Inspiration

I've been looking at some films that I've used as inspiration and references for Kelpies. In terms of backgrounds and style 'Secret of Kells' (Cartoon Saloon) went in a really interesting direction, with stylised swirls and watercoloury textures.

The short film 'Old Fangs' (also by Cartoon Saloon) had some awesome (and similar to Kells) textured backgrounds.

Both of these films have a pretty unique look to them, one that is very beautiful. The textures and markings are something I think has influenced the style of Kelpies.

Film Poster

A poster was needed for our degree show website so I quickly whipped one up for Kelpies. (Apologies for the poor image quality, my computer has been broken for a few months and I don't have any of my work or files saved on it, so these are just from wherever I've saved them on the internet (usually FB)) The poster shows the eye of the kelpie, all scary and mystical and what not. It's similar to the scene in which Murdo sees himself reflected in the eye whilst underwater.

Swimming pool shenanigins

Team Kelpies were (foolishly) allowed into the union swimming pool to do some primary research today! This basically involved 2 Stef and Kirsteen flinging themselves into the water for an hour, whilst the rest of us were on official photographer duty :D

Just a few shots from the afternoon.

10% Scene

As part of our Christmas 'hand-in,' we're to have 10% of our film completed. We have been planning on doing a scene with quite a bit of water in it, but since it's proving to be such a challenge, we're thinking about using some of the interior scenes instead. This means that we'll be able to think about the water a bit longer, as we're still not getting the 2D feel we're looking for. It's a toughy! Doing the interior scenes means we can start animation, finishing the backgrounds etc. Plus, it'll be great to get a break from the water :D

Water Textures

In an effort to make the water look 2Dish, we've being trying to use textures. We tried doing 'subtle,' and that didn't work, so now we're just going all out and using 'contrasty' textures. These are a few of the ones I did last night.

These were all done in Art Rage 2, which has some really cool texture/brush settings, although a little gimmicky to look at. Some of them were also inspired by textures and line work from films like 'Old Fangs,' and 'The Secret of Kells,' both by Cartoon Saloon.

Painty Wave Tests

We've been concerned about how the water is going to look in Kelpies, since it's in 3D, and the characters & environments are in 2D, so we've been experimenting with painting on top of the sea. These are just a few tests (both done fairly quickly). The first is without any painted 'waves,' the second is with.

Loadsa life drawing

these have been done over the semester. there are more but it was awkward to scan, so i just selected a few. i can never decide if i prefer working with pen or pencil; pen is so much looser, but pencil allows for more detail... maybe i should combine both!