Behind the Art: The Under Drawings PART II-ScoobyDoo

Here is the under drawing I did for the Scooby Doo Project with Heavy Iron from the 90's for this crypt area of the video game. You can view the final here

One of my favorite sketches for the Scooby Doo game, was this overhead on the above ground graveyard. Here is this final as delivered.

A Secret Laboratory[ final here ] in a rock cave from Scooby Doo the Video Game from the 90's.

The underdrawing I did for this shipwreck cove from Scooby Doo, with the final here.

Behind the Art

The Under Drawings

PART II Scooby Doo

Today I have posted PART II  in this new series of under drawings for various 2D projects.

The under drawing sets the look for the final in a way that is still rough enough to change and add details too, but also clean enough so that my "Non-Artist; clients can easily see the main direction, and enough of my intent to sign off on the next step with the details.

Today I have posed up four examples for the Scooby Doo project I did in the nineties for Heavy Iron Studios here in SoCal, and I posted that work here, if you are interested.

Now, the under drawings are not just a part of the way I create a piece for a client, but also an integral part of the process of approvals I have with them, so I can get sign off for the time consuming final line work stage as well as any thing else before time and $$ is used up on the details, without a clear picture of the overall look and proportions needed for the project.

 I usually put an under drawing over a hand made perspective grid I have made using ship curves, but for these examples, I put a quick grid on the under drawings themselves as seen above.

I do most of these on a 8.5 x 11 piece of generic copy paper, which is abundant and cheap for this. I usually do the final overlay on Clearprint or 'Vincent' Vellum.

You can view PART I of my under drawing posts here.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040-PART LXXXXVi[96th]- More Character Color Keys

 A BIOT Mechanic in an orange Jumpsuit with a Readout mounted to his forearm.

 A Female BIOT named Pavlova from that episode. If I remember she was 'self aware" and unique.

 A Short BIOT on tracks, seen here as a sketched design.

 Here is Guran in a trench coat and mirrored glasses.

Phantom 2040-PART LXXXXVI[96th]

More Character Color Keys

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

This is my 96th post for the work I did on the TV show, The Phantom 2040 from in the early ninety's, and today I have posted a set of marker comp color keys for a variety of characters.

As Art Director for the 52 episodes,  I was responsible for the overall visual themes and color language used for all characters, sets, and props for the series, and since we were doing the production digitally we did all color keys in markers and chalk rather than Cel Vinyl.

I always love taking my Conceptual Designs to the next phase and to bring the to life with color. As a Transportation graduate from ACCD, we are trained specialists in using markers and chalk to render out our concepts, as that was the preferred method prior to the advent of the digital painting technique that has replaced it, so I went with it, since the renderings were scanned and PMS colors were assigned to match on Korea for the final production.

If you are a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group for that....  here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM

Behind the Art: The Under Drawings PART I

 This is an under drawing I did for the Wildstorm Productions GEN 13 Movie from back in the mid 90's as seen here, from this post.

 I had the honor of working on the Raveonettes Music Video "Heart of Stone" here, I did a few production design sketches including the above one here, which won an Academy Award for Art Direction, and so I got a little recognition here.

Here is a partial under-drawing for the wide panoramic curvilinear perspective shot of Main Street here, done for Disney Interactive for the VMK[ Virtual Magic Kingdom] project from back in the 90's as well.

 Inside the big clown head in the middle of the Fantasyland map here, was a circus tent like game. Here is the rough under drawing.

 

 I actually started to flesh out that above view, and scanned it in progress as we see here in this Fantasyland design. This room eventually made it into the final single disc release.

Behind the Art

The Under Drawings

PART I

Today I have posted a series of under drawings for various projects that have been posted here on my design blog over the last few years as a PART I, in a new ongoing series I will do over the next few months.

Under drawing is the practice of doing at least two passes on any design with this first pass drawing used to fully block out a shot, to get basic proportions.

 I usually put an under drawing over a hand made perspective grid I have made using ship curves, but for some the grid is on the under drawing itself as well.

The first great advantage to this method of sketching allows you to be able to make bold design choices at the sketch time, since the piece you are on is NOT the final, so you are a bit more free on this stage. 

I also tend to scan and send out this stage to a client who is strapped for cash[ everyone now!], to give them a better idea of what I am planning on doing next. 

The last advantage is that the under drawing takes a short time, about 1/10th the final line and shading stage, so if you want to make any changes, the time to do this is when it is blocked out in the under drawing, BEFORE the time and cash have been spent on a possible differing camera view, or design choice.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040-PART 95: LXXXXV- Small Stuff Props

 A Coffee Pot I designed for The Phantom 2040, used in the Dorms and also re-used with the Maid B.I.O.T. here.

 A small compass, not sure who used this one it was unmarked, but it was a Phantom prop for sure.

 The Phantom used this cable rider for a few episodes, and it was a pick-up prop requested by the animators in Canada for the project I did this on-site while I was there visiting the vendor in 1991.

 Here is a small old styled pocket watch used by Graft when it was the flashback sequence.

Phantom 2040-PART LXXXXV[95th]

Small Stuff Prop Design Drawings

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

This is my 95th post for The Phantom 2040 from in the early ninety's, and today I have posted a few small props that I did for the show as a quick post.

When you do a futuristic setting everything see needs to be addressed in design. Characters and the overall world come first, but this world then needs to be filled in.

I had to design anything seen, or especially touched, used or referenced by and character in the story, but I also needed to fill up areas so I designed literally hundreds of these little bad boys to fill the world of METROPIA!

Are you a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group  here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040-PART LXXXXIV[94th]-More Female Character Designs

The character NIA[ here] from The Phantom 2040, had a few outfit changes as she had a secret identity and this was her "Lab Outfit" she hid in for the series.

Kit Walkers friend Jenna, had many an outfit change herself, even a spacesuit, and here is a prom dress for her I designed.

Here is a 3rd  design for a character for 'downtown' near Cyberville, you can view a few added designs here, and here.

 Here is the last generic female character I did for the series.

Phantom 2040-PART LXXXXIV[94th]

More Female Character Design Drawings

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

This is my 94th posting for my work done on the Television 2D Animated Series, The Phantom 2040 from in the early ninety's, and today I have posted a few character designs, as well as a few fashion designs I did for the female characters for the series.

When you design an entire world of the future, you cover everything you can, from architecture, Transportation,and Product designs, Fonts, graphics, and fashion designs. Hearst gave a big allowance to buy resource materials for the fashion design work, so I got up to speed on some current trends back in the 90's from Paris, to emulate my future versions for Metropia.

I also had a few 'sexy girls' they wanted to populate here and there in the city as well, especially at the party's downtown near Cyberville in the second season, it was a bit of a 'seedy' neighborhood, so they wanted some, "ladies' walking around down there.

Are you a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group  here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM

Personal Project: Napkin Sketching and Doodles Part XVIII-[18th]

 I've been on these little cabins and swamp houses lately, so I did the super high,  tall and thin proportioned concept last night. I tilted each level of the house to the emulate the back and fourth found in the human torso body mass and hips, this gave the home some 'life'. A pain to take up the groceries huh!

 As my Eastern European friend would say, a little "willage"[village]. This was to be the background behind the above sketch if I do this in 3D.

 Another mini [ 1" tall] robot sketch. I try to capture a felling in each little sketch I do. The goal is to get a personality with the least amount of work first. Details can always be added to any design, but the base comp must work.

I was explaining 'gelatinous' to my 6 year old referring to the character "Bob' in Monsters vs. Aliens, so later than night, I did a gelatinous armless puppy with a ball as seen here, ...yea I know...

Personal Project
Napkin Sketching and Doodles Part XVIII[18th]

 

 In this eighteenth installment of the Napkin Sketches, Drawings, and Doodles I do when I have a pen in hand, I have put up some more 2012 sketches that I have done this month.

These doodles are quick ideas usually 5-10 minutes from concept to final. I learned at A.C.C.D. in Viss-Com 7, my senior year to do these quick 2 minute, 3 minute and 5 minute sketch drills.

We would do these in Doug Halberts 7th term class for hours on end, and little did I know how valuable the exercise would be.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good full day detailed blue line sketch as evidenced on my blog here, but these little ones are so valuable to do FAST, it really sharpens your ability to make a fast design choice.

Keep on doodlin'!

You can view the other parts as follows:
PART I
PART II
PART III
PART IV
PART V
PART VI
PART VII
PART VIII
PART IX 

PART X
PART XI 

PART XII
PART XIII
PART XIV
PART XV 

PART XVI
PART XVII

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040: PART LXXXXIII[93rd]-Character Design Overlay

 A mini BIOT on treads: So I had a technique where I'd slide the original on the glass in the direction of the scan to 'scale' it down, to get the shorty look[ remember this is pre good Mac's+PC's in the bizz], and that was the underlay.

 I revised the tech attached to Dr Jak from Peter Chungs concepts to fit the look of the rest of the tech, and here is the detail sketches I produced.

 For the character Nia, I developed the costume all broken up and destroyed after battle with Graft[ .05mm pencil on velum.

 Here is a BIOT butler overlay.[ NOTE: The BIOT underneath is a very early Pre Production Model]

Phantom 2040-PART LXXXXII [93rd]

Character Design Overlay Drawings

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

This is my 93rd posting for my work done on the Television 2D Animated Series, The Phantom 2040 from in the early ninety's.

Today I have put up a few underlay drawing I have for various characters from the show. As the lead designer for the series I had a 1000's of items that needed to be designed for the 52 episodes that eventually aired, and the sheer volume of design was what drew me out of feature film work, to be a full time Art Director for this series, it was a great opportunity as I look back.

Are you a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group  here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040- PARTLXXXXII [92nd]-Perspective-Grid_Underlay-Drawings

Here is a Phantom 2040 ambulance Hypercruiser under drawing with the perspective grid in the tracing sketch.

An enforcer[ Police] Hypercycle with a very simple base grid for this.

The Phantoms Hypercycle[ Design One] as a grid underlay drawing. It became this, so I used the  above version for another Police cycle as well as seen here.

Dr JAK's Multicrusier Grid over the Xerox super-rough comp. You can see the craft here, here, and here.

 Here is the grid layout I did for Maxwell Madisons Hyper Cruiser seen here, here, and here.

Phantom 2040-PART LXXXXII [92nd]

Perspective Grid Underlay Drawings

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

This is my 92nd posting for my  Phantom 2040 conceptual design work that I did on the series in the early ninety's.

I always do a rough sketch by hand or with a few tools to block out my designs over a grid I make first. I then will overlay that and detail it out a bit. If this is good to go, I do a line art file that would go to get inked by the prop team. I have put up a few vehicle designs that I did this was to show the development of the design and the process I use to get there.

What I've posted today are those early underlay drawing for a few vehicles from The Phantom 2040. Dr JAK's, Multicruiser vehicle, has a two layers there, as I did a mini-sketch, blew it up on the xerox, and then overlaid that as seen above in the tracing paper sketch.

Overlay drawing allows you as a designer the ability to design a bit more freely, as you know this is not the final so you can make mistakes and finesse the design is stages. 

Also as taught at Art Center, it also allows you to block out the base volume of the object in proportion first and flesh it out next, so you do not get lost in the details first, but they become a secondary design element.

If you are a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group dedicated to the show here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040- PARTLXXXXI [91st]-INT Animation Layouts

 Here is a corridor from the Dykstra Platform design I did for the show.

 A window view layout with an animated sky pan seen through the windows for the Hypersonic Jet from the TV series I designed.

 This is a overhead compartment view inside the Hypersonic Jet, a simple layout fixed for production.

 Here is the interior layout I did for Maxwell Madisons Hyper Cruiser seen here, here, and here.

Phantom 2040-PART LXXXXI [91st]

Various Props

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

This is my 91st posting here on my design blog for my contributions to The Phantom 2040, and my first 2012 Phantom posting, so only a mere 28 years to go until we ARE METROPIA!

Animation Layout for television series are typically out sourced to foreign countries to complete, due to the lowered labor costs. At Hearst, we did this in Canada, France, as well as the majority is South Korea at Sei-Young Anitel  Animation Studios.

Sometimes I had enough time to correct, or flat out re-do the layouts that were botched, and our budget was the lowest in the industry so we got what we paid for, or more precisely what we DIDN'T pay for, so I did these fixed versions every chance I had.

Some I fixed were very fast, like 5 minutes to correct a perspective issue or the break out the ship curves to add the fishy eye look back into the show, but all were done to keep the continuity high.

If you are a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group dedicated to the show here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040- PARTLXXXX [90th]-Various Props

A post form Cyberville during construction they would fly down to the site.

A Virtual Reality Head-Rig used by Maxwell in the VR ball here.

A Hand-held scanner with a bright scan light.

A Digital Stoplight and street sign typical from Metropia the world of The Phantom 2040.

Here is the prop as used in a typical storyboard frame.

Phantom 2040-PART LXXXX [90th]

Various Props

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

This is my 90th posting here on my design blog for my contributions to The Phantom 2040, and here I have posted four different props that I designed for the various episodes.

Cyberville was a city being built by B.I.O.T.'s for Maximum Inc and this is one of the "claw" columns that surround the city being flown into scene. I also found the scanned VR head-gear for the VR sphere for Maxwell today so I've posted that today as well. A hand-held scanner that Guran, and The Phantom 2040 both use regularly. And finally a typical Streetlight found in all street scenes.

If you are a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group dedicated to the show here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM

Behind the Art: Napkin Sketching PART XIII

 A Sketch for a fish with fangs, a bit shark mixed with whale and a vampire!

 A Cartoon styled old prop plane[ WWII-ish ]

 Yet another GumboMan Swamp house on stilts, the concept comes back alot in my doodles...

A tall thin character with a very loooooog chin.

Napkin Sketching Part XIII

 

 In this thirteenth installment of the Napkin Sketches, Drawings, and Doodles I do when I have a pen in hand, I have put up a variety of Characters, vehicles, and a background design for todays late 2D posting.

I sketch to stretch. It keep me limber as a designer, and using digital tools all day long it is very helpful to break out of that mold and use you skills elsewhere. 

I also do woodworking, coppersmithing, and various building projects to keep me sane along with these sketches. Keep a good variety of what you draw, and what creative activities you do, and never pass up a real challenge.

You can view the other parts as follows:

PART I

PART II

PART III

PART IV

PART V

PART VI

PART VII

PART VIII

PART IX 

PART X

PART XI 

PART XII

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Phantom 2040- PARTLXXXIX [89th]-Various Video Displays

 In Sparks apartment, there was an Old 90's cathode ray tube TV[ CRT] needed in the script so BAM!

 A beat up dirty wall mounted display screen[ Like an intercom/pay phone]

 A Holographic Display box.

A heads up display from The Phantom 2o4o.

Phantom 2040-PART LXXXIX [89th]

Various Video Displays

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

This is my 89th posting here on my design blog for my contributions to The Phantom 2040, and here I have posted four different technology displays that were used in the scripts for The Phantom 2040.

I Had to design lots of circa 2040[ current time for The Phantom] products, but I also had much  older props like 1990's displays as well. And bear in mind that I did the show in the 90's pre-flat screen era we enjoy now.

The variety I show today is a sampling of what I did on a regular basis as Art Director and Conceptual Designer for the series. A holographic cube display, that was a 360 display box. The World of The Phantom 2040 was filled with flat screen with touch based tech everywhere in the 90's, and this is where the great writing for the series really set it apart.

If you are a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group dedicated to the show here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM