This piece is the most technically challenging I have ever undertaken, as it requires action composition and a good understanding of lighting to draw the viewer’s attention (both of which I am weak on). To prepare for this piece I have been looking at the work of Billy Christian, who has great composition work. I want to create an illustration of a pivotal moment from Arktias’ backstory; the moment her mother was publicly assassinated. I went through many variations of this composition (documented on my blog) and after struggling to find one I was happy with I opened up Blender and made a vague block-out of character placement. From here I was able to start rendering Jhandra, though I am still unhappy with how this looks, yet lack the skills to be able to tell why. I hope to amend this by getting professional feedback which will hopefully elevate this piece into something I can be happy with.
The next steps I will take for this piece will be to:
• Blockout and render Arktias
• Amend lighting to ensure the focus of the piece is on Arktias (green sketch figure)
• Complete the crowd in the background
• Improve composition by asking for professional and peer feedback
Original composition
Blender block-out
Rendering process
Second composition
Alternative composition