he had all the old school comics by the artist that the producer was interested in, he could get to work very quickly. Having reference materials helps you get to work faster.

He says that, although he is working on other projects a lot of the time, he still has time for himself and the work he creates for his own amusement can help him when he does his job because of the practice. He says that work is never wasted and although you may not use the majority of an early design, you may still want to use a character’s shoes or gloves.

There are two ways that he uses to get his work on the go, one is that he will find a picture of someone in a similar pose and drop his design over them and edit it until he is happy, the second is that you can get a thick black pen and sketch out an outline or a silhouette and then define it until it looks like the character you had in mind.

When asked a question about his previous work, he said that most of the games he has worked on have been a positive experience regardless of the final outcome. It all depends on who you work with…

He then said, “If any one fancies rock and roll parties, head to Sony.”

Recycle Poster (4)

I found this image on Google Images and it's delicate simplicity caught my attention. I like how simple this poster is and how the important writing is small to make people have to go closer to the poster to read it. The entire poster is pale apart from parts of the earth, but it works for me. It's addressing global warming and shows the earth melting which is appropriate. Seeing the world in a state of distress will worry many people and hopefully make them want to change their ways and help. The rhetorical question should get people thinking and then the next part of the type is the subtle answer to that question. I have noticed that one reason I have chosen all these posters that are in common with each other is that I like their simplicity, so I plan to keep my design simple too.

Recycle Poster (3)

I really like how this poster has been thought out. I like how the world looks like a screwed up ball of paper  to show how it's being scrapped. It makes people panic and want to change how we treat earth. You are equally drawn into the 'planet' as you are into the type, so both capture your attention and the simple sentence at the top makes you think. The slight slant of the green strip is effective because it's not all straight and relitively boring which is refreshing. The font is open and easy to read which is what you want from a poster, no one will try and read it if it's difficult.

Recycle Poster (2)

I like the colours in this poster and I plan to use bright colours myself. I also like how not everything is at a right angle to each other. I find it effective and eye catching, therefore, people will see it and want to read more... which would mean getting the message across.

Recycle poster (1)

What I like about this poster is that they have taken a picture of the material and waste that they have collected and cut it down to look like the object they can make it in to. I plan to take an idea similar to this in my own project. It's a simple yet effective and colourful way to put across the message that recycling really helps.

My Project Proposal

I am going to research a variety of contemporary environmental artists to get some inspiration for my work. For the time being, I think I will be sketching some discarded objects to become familiar how refuse looks next to each other. Then I think I will sketch a design combining some useless objects to make the collection as a whole look like some thing useful. I will then work over my initial design with other media and materials such as collage, mono-prints, paint, ink and letter blocks.

I have looked at Michael West’s work and have noticed that he creates both 2D and 3D creations… His sculptures are mostly red and made out of refuse waste, he has also created a selection of paintings, finding inspiration from the shapes and lines of the waste and going on to make bright, abstract images. Although his work is interesting, I don’t really plan on using his method of working, but it has opened my mind to the possibility of 3D art.

Here is a photograph from Michael West’s website: http://www.michaelwestart.com/page3.htm This piece was described on Wikipedia as:

“Anthropomorphism” is the attribution of human characteristics or, recognition of human characteristics in non-human creatures and beings, phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts”

Week one: I plan to research more artists and find some that inspire me, I would then combine the attributes I like about each of them and add something of my own to make it unique to me.

Week two: I imagine we will be drawing still life of the waste objects.

Week three: I hope to have a selection of drawings and sketches from the objects that I will combine together to make them look like something else.

Week four: I plan to have made my final design and be working back into it with different media, making it more abstract and/or interesting. I will, at some point, reassess how my time is going and see if I could plan it better.

Kandee the Makeup Artist (2)

 She uploads her blog every few days so there is plenty to read, her newest post is about her trip to a makeup lab where they make foundation and blusher. She is helping them to make it and testing them all...

She describes it as being the "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory of the makeup world"

Here she is mixing foundation.

She also has uploaded posts about how to create "cute hair" styles and makeup ideas. This can be very helpful for someone who wants to, but struggles, to make their hair and makeup look nice. She will suggest hair and makeup products that she personally uses and uploads pictures of what each product does for her... She then puts in a link to where you can purchase one of your own.