Paul Windle Creative Art Studio- Placement Log

“Welcome to the team Asis. I’ve got a few challenges lined up for you.

Enjoy it and learn as much as you can. Good Luck.”

John Dyer

Director/Senior Artist/The Boss

Introduction Established in 1989, Paul Windle Creative Art Studio is home to a very special multidisciplinary team of illustrators and designers.

It is the studio of choice for the likes of Walt Disney Company, Warner Brothers and Lego amongst others.

Specialist Areas

Illustration

Concept art

Product visuals

Packaging illustration

Character creators

Brand identity

Work Examples

A selection of work from the Paul Windle team

Challenge One

Design a set of new chips for Felt’s new online BlackJack Game.

2D flat illustration renders of the final chips design...

CKJA C LA

B K

B

B K

B

B

B

K

10

K

5

CKJAC A L

CKJA C LA

CKJAC A L

K

20

K

CKJAC A L

CKJA C LA

Challenge Two

Disney approached us to create 2D illustrations of the character’s in their new show ‘Henry Hugglemonster’

1. Cobby The illustration Process...

1. Disney CGI render

2. Use render as a template

3. Blank linework

4. Illustrator coloured

2. Summer

Challenge Three Do a character design of myself

Pre placement attempt...

New attempt...

1. The Face Initial attempts

Lesson One Build the face

1. Plot basic shapes

2. Rough sketch

Listen mate, your doing it wrong let me teach you something...

3. Clean up

2. The Body Initial attempts

Bad proportion

Boring stance

Incorrect Details

Body Examples...

Good websites... http://bluechevrons.blogspot.co.uk http://cheeks-74.deviantart.com

Lesson Two Building the body

1. Look at existing poses for the body

2. Sketch the body using reference

3. Build up using shapes

Remember to always, build bodies using 3D shapes.

Preparing for Colour

1. Neat Sketch

2. Ink for sharp lines

3. Scan in and live trace using illustrator

4. Clean live traced lines ready for paint

Adding Colour 1st attempt

Wrong pattern Too dark

Restricted shading

Unmatching colour tones

Wrong colours (too dull)

Adding Colour 2nd attempt

1. Add block colours

2. Add shades (don’t be guided by the lineart)

3. Mask in the material swatches

4. Stuble- add grey mask and fade out

Challenge Four

Design a cowboy with a scene and a logo

Initial Ideas

Quick idea generation (favorites highlighted)

Development

Taking initial concepts further

Lesson Three Building faces in 3/4 view

1. Sketch basic 3D shapes

2. Add in the detail

Next step mate, lets make those faces look 3D.

Face Development

Converting the face from face view to 3/4 view

Initial sketch

Defining features

Rough sketch

Neat Sketch

Body Development

Unreferenced body posture

So...

Plan basic posture in poportion

Lesson Four

Making it look like a cartoon Do make features big and bulky, let lines breathe

Don’t make features too fussy and over detailed

Your over analysing, just keep it simple and don’t over complicate!

Final Linework

Adding Colour

The stages when adding colour

1.Greyscale lines. Then... channels-load channel selection-Inverse-Fill.

2. Add colour base (aids painting)

3. Add block colours

4. build up shades

Logo Design Initial idea generation

Development

Digital development of initial ideas

Too flat

Too boring

Final Logo

Generated in Soiidworks & rendered in Keyshot4

Scene Development Initial scene drawing

I think you could do with a little lesson in perspectives...

Lesson Five

A quick overview on perspectives

...High-eye level

...Low-eye level

...Mid-eye level

Ok listen up, here are a few tips...

Remember there are 4 vanishing points...

Scene Inspiration

Challenge Five

Do a character design for a boxer

Boxer Inspiration

Initial Ideas

Quick idea generation (favorites highlighted)

Face Development Going from flat faceview to 3/4 view

Initial sketch

Defining features

3/4 sketch

Body Development

Reference

Initial sketch

1st Development

2nd Development

Lesson Six

Pay attention to how clothes sit on the body i.e. creases & folds etc.

Pay attention to the smallest details. Trust me it will make your work stand out!

Final Boxer

Challenge Six

Disney approached us to do a series of product visuals for their new Animal Friends toy range

Product One: Nemo Teethy

This is the rough sketch of the product sent from Disney. Our job was to turn it into a nice visual

Neat-sketching

My first few attempts at redrawing the product

Attempt 1

Attempt 2 Your over analysing again, just don’t think about it too much...

Final Attempt

Product Two: Dalmation Click-Clack

Initial Attempts

Attempt 1

Attempt 2

Lesson Seven

A few tips when doing product sketches

Remember to bulid foundation 3D shapes first Keep features soft, It is a child toy Consider, what sits behind Add shadows

I think you could do with a few more tips

Product Three: Dalmation Chasing Ball

Initial Attempts

Dalmation Development

Attempt 1

Attempt 2

Attempt 3

Attempt 1

Attempt 2

Final Sketch

Product Four: Thumper High Chair Toy

Initial Sketch

Final Sketch

Final Render

On Reflection...

To conclude I have learnt a lot working at Paul Windle’s studio. I was basically going to work everyday and learning how to draw! I was taught some great tips along the way and worked with some great people. I learnt things as basic as how to begin a sketch right through to methods on how to color and present sketches. Away from the skill side of the job I also had a real eye opening experience into what I should expect if I was to pursue a career in illustration/animation.

Traveling to work wasn’t too much of an effort as the studio was literally round the corner from my flat in Newcastle! I enjoyed getting know the people in the studio, a cracking bunch of laid back Geordie lads who were always up for having a laugh in the office but could still meet very tight deadlines. Not to mention the lovely secretary Kathy who would always be there in the background making sure everything Is ticking over and was also in charge of the financial side of the business. Sadly she retired shortly before I Ieft.

I was taken for few casual drinks and meals throughout my time here. It was nice to get to know the designers outside of the studio and become part of the family. I was always made to feel welcome.

I was set several projects during my time here. I sat next to the head designer John and he gave me tutoring along the way.

I was given some very open briefs i.e character creations such as ‘design a cowboy’ and also briefs with very strict constraints i.e. product visuals for Disney, where only the final visual was required.

On reflection I required a lot of guidance along the way in the sense I wasn’t the best sketcher, so it was great that I got to sit next to John he pushed me a lot and taught me a fair few tricks along the way, particularly drawing methods. I was slow at the start so John set me very tight deadlines to improve my time management skills.

After seeing the level of skill offered by the studio this placement has inspired me to keep on pushing and developing my skills. It has made me realise the amount of fun and freedom you can have in illustration and character design. It has been a great experience and I have had lots of fun. Concerning my future career ideas, personally I would like to gain experience in as many areas as possible before making a decision on where I would like to specialise. However the skills I have learnt here especially the drawing and rendering methods are all transferable and I will be able to use them within any design career.

I was sent on my way with a brand new Pental mechanical pencil as a farewell gift (Thanks guys) and told to keep practicing!

“Well Good bye, I hope you’ve had a cracker and learnt a few things along the way. Good luck and Keep in touch.”

John Dyer

Director/Senior Artist/The Boss

The end...

Richmond House, Old Brewery Court, Sandyford Road, Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 1XG Tel: +44 (0) 191 231 4400 www.paulwindledesign.co.uk