Colour Matrix - On 80 Games

In order to experiment with colours properly it's important to know whats out there already. I have selected 80 different games from 4 separate genres; RPG, Sci-Fi, War and Horror to carry out this test. Using Photoshop's Stained Glass Filter, I took screenshots from IGN and Gamespot and then broke up each image into it's 3 dominant colours. From doing this, it has helped me get a better understanding of a range of colours used in a variety of games. From here I can then begin by applying these colours to my own scenes and begin experimenting! The list of Games used are at the bottom.

Although from doing this of course the colour scheme in every game shifts during each scene. This is where case Studies are going to be particularly important. This will then give me a deeper understanding of colour use in games.

20 Selected RPG games.

20 Sci Fi Games.

20 War Games.

20 Horror Games.

Role-playing Games

1. Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning

2. Skyrim

3. Guild Wars

4. Dungeon Defenders

5. Fable 3

6. Everquest 2

7. Heroes of Might and Magic 6

8. Lord of the Rings:War of the North

9. Star Trek: Online

10. City of Heroes

11. World of Warcraft

12. Aion

13. The Witcher 2

14. Dark Souls

15. Tales of Symphonia 

16. Borderlands

17. Assassins Creed 2

18. Final Fantasy Crysis Core

19. Star Wars: The Old Republic

Sci-Fi

1.Mass Effect 2

2.Gears of War 3

3. Halo Combat Evolved

4. Hard Reset

5. Unreal Tournament

6. Alien Versus Predator

7. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

8. Section 8: Prejudice 

9. Nuclear Dawn

10. Rage

11. Portal 2

12. Half-life 2

13. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

14. Natural Selection 2

15. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

16. Star Wars Battlefront

17. Quake 4

18. Perfect Dark Zero

19. Star Trek Elite Force

20. Singularity 

War Games 

1. Day of Defeat Source

2. Call of Duty Black Ops

3. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

4. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

5. Medal of Honor Allied Assault

6. Battlefield 3

7. Return to Castle Wolvenstien

8. Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad

9. Soldier of Fortune Payback

10 America's Army

11. Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead

12. Battlefield 2

13. Battlefield 2142

14. Tom Clancy's Advanced Warfighter 2

15. Swat 4

16. Crysis 2

17. Crysis

18. Command and Conquer Renegade

19 Red Faction

20. Project IGI

Horror Genre                                                         

1. Alan Wake

2. Silent Hill 2

3. Resident Evil 4

4. Fear

5. Condemned

6. Resident Evil 5

7. Cold Fear

8. Amnesia: The Dark Descent

9. Penumbra Requiem 

10. Killing Floor

11. Dead Space 2

12. Metro 2033

13. Stalker Clear Sky

14. Obscure

15. Siren Blood Curse

16. Call of Cthulu Dark Corners of the Earth

17. System Shock 2

18. Project Zero 2 Crimson Butterfly

19. Resident Evil 2

20. Fear 3

Tonal Studies - Understanding Light and Shadow

I've always had a bit of a problem with value in paintings to get a sense of Depth. So I have taken photographs and desaturated them and done some speed paintings for practice. These are all pictures in Dundee and done within 20mins (this is due to the fact that after this time limit I found myself getting too caught up in details).

Starting painting, 50minutes.

Below the perspective was slightly difficult to establish simply by blocking in so  I then used construction lines in the sketch below this one and finally I could begin practicing.

20 mins.

20mins.

20mins.

This is an ongoing practice and I have taken notes in every image i.e. my intentions at the beginning with how I aim to do tonal studies, evaluate sketch. take what I've learned into the next image.

Production work with Robin Ward

Robin Ward who is studying creature design has given me the task of producing some concept environments for worlds in which they will live in.

Details of his Environment profiles can be found in the following link: http://octavo360.blogspot.com/

The first thing he asked me to do was produce some thumbnail sketches of composition of his lava world and from there he picked some of his favourites and I began to further develop his concepts.

Thumbnail Sketches, of Lava world in surface details.

I was then given some sketches from Robin which I then followed for colour scheme.

These are just some initial concept ideas. Even though painting was taken place in Photoshop I wasn't being loose about the overal design and composition; could be due to fact i was given some work to use as a guide line. I used a lot of referenced images and I found that the hottest part of the lava is infact I really bright yellow and not white. Using also the Kelvin Degree wheel to get an accurate representation of heat using warm colours.

Below are cave ideas from where the volcano would erupt from. The idea is that most of the nutritional needs of the creatures would be mostly found underground from moss and minerals. These were pencil drawings that were scanned in. From doing this, it made me realise that I am best sticking with sketching on paper as I feel more relaxed and free to really express ideas.

Robin liked all the images but we stuck with the final sketch and began doing some colour ideas. This was painted using photoshop again using photo references for guides. From doing these concepts it's made me appreciate colour structure and how colour harmony's can really make an image stand out if chosen with care.

Artistic Theories of Light

Although Leonardo de Vinci discovered in the 15th century discovered a technique known as 'Chiarscuro' which in Italian terms means 'light and dark'. It was until a century later in the Baroque Movement an artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon who mastered the technique to create a sense of 3 dimensional space in his paintings. 

Nightwatch by Rembrandt .

source: http://ppaintinga.com/paintings-rembrandt/

We can see in this image that there is strong contrast of light and dark and this creates a realistic painting with sharp shadows at the front and softer ones in the back. Rembrandt really utilised this technique when creating religious pictures he would removed christ's halo and replace with a strong light source; this got him in trouble with the authorities.  

Turner considered the 'painter of light' created many scenes later on in his career expressing feelings through the use of light using vibrant hues his paintings look almost dream like. In his early years he studied the effects of sea and sky in every kind of weather. Considered the founder of English landscape painters. 

http://www.michaelarnoldart.com/Turner.grandcanal.750pix.jpg

Response to Production work

What I found from doing production work with Robin Ward getting a sense of distance with my paintings was somewhat of a problem. In order to resolve this issue I looked at referenced photos (from Image FX) to tackle this problem. By adding blue and adding grey I managed to achieve the sense of distance. 

This red rock painting was reasonably easy to establish however the distance rock was a challenge but I was making sure I could get the colours to read properly. 

Beach painting. This made me realise that by blocking in the maining colours and then working on highlights could create the sense of realism; simple is more.

Following from the beach painting I followed the same idea of block in main colours and then from there I can add smaller details to bring about a realistic style.

Matte Painting Practice

This was a photograph of the tunnel at at Abertay University which I then painted over. To be honest, from the start to finish this didn't feel like my own work, somewhat cheated. Although artists such as Feng Zhu point out that a lot of the time during the industry artist will paint over 'plates' essentially scenes that are basically photographs and artists then use that scene to build their buildings for concept. 

(he talks about this in his 15th lesson on his free tutorials section on the website.)

I would much rather create a 3d scene of my own work and then paint from there; I think this will be the best approach for me. 

Behind the Scenes of Silent Hill 2

Below is the video part 1/4 of the making of Silent Hill 2. Where the technique of 'Repulsion and Attraction' this is the idea that although the backgrounds look grimy and horrible they still contain a lot of character. Creating this balance the artists got references of pretty grimy looking places but that in hand they put it together so that its both visually appealing and disturbing at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU6506yLGr0

Matte Painting - Exploring Technique

Photograph of my flat entrance.

I imported the image into Photoshop and then blocked in the walls and made the overall image bigger then I added light and shadow and then applied a blue overlay. My main aim here was created tension with strong use of light and shadow, the fact that on the right of the stairs is a huge shadow creates uncertainty. With the use of one point of light this creates strong contrast with light and dark. Also I used a noise texture on the walls to get that 'grime' look. This was done in less than an hour and I was pretty happy with the result I maybe would have added more detail on the walls etc for more interest. But I will be working on this technique through sketchbook/digital paintings.

Techniques of Artists being used

After my Pitch on the 9th with the work that I have shown it seems apparent that my artistic abilities seem to be better used in digital painting rather than 3d environment creation. However I aim to explore different pipelines to creating my own artwork. I will be looking in Matte painting in particular, blocking in a basic scene in 3d and finally adding all the colour, light and texture detail via photoshop. Although the pipeline has changed the project itself has remained same, for the most part. I am still looking into colour and light theories and practical techniques.

Aim - I want create 3-4 concept pieces that express tension within different settings. I'm more specifically looking at the horror genre of games. I want to imagine I have been given the task to develop some interior spaces and how light and colour and convery an un-settling atmosphere

Creating a 3d environment is really time consuming and doesn't always produce the desired results. Whereas a painting, if structured properly, can easily be changed on the fly. Especially the fact that colour and light stem from traditional painting, it makes sense to be painting myself to help make sense of what I have learned.

http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/news/2011/08/interview-with-cecil-kim/ This is an interview by concept artist Cecil Kim who worked at Sony Santa Monica Studios for 11 years and has now founded his own company Section Studios.

The Following training DVD's will be looked to help get a better understanding of digital painting techniques:

The Techniques of Dylan Cole Vol.3

Matte Painting for Production with Jared Simeth

Contemporary Set Design- Conceptual Environments with James Clyne

Speed painting to Matte painting with Sebastien Larroude

Exploring Fear

This was a matte painting based from what I found with light setups and mood. Shadow being the key feature to create tension, using contrast of light and shadow.

I used blue as my primary colour as this helps create an un-settling atmosphere. This was just a quick experimentation but this in hand will help me further my understand of light sources and colouring of environments in general.