Here is various concept art for the main character of the game, Verin. I wanted to go for a sixteen to eighteen year-old guy who is learning what it means to be a man and to face his fears. Coming up with a protagonist that I really liked was a long process, but a fun one.

Verin 1.0

This concept is from fairly early on in the concepting process. I used actor Michael Ealy as inspiration for this version.

Verin 2.0

By the second version, I had decided for sure that I wanted a younger main character. This is the point that I landed at the sixteen to eighteen age range. Having decided that, I was trying to achieve some of the things Chris Oatley talks about from his Disney days regarding character “appeal”. I felt like a lovable face and a memorable hair do would help turn Verin into somebody that I would want to root for in a high stakes story.

Verin 2.5

Iterating off of the previous version, I decided that I needed him to have more personality, and that his personality should be kind of cocky, fun-loving, and maybe a bit mischievous. By this point, I shared the design with Chase and we both felt like we had a character that was starting to have appeal.

It was then time to start trying to do tighter concepts and play with costume. The following piece was an exercise in figuring out his get-up and more of his in-game mannerism.

Verin 3.0

At this point, I nailed down the costume and started working on a character sheet in preparation to begin tight artwork for animations.

Color Rough

Below is a quick color rough that I did for fun in preparation for some of the cutscenes in the game.

Next Steps

So, from here I went into animation. Which is where my part of the project is, now. It has been quite a learning experience. I’ll be talking about how the animation process was decided upon, and include some of the initial work in an upcoming post!

Let me know what you think of the character design in the comments!

So, I’ve been working on something pretty exciting with my good buddy, Chase Finch called The Legend of the Gates. I will be revealing more details as we progresss in order to chronicle the journey to the final launch, and I’m excited to be able to share that with you.

I will be posting concept art, sprite animations, and journaling the ups and downs all the way up to the point that we can all enjoy the game in its completion!

So check back right here for more updates on The Legend of the Gates!

Okay, so I’ve realized that watercolor behaves very differently from ink, even when watered down. I think that I will stick to ink wash if I’m doing monochromatic stuff in the future, but I don’t think this turned out too bad for what I intend to do with it. At this stage, I have scanned it in and will continue it digitally so that I have the freedom to play around without ruining the piece.

After I’m done with it, I may return to it to have a finished version done in natural media. However, the original and current intent is for the final version to be a digital piece.

This is a process shot of a piece of concept art that focuses on one of the potential bosses in a game that I’m working on with a friend. I’m calling it the Baracron.

More to come!