Creative Challenge 2

Creative Challenge 2

The Rundown

Yo yo yo! New week, a new challenge. For this one, I wanted to try something my classmate did. In Caitlynn Doers' post, she suggested using only one shape for an illustration, which seemed perfect for me to tackle. The shape I chose was a rectangle. I limited myself to scaling only, without transparency. For the subject, I decided to do another video game. Recently, I've gone back to playing Doom 2. It's a classic first-person shooter from the late 90s, where you take on the role of the Doom guy to battle hordes of demons invading Earth. Interestingly, I had to study architecture for my restaurant project to achieve the look I wanted. Doom actually shares many similarities with brutalism. I will attempt to depict that in my render. 

The Hub

First, I need to get the hub down. I added the horizon line to get an idea of how big the weapon should be. The colors are a bit off in this part, but I will return to them after choosing a location. Another issue is that it's hard to tell what weapon the Doom guy is holding (the pistol). This is fine for now, but adding more detail will make it stand out less.

The World

I chose the first level as the location. It's the most played and the most recognizable space. So, I opened Blender to capture a reference shot. In the third room near the exit, a stair-like floor leads to an opening in the wall, creating a very otherworldly feel. Everything features variations of brown or green, even the sky. I started blocking out the room's main elements.

The Weapon

After adding more detail to the scene, I finally decided I didn't like the weapon. This made me reconsider how I would render the whole scene. I started treating the shapes as broad paint strokes, trying to avoid making pixel art with the rectangles. I love how the hand came out, and it was a major motivation boost.

The Details

With this new way of thinking, I tackle the face with nine rectangles. Hinting at Doom guy's expression without his eye was quite the challenge.

Making the canvas small to see if he was still readable helped hone into the final look. I also decided to add lines to the pillars to better represent the original texture.

The Final Image

This is where I decided to stop. Like the last challenge, I had so much fun that I could keep going. But sometimes, you must pull the plug before getting too carried away. I upgraded the hub to be closer to the original and added a slight shading. There were so many layers at this point that it was getting very easy to get lost.

Extra thoughts

While researching, I found this funny video that made me chuckle. This whole challenge made me want to try pixel art. I might even redo this shot in DyoudiM art style. Speaking of which, does anyone have recommendations for drawing tablets? I'm okay using the mouse for now, but the more I create these artworks, the more I want to draw on my monitor with a pen.