Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Process Log 20: Armour Series 1-4

I love sci-fi armour and my portfolio was lacking some realistic pieces, so I started a project where I had to draw five armour sets.


Armour 1: Stealth EGO "Basilisk" Revamp
     Basilisk, or "Bas", is my brand identity. His entire creation backstory and design choices can be found here. I enjoy drawing Bas, so this time I redesigned his armour to be even more organic, as if the armour was his skin. 

Armour 2: Hidden Armour "Sacred Fire"
     This armour was originally going to be strictly sci-fi, but the theme changed into combining old with the new - merging an ancient look with sci-fi. 

Armour 3: Trooper EGO "Sabre"
     Sabre comes from the same universe as Bas. Trooper EGOs range from gunners to melee fighters - Sabre specializes in melee and knife combat. Her armour is extremely unconventional compared to most (if not all) Trooper units, as she prefers keeping flexibility of the upper body intact and increasing power and defense to her weaponized legs. Since there's minimal protection on her upper body, Sabre has "Neo-Barrier" (energy shield) emitters placed strategically on her arms.

---

Armour 4: [Sentient Machine Custom] Sound Reinforcement Unit 3226 "AMP"
     After the first three armours, I started the fourth one only to realize that this would be the last of the series because it took so damn long to finish, mostly due to motivational issues. I recorded the process for this armour:


And then the final with detail shots:



While AMP took the longest to finish, his concept was the most fun to develop. A backstory and personality for him emerged during the rendering process. 
A little note about the colours: AMP's light colours changed from blue to yellow because blue felt too serene for his personality. Yellow is more upbeat and fun, associating more with childlike behaviour. 


What I've learned from this project:
- Practice painting metallic spec. So much spec. I got sick of painting spec by the time I got to rendering AMP.

---

For those who are interested in AMP's backstory:
Sentient Machines (SMs) are robots with AI curious for knowledge, but they also have a unique trait in that they can develop "personalities". These personalities are often related to their "Users", the person or persons that own the SM (like how pets usually take on the behaviours of their owners). There are many different types of SMs and they all specialize in various types of fields, whether it be something like construction, a boring desk job, camera work for a movie, or military reconnaissance. 

Sound Reinforcement Units (SRUs) are essentially SR systems with bodies. So instead of x number of speakers set up at a concert, there would be x number of SRUs, and SRU bodies are highly customizable in terms of installing different types of speakers. Some SRUs have been developed to be their own DJ and sound system.

When an SM unit is modified from its original, intended purpose it becomes a "Custom" unit (SMC). SMCs are closely monitored by the authorities, as most SMCs have been modified for dangerous purposes. "AMP" here, is a modified SRU, built for bass and beat-em-up.

SRU's are definitely not built for combat, but AMP's unknown User constructed his extremely unconventional weapons as well as add an advanced combat program to AMP's AI network. This resulted in a carefree, bad attitude robot that gives no fucks and takes no prisoners. AMP has been on the authorities' Wanted list for a long while, but no one so far has been successful in capturing or defeating this SMC. AMP doesn't go out picking fights, but he does like to cause mischief and won't back down from a challenge.