TESV:Skyrim: Trolls

Trolls! What a surprise for me. Coming into this project I had no idea that trolls were so different than I'd ever imagined them. 3 eyes and an ape-like body was how they were represented in the last version of TES. What a challenge!

We wanted to give them a bit of personality and a bit of traditional flavor. Maybe they like shiny things and collect the bones of their victims.

 Another flavor of Troll. The Snow troll.

Troll v. Nord!

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TESV:Skyrim: Elven Armor

Elven Armor . In TES lore, Elven armor has had bird of prey design elements and that is a motif we played with in many different ways before settling on this idea. In this drawing I dressed a Nord in Elven armor which he doesn't seem too happy about. Maybe it's a hazing process for new Stormcloaks? Who knows. Regardless, the bird motif made its way in to this drawing in more ways than one, eh?

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TESV:Skyrim - Solitude

Early in development, I literally go to the drawing board and get set to working out ideas with markers and colored pencils. This is useful in many ways and I find the connection with paper to be far more engaging than working on a computer screen. For one thing there are no distractions like emails popping up or the ever present temptations of the internet clawing at my basal ganglia for dopamine. 

Most of these drawing will never be used as they tend to be a means to a conceptual end. It's a way of narrowing down our choices to find the right path. 

After all of this sketching I start to get to the business of rendering out more finished pieces in Photoshop that ties together all the ideas settled on by us. 

I'm certainly not the first person to realize this, I attempt to find the character of a city and the environment it occupies. That is what helps to drive the design more successfully. 

“If you start with character, you probably will end up with good drawings.” - Chuck Jones

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TESV:Skyrim - Goats!

Mountain Goats!

Goat orthographic.

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TESV:Skyrim - Riverwood

As requested here's the Riverwood street scene from the art of book. A similar approach to the previous post for Whiterun was taken with this. Both are 'Day for Night' shots. In other words the original screenshot were taken with daytime lighting but I painted over them to look like night.

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TESV:Skyrim - Whiterun Atmospherics

After developing the initial concepts for Whiterun, world artist Clara Struthers built the basic geometry and layout of Whiterun. After getting pretty far along we decided to do a paint over to add some details and atmospherics like snow, lighting, clouds, uneven roof tiles, etc. We even added some characters to give some hints of story possibilities as well. (I like to think that if Adam and I were Nords in Skyrim that would be the two of us late at night down in the right hand corner)

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TESV:Skyrim - Riften

Here's a few sketches from the development of Riften. The idea from the designers is that it would be a city constructed at the base of a lake built mostly from wood. The idea reminded me (visually) of the Adirondacks in upstate NY mixed with a Scandinavian fishing town. Here's a just a few of the sketches all done with colored pencil, pastel washes and markers, plus a few touches of Photoshop.

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TESV:Skyrim - Glass Armour

Glass armour is probably the most high fantasy outfit in TES next to Daedric Armour. We wanted to do something different with it this time around while retaining some of its original essence from previous TES games. Ultimately we chose a more flowing scaled approach to the design where the glass was less subtle but still a more decorative element.

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TESV:Skyrim - Boethia Shrine

The sacrificial Shrine of Boethia. You know.... for kids!

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TESV:Skyrim - Nord Plate Armor

Nord Plate armor was an interesting mix of inspirations and a design challenge because plate armor is not usually associated with Nords (Vikings). We tend to think leather, studs, and fur. To get around this, I actually stole a bit of German and Polish Hussar armor and incorporated a little Stormcloak seasoning to try and make this work. I may have been a bit too slavish to my reference but hopefully the result was interesting.

...and yes I did that horrible thing that all entertainment artists do at one point or another. I made boob cups for female variant armor. What can I say? It's hard to resist some of these tropes sometimes. I've gotten it out of my system and will be more sparing with this in the future if I can. I instead will focus on making feminine design aesthetics in the decorative motifs. Far more interesting and practical.

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TESV:Skyrim - Bandits Pt. 2

Happy new year! Let's hope that 2013 is filled with a bit more happiness, a little more joy, a little less tragedy and a lot more art!

Bandit variants from the previous Bandits post:

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TESV:Skyrim - Bandits Pt. 1

Bandits. Our thinking on the Bandits was that they were geared to live light and nomadic. Wolf skins would be the clothing of choice since it's warm not to mention kind of bad assed to have killed a wolf. The first few sketches were to get a good vibe and silhouette...

Sven Peltpiles...

Female version. Yeah I know... cleavage in the snow... yada, yada...

I've got a couple of minor variants I'll post soon. Thanks for stopping by...:)

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TESV:Skyrim - Daedric Armour and Weapon Set

For the Daedric Armor the design called for a rather unearthly and unconventional approach. I want to hit all of the notes of the previous incarnations of the design but wanted to give it a distinctly asymmetrical silhouette and a bit more high fantasy. In my little back story, I felt it should look like it was forged in some other hellish dimension to empower and torment it's user for the amusement of some elder god. I felt like this is a powerful piece of equipment but almost too powerful for any mere mortal to wear. It should look painful to wear as if that cost was worth it.

The weapons needed to convey the same feeling of being almost as dangerous to the user as it is to the users opponent. Lots of reversed point bits and humming red plasma/magma just under the surface of the steel. 

The shield felt a little obtuse and out of place with the rest of the gear to me so I asked to do a quick redesign...

Thanks again for stopping by and stay inspired to create!

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TESV:Skyrim - Mages Pt. 2

Basically the same approach for the Male mages as the females. These costumes are generally designed in conjunction with each other.

Archmage has a bit more symmetry.

Apprentice Mage. It's in the art book but I don't think it was ever actually used in the game.

This one is the standard Mage Guild outfit.

Thanks again. More to come...

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TESV:Skyrim - Mages Pt. 1

Mages in the bitter north of Tamriel must have adapted to their harsh surroundings but still maintained their roots in their traditions beliefs and faith. I approached their costumes bearing this in mind and also wanting to give them the feel that they could, like a Shoalin Monk or Chuck Norris drop your ass with a roundhouse kick at any time. 

Lot's of sketching with prismacolor marker and pencils helps quickly develop ideas.

As a young apprentice I thought it'd be fun if they had a bit of the swagger. I liked the idea of  a sort of  parochial school filled with unsure and budding young students learning the ways of the force, hiding in the basement late at night, listening to Legendary Pink Dots and trying to summon C'thulu.

A female Archmage idea spawned the idea of asymmetry in the costumes. I didn't want to just put some robes on them and call it done. There needed to be some sort of  visual hook to make them read from a distance if possible and give them their own identity.

Thanks for stopping by. More to come...

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