SECOND ASSIGNMENT: Open Project WARP 2018

SECOND ASSIGNMENT: Open Project

Research:
My piece is about a game called Detroit: Become Human which is about an android rebellion in Detroit where the androids gain sentience and fight for freedom. It is an interesting game because the game makes you accountable for your decisions and draws a lot of socio-political parallels between the androids and slavery and even the holocaust. The game also follows 3 different androids closely. The one I chose is named Markus and he is later described as the "android messiah" because he is one of the first to recognize his emotions and leads the revolution. The game making process used a lot of motion capture so I not only had to look up image references and official art of the character but also of his voice actor Jesse Williams.

Process:

1)Thumbnail

 2)Sketch in non-photocopy blue then graphite then add color



 

 

 3) Draw the character lightly and do a wash. I used water color browns and yellows for skin tones and clothing and a watered down acrylic for the background. I purposely wanted the background to be uneven or at least not smooth so I used some variations in my brush movement and was very rough with it. I also had to make sure I chose an expression that showed him engaged during the revolution opposed to calm or before the revolution because I wanted it to be more impactful, though I know it is difficult to see here.

 

 I did another layer of water color and added an additional grey tone where the hair would be.

 I added a light brown layer to the face.

 I again went over the hair and added some shadows with watercolor.

 4) Color pencil was added to address the skin tones and shadows. I also added color to the lips. I did a layer of light red in water color but the red I used in color pencil was a bit too bright. I did use 3 different reds in his lips but I went back in with a peach to soften in up when I did the lip shine.

 

 5) The androids in the game have biocomponents and they bleed blue blood. Now I know the whole blood splatter thing is really over done at this point but I really wanted to keep with the blue and the blue blood is a big thing for the androids in the game so I dripped really heavy splatters of watercolor blue and let some of it drip. I also sprayed some aqua in certain spots and along some of the edges to add some variations in tonality. I also did not want the background to be too flat or empty.

 

 6)Markus has heterochromia because of a scene where he has to replace an eye. I had painted it lightly in watercolor but I went over them in color pencil for added detail. The eyes are important because I needed to show that I was drawing him AFTER sh*t hit the fan, not before. I then wanted them to pop (and be pretty) so I went over the eyelashes and did a light outline with a thin micron pen and got a white gel pen to add some umph to those slight highlights. I went over his eyebrows in 2 different color pencils and added some more detail to his skin with additional color pencil. I did another layer over the hair before going in with make up. I got costume make up and a textured sponge to add a sense of texture and contrast to his beard and haircut compared to the softness of his face. I also went back in with micron around the teeth in stead of leaving it in watercolor and honestly I liked the aesthetics of it better. The last thing I did was add some slight touches with a metallic marker to the lining of his cloak type outfit and also his processing ring (which you will see in another photo because I guess I forgot to photograph it here) which I chose to keep as a metallic yellowish opposed to blue (which is good) or red (which is bad) because yellow in this ring typically indicates thinking, processing, identifying, confusion, increasing stress level and so on.

 

 7) The Sunflowers! Those were probably my favorite part. I looked up a few sunflower photos online as reference, sketched them in yellow color pencil and outlined them in that same metallic marker to tie them in better. I decided on 3 sunflowers not just to take up space but because Markus also has 3 faithful companions in the game: Josh, North, and Simon; which is why you will see a bit later on that I made the sunflower cores all a bit different as different types of sunflowers opposed to uniform sunflowers. I also decided on Sunflowers in particular because aside from the fact that I greatly enjoy them, Markus is a symbol of hope to the androids and these 3 companion in particular see him as a shining light and I need to show that even though he is in this moment of tension and he is in this awful situation, that he also has positive attributes that his people look for in him even in their troubling times.

 

 Cut them out with an Exacto knife.

Stay consistent with the blue so that everything ties in but don't over power the flowers. I just dipped my fingers in blue water color and kinda stamped them lightly on the flowers several times.



 You can see variation in the sunflower cores better now that I am starting to color them in. I used watercolor in multiple layers, some slight orange marker, and several color pencils.

 I used the same make up effect on the flower cores as I did with his beard to tie in the textures except I used black and 2 shades of brown. I did not want their to be too much of a disconnect between my figure and these flowers and I was also afraid that adding the details to the cores in color pencil like I had originally planned would make them seem that much more flat and did not want that.

 I had to play around with the composition of the flowers for a bit though.

 I decided on this particular composition because of the character relationships more so than aesthetics. Simon and North are both considered love interests for Markus so I knew I wanted them to be within close proximity to each other. That said, Simon is not always present in every play through because he has the most opportunity to die and he is the most willing to sacrifice himself for Markus so I ended up hiding him somewhat behind North's flower. I also drew the two sunflowers of North and Josh to be connected by the edge of their petals. Not only because they are always present but also because they conflict with each other and act as the good and bad decision over Markus's shoulder the entire game. Once I had that straightened out in my mind It was easy to place the flowers. Josh: top left. North: top right. Simon: bottom right.

8) I then added the tissue paper and adhered the flowers to the paper. It helped make the flowers feel more full and textured, it acted as foliage, and also I just like experimenting with adding additional materials. I had to weigh them down with objects to get them to stick enough to support their weight.

 

 9) I went back in with the aqua spray paint. I decided to spray over the flowers and foliage for an added effect.

 

 10) I had to re-do my blue blood drips because they were too concealed by the flowers for my liking. I new dripping on the actual flowers would flatten them out so I only did it somewhat and focused more on the tissue paper and background but I still decided to go for in and in the end and I'm not completely content with it but I like the paint on the ended of the flower petals. Particularly Josh in the top left.

 11) Finished piece in class.

 

Close up so you can see the Processing ring on the left side on the image (his right) which I did with the metallic marker and high lighted with white gel pen.