Steem Cartoon : Concept Art and Idea Generator

To get a good short is tough especially in a 3D animation. The team that produces the concept art is important. This is so that the visuals from the location, colour mood and texture can be scripted and in accordance with the storybaord to be used as a guide for all the production team thereafter. I would like to share one pretty challenging scene for me.

This process always start with the idea and input from the sketch by the Art Director. This is a good idea on the expected concept painting that is in mind. I have to ensure that they stylised wood and the location of the light must be according to the wants given by the storyboard.

For the first layer I will start with some random leaves that is in a distant location by using spliter brush in the shape of leaves and look for the right tone suitable for the trees.

After getting the right colours I will tidy up the colour with random brush and insert the lighting and shadow for the distant trees.

The next step is to create branches for the trees that are distant. The colours does not have to be detailed because it is far. It is sufficient to merely create simple shadow and lighting. Then we will use bright blue to make it look as though the light has penetrated between the trees.

On the middle ground I will start by making the surface of the ground and some trees for its surrounding.

You can now include the process where the roots are growing wildly on the area of the sketch. This process has to b detailed because the part on the roots of the tree is the main focus of the painting. I need to have more details on the surface of the ground by making some dry leaves scatter about.

Once I am done with the earlier part now I can add some trunks of the trees. I will add some layers that I have done, use some rendering techniques for the details especially on the part of the lighting.

I will include some branches on the part of the layer so that it is easier to be edited for visual effects later. The technique of rendering is the same as the process that I have just explained except that the surface of the tree I will have to add some small leaves to cover the branches so that it looks more neutral.

Now we can include the roots on the foreground. The location of the roots must go by the pespective view so that our eyes can focus ont he roots in the middleground.

Once I am finished with the concept of the forest, I will insert a sample guide by using a panther for the scene and ensure that the panther is right at the roots of the trees. The final process, I will include a ray of light to make the process more interesting. The entire process of this work took me 6 hours to complete and it is one challenging piece.

credit to @zomagic