Premise: Investigating Characters And Art styles

As suggested by my tutor, In order to establish what my characters look like I should gather reference images from art station and the interested in order to gather a greater idea. Firstly grab pictures I like and then picture which seem doable for the project. This way I can establish and art style. 

I decided that I wanted to focus on the cyberpunk world first in order to get a better understanding of what this world could look like. By researching Akira it taught me the importance of making believable characters which are products of their environment. Once I realise how I want to portray the character, I will then be able to use their design in order to influence the environment. 

Above are images I found which focus on a character who comes from a cyberpunk Japan. As the cyberpunk side is the villain in the story, I tried to find designs which reflect this idea. I also looked at ninjas as I like the sort of fighting style they have when portrayed in media and want to investigate this idea further. They also play into Japanese history being assassins for hire, which could be a plot point in my world building.

I found that the style I liked was this cell shaded cartoony art-style, similar to that of  Renaissance. This look leans a lot into its style in order to create interesting characters which stand out. It also blends a more realistic version of the character with cartoon, an effect which I feel fits the themes of my animation best. This way I will be able to portray characters who are believable to their environment. 

I then began drawing some ideas of my own using the research as influence. 

After drawing some initial rough ideas, I found that the design lacked purpose. I liked the Japanese elements however the overall design seemed far too overcomplicated to model in the future. I was planning on coming up with the idea first and then simplifying it to match the art style, however I was struggling to think of a compelling character which didn't look generic. I reflected on the films I watched in order to understand what it was about their worlds which made the cyberpunk genre compelling. 

I really liked Ghost In The Shell's philosophical take on the cyberpunk world. This featured robots as the focal point and their conflict with humans. For my story I want to reflect mans losing battle to machine, not realising that the world no longer belongs to them and it is only a matter of time before their are enslaved by machinery. The Japanese tribe in the mountains is the last stand against this. 

I found some additional concept art this time focused on robots and cyborgs with the idea that these people are being controlled by the machine. 

I then designed a more sinister character which takes the story idea of harvesting humans into the design. The character is meant to be a hunched over robot who is powered by a human it carries on its back. I liked the look of an emotionless monitor on its head as I felt it played into the themes of robots taking over. 

Having this idea in mind I wanted to take a step back and revisit the characters which influence me in order to understand what it is I like about their design. 

I found that I really liked this stylised long legged look which is scene a lot in Japanese anime. I also really like the style of the animated short from Love Death And Robots "Zima Blue". I will look into this style more. 

I drew three versions of the character in order to show it in different details. This was because I wanted it to maintain the minimalist style seen in Zima Blue. I added additional detail in order to make him fight the purpose of being a modified human. 

To fit with the stylized characters, I want my world to be a neon cyberpunk theme. After watching the film Paris 2054 Renaissance, it has shown me the importance light has on presenting a world to the viewer. Where Renaissance uses the absence of light to show the depth at which the world has been consumed by technology, I want to use overwhelming light to give off the effect of no escape from technology. It will be forever present within each shot as if engulfing the world.