ART WAR 5 | 2D Submissions | Art World War | England - Old Crocken | br00dley

br00dley 2021-01-19 18:22:09 UTC #14

Thanks! The Lion was more of a status symbol in medieval England, so we would have them imported to the wealthy as a sign of power and certain warriors and leaders where nicknames the Lion (Richard the Lionheart being the most famous). Maybe a Lion doesn't suit very well but something like a Boar, which we have tones of and are hunted still today, would possible work I think. Definitely worth trying it out and see what that looks like.

Your right Excalibur and the longbow are by far the most prominent weapons for England bar maybe the Enfield rifles. Excalibur is essentially a fancy long sword and I've got a great book for sword reference so I'm looking forward to designing some weapons.

br00dley 2021-01-19 18:29:50 UTC #15

Agreed, the cloak is very dominant in the image. I like both of those suggestions, the goal will be to have the cloak being a part of his design without it being the sole design. Vampire Hunter D has a similar situation so will look to see how they designed him and see if I can work out a similar look.

moirae 2021-01-19 19:04:01 UTC #16

One other thing, you have to incorporate the colours of the flag somehow, it seems like it will be a dark, shadowy design, is there room for red and white?

br00dley 2021-01-19 19:42:03 UTC #17

The image I've ruffle got going on in my head will be red elements in the design (I want to add some tattoos on his arms in red for example) and scene. He will also be riding a white horse which will contrast quite nicely and fit the folklore tale too. The cloak will be near black but I could even make that have a red-ish hue when the smoke becomes more wispy near the ends.

Brush_Tony 2021-01-19 21:32:52 UTC #18

Thanks for your detailed answer!

br00dley 2021-01-23 17:24:37 UTC #19

@Brush_Tony I had a go at some animals heads as part of the cloak but I didn't get it to work very well so I dropped the idea in favour for the smoke. I did include some animal influences in the design how ever in the form of tattoos and the Torc around his neck.

@moirae tones down the cloak a bit and a hybrid of cloak and smoke looks quite good I think.

The work from this week, defining the overall design and cloak.

Did some research in to patters for jewellery and patterns on pot or shield/helms. I was surprised in my research not to find any mythology around boars as they are quite prominent in England. I did find that the Boar was used in a lot of pattern especially for helms in history as it was seen as a protective symbol for the Anglo Saxons. Other animals used in designs were Hounds, Dragons, Stags, birds of prey and some designs that looked like a horse too me. Most patterns tend to be nature inspired or were abstract shapes that hid (or suggested) creatures or gods watching over the holder. A lot of English Knots where are similar to Celtic knots but include animal designs within the knots. Later in the medieval times you got more Lions in designs as well as more complexity.

Pattern studies

Final Design and Pattern Designs

Happy with the design now and bar any small changes will work on the turn around and colours.

Any thoughts let me know!

br00dley 2021-01-30 13:47:53 UTC #20

Working on the Turn around this week and testing some colours comps, Leaning towards the
4 but it doesn't fit the brief of a black cloak. The limitation of red and white is white limiting but be interesting to hear what others thing.

stadnik.e.o 2021-01-30 15:33:25 UTC #21

I like 3, 4, and 5 (but in option 5, I would replace the orange color with red)

br00dley 2021-01-30 16:29:02 UTC #22

Thanks, I found it very challenging with just the red and white, possibly could get away with the blue as its part of the union jack (UK flag) and the Celt's had a lot of history with blue dyes and England. I really like 6 and 8 for colours but they don't match the nations colours at all really but it's just fun to play with colours.

hanomrno 2021-01-30 20:33:25 UTC #23

So cool! I get some rogue knight vibes and I'm digging that. Also the smoke cape is very interesting visually, I'd love to see it return into the design.
The one thing I'd change is making the pauldron and the cape two different colours, just to get a better read of the individual objects.

br00dley 2021-01-31 13:00:14 UTC #24

Thanks! I like the smoke idea to and its in a simpler form in the design sheet but I plan to have it as a bigger element in the illustration.

In regards to the pauldron I think that's how I did the line work once I removed the flat colours so you can see through the cloak. At least I think that's what you mean?
Here is a image to show what I mean.

br00dley 2021-01-31 13:03:35 UTC #25

Removed the colours that aren't national colours and added some more relevant comps. Had some notes about a lighter coloured cloak and I want to make him look more spectral and ghost like. Suggestions are always welcome!

stadnik.e.o 2021-02-01 20:09:53 UTC #26

F and G!!!

moirae 2021-02-03 22:52:30 UTC #27

I think F is strongest. Maybe see what red trousers / white coat / jerkin version of it looks like?

dreamsequenz 2021-02-04 10:07:10 UTC #28

I think D is the strongest the contrast with white is really appealing

mystarryspace 2021-02-04 10:41:24 UTC #29

I like F and G the best, but F slightly more since the red color on G's sword is a bit too bright IMO. Looks great so far!

br00dley 2021-02-08 21:15:50 UTC #30

@moirae I tried a couple with the white coat and it wasn't working for me, think mainly due to how I've done the mail texture. The red coats works well for the national colour and symbol though so I'm glad those worked well.

@mystarryspace Agreed the red on the sword hilt is rather over powering and thanks!

Update, wanted to bring some more spectral design into the character and though it would be cool for him to have a human form and a ghost form. We have a lot of ghost stories in England and I thought that would work well with the design. Settled a bit more on the colours but still be great to hear peoples thoughts!

Hopefully the next update will be on some illustration work.

This was not intended but spectre is also a Bond Film so... well British.

br00dley 2021-02-10 21:17:29 UTC #31

Some comps for the illustration, looking mainly at the comps on the bottom rows but any thoughts will be appreciated.

prinzmoana 2021-02-11 10:37:00 UTC #32

I like 12 ^^

moirae 2021-02-13 00:01:37 UTC #33

16 is strong, but it doesn't read as attacking or defending to me, maybe combine somehow with elements from 7?
Is it going to be a normal horse or an undead / shadow horse to match its rider?