Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.” Jack Sparrow

This first week was about concept design and research, which I really enjoy doing. Actually its pretty friggin' cool! I really liked watching the Gnomon DVD about illustrating Dinosaurs. The artist had this electric eraser which he used to “draw” with. When drawing the teeth on the Dinosaur head he erased into the image creating whiteish teeth. Then added more detail with pencil. That was a technique I have not seen before.

After watching the Gnomon DVD I thought that some sort of instant impartation of skill and knowledge had come upon me. I went home and tried drawing a dinosaur head like the one on the DVD … nothing happened I created my usual green monster resembling some what like Rex out of Toy Story.

*pencil snap*

Research is fun, especially about things you like. For me I like flying vehicles, weapons, action figures cartoons etc. So naturally I collect information about them. I have several books on Aviation, guns and how to draw books and heaps of images off the net. Research is where I get my mental library from. When I draw from memory I think back on all the times I saw it whether it be on TV, Internet where ever.

This week We have To design the interior of the Inn From A Grimm's Fairy Tale “The Three Surgeons”. I started from the outside and then worked towards the interior. I wanted to know what building looked like on the outside before I seeing the inside. First, I quickly sketched silhouettes of the some possible Inn's. This helps me get the general shape. Then I can work on the detail or the inside of the shape later. I was not familiar with drawing Inn's so I checked out the Internet for image references. My Googled words were Pub, Inn, Tavern, Old Pub, Old Inn , Old Tavern. Here are some links

http://www.pentagoet.com/passports-pub.html

http://www.bolton.org.uk/manchester.html

http://www.joyce.whitchurch.btinternet.co.uk/norman/pix.htm

http://www.theostrichinn.com/

I'm not sure what the sites were but they had the images that I was looking for.

My first initial sketches. Making the Inn as if it had a life. I wanted this Inn to have a story of its own. It has been out in the weather for years, had different owners, had been patched up or repainted. All this would take to make a building have character. My parents comment on old Queenslander houses has having character. I thought it odd for a house to have character at first. I can see their point now.

Here are more detailed thumbnails. I was playing with the idea that the roof would be the shape of a hat and the windows and door could look like eyes and a mouth. Because the story “The Three Surgeons” is pessimistic in nature I thought that

the whole environment would wreak darkness and magic. With this in mind I started to put masonic signs and motifs on the building. I didn't want to go to far that it would look like a witch doctors house but just enough to tell that the residents were superstitious.

Here are two final renders. I finished the building that looks like a church first. I liked the imposing size and crookedness but I sensed that I might have gone to far with the 'evil'. So I finished a second one and it looks to like I have gone to far in the other direction. The soft rounded roof and friendly looking size didn't fit the description of a Grimm's fairy tale.

Disclaimer “Come On Inn” was something my brother thought of.