MotokoXBatou

Character Design at OTIS: Demos and Lecture Stuff

Here are a few examples of lecture materials and demos from my "Character Design: Next Steps" course at Otis College of Art and Design.  The first project, "Angels vs Demons" was a simple way to understand character archetypes.  During the first two weeks, my students learned how to apply Gestalt Theory and Principles of Design in the sketch/thumbnail phase to get interesting shapes/composition.

Next, I walked my students through my process for refining a thumbnail, establishing basic lighting and value ranges in grey scale, and how to apply Color/Light/Materials.  I went over the differences in approaching character concept art/illustration from a "line-based" approach or a "painterly" approach.  I find that many concept artists lean towards either being a "drawer" or "painter" and this was my way of showing them that there's no reason you cant do both.  Painting and Drawing are one in the same. 

Here is a material breakdown that helps my students understand material properties and complex stuff like transparency, reflectivity,

Character Designs for BlackBeard Inc.

BlackBeard Inc. was founded by Kevin Baik, an old Art Center buddy and colleague from my days on Black Ops II. Recently, he and his business partner started a mobile game startup and are currently developing a game in a partnership with Nexon for the mobile platform. They've brought me on to design their characters! The best part about working with someone you vibe with is that they trust your judgment and let you do your thing as an artist and I really appreciate that about these guys. BlackBeard has recently teased images of one of the characters I designed, so I got the green light to share it. Again, I'm using a very efficient 2d ideation to Zbrush concept sculpt workflow that I've been utilizing in recent projects. More as the game develops...

Civilization: Beyond Earth / Weapon Concept Art

Recent Works in Progress

Some concepts Ive been working on. I'm redesigning the Cobra Unit from MGS3(which takes place in 1964) to fit the World War 2 Era. I painted up some concepts earlier in the year, but wasn't happy with the direction I was going in. Decided to do some heavy vizdev to really nail the ww2/scifi look. I'll share those later, but for now this is the current line-up. Color and finish to come next. The second cast of characters is for an IP of mine that fuses gangster rap culture and cyberpunk. Having lots of fun recently, digging deep into my influences and finding inspiration in what is uniquely "me."

Character Workflow - Ideation Sketches/Illustration/Concept Sculpt

EMRAT

Morning Study

Lunch Sketch

Quick Sketch Session + Concept Sculpts

Trying to step up my Zbrush game. Finally nailed down a process that feels natural to me. A fast round of 2d sketching for quick ideas and shape exploration, followed by some speed sculpting. I will be teaching this process to my students as part of my Character Design 1 class at Otis starting in the summer. I've recorded my process and shared a clip of the beginning stages of how I get started by using Zspheres.

Eric Chiang ZBrush Creature Design from Eric Chiang on Vimeo.

Blocking in with ZSpheres

LOVE, REANIMATE

Fembot studies and ideation

Metal Gear Solid: WW2 Update - The Fear

During World War 2, “The Pain” became part of the Cobra Unit, a secret special forces unit comprised of elite, super-human soldiers. His codename came from the emotion he conveyed while on the battlefield: the terror that he instilled in others with his freakish appearance and movements.The Fear was known for his seemingly superhuman speed and agility. Double-jointed in both elbows, he was able to crawl, flip, and leap with extreme agility, in the manner of a spider.

Metal Gear Solid: WW2

Metal Gear Solid: WWII is a personal project imagining the Metal Gear Solid Universe during the World War II era. The story encompasses the origins of The Boss and her Cobra Unit. Updates will come as soon as more characters are designed. Thanks for looking!

Follow Me