Hello Everyone and Welcome to the Drawing a Science Fiction Character Series.
In this first part, Tim Von Rueden takes you through his initial process of drawing out the silhouettes for a sci-fi character.
While doing my research for reference and inspiration I noticed the stark difference between an “old school” style of design for a sci-fi character and a newer, sleek design for a more modern style. I am taking my main influences from Dead Space, Moon, District 9, Alien, 2001: Space Odyssesy and even Bioshock to create a mix of ideas for a concept all it’s own.
Check below for the Silhouettes result and let me know which three I should continue on with!
This subject matter is one I have not delved into enough. This series will be a great way for you guys to see how to tackle a less comfortable subject matter and how to work through those initial struggles and see how much can be learned from stepping outside of your comfort zone. You may surprise yourself with how well at drawing a subject matter that your not use to. When I drew the creature concept art, I never drew a creature/monster style concept before, and now it is one of, if not my favorite piece I’ve ever done to date.
Below are some video stills from the different stages of this tutorial!
1. Starting off most of these silhouettes I fill in a solid black character outline and then use the eraser tool to create the inner detail
2. Continuing on with more of them, starting to include more dynamic poses
3. Added a touch of color to liven them up
So here are the final sci-fi character silhouettes, I numbered them and ask which three I should continue on with in the next tutorial!
First! I actually wated it allready on vimeo
I like 4, 6, 12
#13. Taking a brake from a hard day.
I like 7, 13 & 17
4, 12, and 13 would be my choice
5, 9 , 13 ,15, tho 9 and 13 are quite familiar so any of it would do, 5 and 15 also have similarities, but 15 is more like a alien (maybe augmented with some tech legs or so) and 5 is more like skinny robot(which would be quite interesting to model, i think).
P.S. : After this I’ll wait for a sci fi environment tutorial series, which would include usage of textures. Good day to you.
6, 10 & 13 are my favorites.
What’s with all the smoking? Are the people of the future finally going to realize politicians are deadlier than smoking the odd cig?
Anyway, I like 7,15 and 18.
4, 7, 13 are my faves.
#4, #8, #18
I wouldn’t say these are my favorite but if you plan to work on 3, I think these 3 offer good variety. One standing pose, one sitting and one action. Seeing 3 completely different designs will offer more insight, so I’m going to say 7,8, and 13. thanks for the cool tutorial!
no. 7, 10, and 20
10,15 and 19 would be my choices
#5, #16, #19
Really like the style in 15 and 16
5, 13, and 17
5, 13, 16.
1, 7, and 17
6, 12, 15. And I think it would be great if the char purpose was something other than war. That is what is so cool about Moon. Not an alien-war-scifi.
I KNOW, I love Moon so much, took me by complete surprise!
I like 5,7,16. Quick question, i’ve just started cg concept art and the silhouettes are kind of difficult for me. How long would you suggest to take on each of the silhouettes?
I would recommend going fast, if you find yourself slowing down and focusing on specific areas, then your spending too much time on it. Anywhere around 1-2 minutes is what I normally aim for!
Okay, that’s what I figured. Kind of like gesture drawing. Thanks Tim.
I think 5, 14, & 16. Those have kind of a robotic alien feel and with the robotic element, there’s a lot of room for imagination. Great tut by the way.
5 as like the indication of a robot, 13 as the sitting pose is different to the usual standing pose and 15 as it has a sense of anticipation as though the character is poised ready to do something
Hi Tim! Would you mind letting me to use one of your silhouettes as a modeling reference? Tho I’m still quite new to blender and I can not guarantee that I’ll finish that model, but I’ll try my best. If i’ll finish it i’ll post it here on the gallery.
Yeah of course with the credit towards CGCookie, we would love to see the results if you went ahead with modeling it!
I just recently watched moon a couple weeks ago. I thought it quite sad… BUT. I would love to see what happens After the end of the movie. The producers could easily make a Moon 2.
Apollo 18 is a great movie for basic astronaut designs and it’s almost as surprising as Moon, though not as good.
While watching Apollo 18, I experienced a temporary growth in my vocabulary, along with random muscle spasms while holding my remote, whereas my TV shut off momentarily.
I like 5, 9, and 13, just change 13 slightly to be more feminine. They are all different enough that they should show a variety of techniques.
Great tutorial! I really like all of them. I think you should continue with 8,10, and 15. Any idea when part 2 will be posted? Because I have a silhouette that I am very happy with, and looking forward to completing it. Anyways, great tutorial!
I think if you check back later tonight you will find a part 2 uploaded on the site
5, 15, 16
7, 10, and 20 are my choices!
This was fun, for some reason the sketches had their own ideas about what they wanted to be so not many came out as actual sci-fi, but i enjoyed seeing the scribbles take shape. Going to jump into the next tutorial and start colouring some in now!
Yeah this was fun for me to produce, glad you enjoyed them!
Like the Natalia tutorial, you timelapsed over the value shading, without explaining how its done. Can you at least direct me to another resource that can explain this?
Are silhouettes a pretty common technique with digital art? Do they help out a lot with learning form?
If so, then I need to re-tune my routine