Vehicles & Props Design Exercises

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Week 1 - Week 5
4/4/2023 - 2/5/2023
Leong Jiahui / 0353469
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
GCD 61804/ VEHICLE AND PROPS DESIGN
Exercises & Lecture 
Instructions

Lecture

WEEK 1 (4/4/2023)
In week 1's lecture, Mr Kannan taught us the fundamentals of breaking down vehicles into basic shapes, and then reconstructing them from said basic shapes. It's fascinating how quickly Mr Kannan whips up those cars from basic shapes my poor mind cannot compute. 
fig 1.1.1 deconstruct & construct tutorial (4/4/2023)
fig 1.1.2 deconstruct & construct tutorial--how (4/4/2023)
We were also given a quick run-through on Blender, and I am half excited and half scared.  
fig 1.1.3 blender demo (4/4/2023)

WEEK 2 (11/4/2023)
To-do
  • 3 types of vehicles with the same theme (land, air, water)
  • 1 Object fundamental study, >6angles, 3 main angles, simple rendering(shadows only)
  • continue to explore Blender
In week 2, we are taught to utilize AI to get inspiration and references. I'm honestly pretty against the usage of AI as a whole with all the artworks stolen uncredited but at the same time I can understand how the tool is useful for learning. It's vexing. 

Mr Kannan also ran us through the concept of perspective and how it adds value to the presentation of the artwork.
fig 1.2.1 Perspective study lecture (11/4/2023)
fig 1.2.2 Perspective study lecture (11/4/2023)
We were also given a Blender pt 2 tutorial, exploring more of its functions like smoothening and extending parts. 
fig 1.2.3 blender demo (11/4/2023)


WEEK 3 (18/4/2023)
To-do
  • mood board & sketches for 3 vehicle classes (base it on 1 theme)
  • 5 silhouette sketches for each class
  • choose 1 to develop into concept art (exercise) - min up to lines 
  • Base it on an existing IP. Star Wars is a good start. 

fig 1.3.1 Art direction lecture (18/4/2023) 

fig 1.3.2 Silhouette demo omg he did it so quick (18/4/2023)
Phase 1: Ideate & Conceptualise. Sketch out the draft from basic shapes from a few angles.

Phase 2: Block out the silhouette with a big brush. Block out 3 bases and further develop to min 20 diff silhouette sketches. Always number the sketches. 

Phase 3: Sketch the lines from the silhouette. Constantly flip your canvas. Continue to further refine it. 


fig 1.3.3 sketch demo (18/4/2023)
Phase 4: Go in with a rough rendering of the base colour (usually grey), followed by highlights, then secondary colours. Add a silhouette of a human to show the scale.

fig 1.3.4 Demo final outcome LITERALLY HOW (18/4/2023)


WEEK 4 (25/4/2023)
To-do
  • construct a proposal for Project 1 - the big picture (land, air, water)
  • attach some thumbnail sketches as part of the proposal 
  • reflect on existing artwork 

When constructing a mood board, look for inspiration in terms of 
  • overall style
  • structural design
  • rendering style 

How to construct a proposal 101, where to start: 
fig 1.4.1 proposal 101 (25/4/2023)

A prototype has to be aesthetically pleasing & purposefully designed. 
fig 1.4.2 the next step (25/4/2023)
fig 1.4.3 thumbnail sketches (25/4/2023)
fig 1.4.4 silhouette sketches (25/4/2023) 


WEEK 5 (2/5/2023)
To-do
  • do concept sketches
  • perspective ratio studies 
It is important to take into consideration the functionality of the vehicles. When proposing, break down the info before conceptualizing. Always make sure that 

fig 1.5.1 Understanding car functionalities (2/5/2023)
Concept building and development: 

fig 1.5.2 Concept development (2/5/2023)

fig 1.5.3 thumbnail progression (2/5/2023)

WEEK 6 (9/5/2023)
To-do
  • practice more
  • thumbnail sketches for all types of vehicles. Try all kinds
  • at least 1 final sketch 

Mr Kannan keeps emphasizing breaking down the components but the only breakdown I'm having rn is a mental breakdown. 
fig 1.6.1 inspiration (9/5/2023)

fig 1.6.2 the process (9/5/2023)

fig 1.6.3 silhouette sketches (9/5/2023)

fig 1.6.4 final sketch (9/5/2023)
fig 1.6.5 coloured ver (9/5/2023)
fig 1.6.6 alternate ver (9/5/2023)



Exercise 1: Construct & Deconstruct 

WEEK 1 (4/4/2023)
As a warm-up to our exercise 1, we are required to break down land, water & air vehicles into their basic shapes, and then reconstruct them from said shapes. I picked 4 images for each type of vehicle and went ham from there. The air vehicles in particular was the most challenging, IMO. If I'm being completely honest, the shapes I could identify from each vehicle are basically just rectangles and circles. 
fig 2.1.1 land vehicles (6/4/2023)
fig 2.1.2 water vehicles (8/4/2023)
fig 2.1.3 air vehicles (9/4/2023)
Seeing how crap my perspectives are, I tried out Blender to build up the vehicle and sketched over the screenshots. I don't know if its an effective way to improve my perspectives or just a way to cheat the system, but overall it did help to ease the perspective drawing process, and allowed me to observe and study how vanishing points work in different angles. 
fig 2.1.3 Blender process - land (9/4/2023)

fig 2.1.4 Land vehicle perspective study (10/4/2023)


Exercise 2: Fundamental Studies 

WEEK 2 (11/4/2023)
This week's exercise is to select any object and do a fundamental perspective study on it. I selected a Nintendo Switch controller for my study. I started out with the base rectangle and built the details up from there. 

My perspectives were still kind of wonky but my lines have been smoother and more controlled. 
fig 3.1.1 Fundamental perspective study (17/4/2023)

fig 3.1.2 Fundamental Perspective Study - rendered ver (17/4/2023)

Exercise 3: Form & Function

WEEK 3 (18/4/2023)
I'll be honest, picking Mariokart probably wasn't a good study from a traditional sense, but it's something I like and all the colours make me happy, so I think it's a win either way. After all, this is just an exercise, will consider doing another study on a more traditional and challenging IP like star wars in Project 1. 

I think no longer having the pressure of academic validation is freeing. 

WEEK 4 (25/4/2023)

And so begins the thumbnail war. This silhouette sketching exercise is a continuous one connected to Project 1, where we will be constantly developing our design and practising the ways to sketch silhouettes. Perspectives are still the bane of my existence, and Mr Kannaan made everything look like magic. Mine...not so much. Bikes are small, and only have 2 wheels so it should be less complicated? Wrong.
 
fig 4.1 Thumbnail sketches (25/4/2023)


WEEK 5 (2/5/2023)

We are expected to show idea and silhouette exploration for our project 1. This project started out way different than the final, to say the least since my direction for the project took a complete turn and drove off the cliff. This is how the sketches turned out when I was still grasping onto that steampunk idea to create a vehicle for the character in the other module, trying to kill every single bird with one stone. It's funny how none of these turned out to look anything close to steampunk. Almost like I'm drawing for the sake of drawing, which for the record, in that uninspired state, I kinda was. 
fig 5.2.1 air vehicles (2/5/2023)

fig 5.2.2 land vehicles (2/5/2023)

fig 5.2.3 land vehicles (2/5/2023)

fig 5.2.4 water vehicles (2/5/2023)


Final Outcome



Feedback

WEEK 2 (11/4/2023)
A good start. Pay more attention to the perspective.
WEEK 3 (18/4/2023)
The button perspective for some parts is wrong. Shading has too many highlights. Understand basic lighting before attempting excessive highlights as a stylistic approach.

WEEK 4 (25/4/2023)
Continue to work on perspective and rendering. The design can be simple but the proportions and rendering need to be able to make up for the simplicity of it. Continue to extend the design. 

WEEK 5 (2/5/2023)
Continue to work on perspective (I am genuinely trying istg). And further define the mood board. Chinese elements are the motif and not the theme, focus on the theme first (steampunk in this case). Watch more movies & play games to expand visual library.  

Reflection 

Doing these exercises have really given me more insight into what is expected of this module, and allowed me to practice my fundamentals. It was a tough start to a module, especially me having never drawn vehicles before, but the lecturer has been very helpful and I've progressed from zero to well,, somewhere. 

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