Update

Well, it's been a while since I've updated but I have been busy.

I've been doing a number of painting tests to try to get to grips with the bamboo forest I have to make.

A quick bamboo painting to see if the character would sit well with the colouring. I prefer this theme of colour palette and I like how loose it is but I don't know how that will feel when it comes to animating.


another loose style getting a feel for colours.


In this next one I was experimenting more with using a wide range of greens, trying to add depth and get away from the flat look I was having. I think it's working better.


Same as above but I first tried it without lines. While I like the style I don't think it'll fit together with my characters. I feel it needs to have an outline since they'll be having one.


I tried this one using one shade of green and one textured brush. I wasn't too happy with how flat it looks.

Backgrounds

Sort of a mock up for what the finished film could look like potentially.
I decided to base it on a bamboo forest since it seems more fitting for the theme I'm going with for the Japanese feel I'm going for in the film.
In most of the pictures I'd looked at there were these lovely dashes of red in amongst the green and I wanted to try to recreate it in my backgrounds to add a bit of spice. Otherwise they would end up looking overly green.
I am a little worried about the red over powering the main characters but it might not be so bad once their moving around.
I do quite like my texturey background.
(do click on the picture to see it in full, for some reason i's making it blurry)

Background

A quick speed paint I did with the fox in a surrounding area. It started off as a study for the style I'd use but quickly ended up being more focused on colour.

couple more sketches.

Couple of extra sketches, one to show size comparison of my characters and to see if they'd suit each other. I'm a little worried still about if the fox looks too plain.

More sketches

A collection of character sketches I've done of my two characters in the film. They are a jumble of all my musings of different aspects of the characters.
The fox:



I've mainly been playing around with whether I should open the eyes of my fox since I was having worries about whether I'd be able to get expression across to the viewers. I still prefer him with his eyes shut and I think he will have them shut for most of the film, but he will open them at points when it's called for.
I was also playing around with facial markings, like removing the circles above his eyes and giving him eyebrows and giving him a stripe down his nose. I felt that maybe he looked a little too plain since I am intending for him to be white. I am still unsure whether the stripe on his nose will be red.
I also tried him being a traditional red fox but I prefer him being white.
At the bottom of the page I was testing out how the mask would look on him, and also I did a quick mock up of him being stone. I was testing to see if I preferred the mask to be stone coloured as well, but I think it's more noticeable for the viewers if the mask is white.

The dragon/statue:


This was sketches for my dragon character. I did have him fully designed out but because of changes to the story, I've had to start to think about what his face would look like underneath the mask since he'll be removing it now.
I have done a few different mask designs but I still like the one I had originally.
I also did a few quick colour tests to see what he'd look like with the mask on and off. At the bottom I also did a few quick body shape tests to see which would suit him better. I prefer him being more elongated.

Thumbnails

My story is finally straightened out and I've started to thumbnail my ideas. (click on a picture to see bigger)








There are going to be a few changes made to the thumbnails, mainly changes in camera angles, and at the end I'm going to alter how he struggles with the mask and the pose he ends up in.
A summery of the story in case the thumbnails were not quite clear:
The fox steals a mask from a statue but unfortunately the statue comes to life. The fox runs off with the mask but is chased by the creature. Not watching where he was going he suddenly falls over the side of a cliff and falls to the ground below. Spotting the mask he took he quickly moves over to pick it up and puts it on. Unfortunately the mask isn't what he quite expected and it turns him to stone.

The kitsune becomes a man

Kitsune are known for their ability to become human. This is where the next development in character came from.
This is yet another personal character that was created from my whole love of Kitsune.
About this time I had a number of possibilities for where my story was going to go, and decided to throw this into the mix as well.

I really liked the idea of him looking quite typically Japanese, I also liked the idea of him wearing a mask as well, in the shape of a fox face. I was also toying with the idea of his clothing giving him quite a bulky form, and I would like to push it further of his clothing making him even more shapely if I decide to keep with him.





























He does have a little lantern in his hair. I figured it would be handy for if he was moving around when it was dark.
Interacting with a fox, this did happen to spawn yet more story ideas. I'm terrible haha.











Action pose! Was trying to get a feel for movement, that and I had a hankering for drawing his clothing all swishy like.




























So thats as far as I am so far! My next plans are to concentrate on getting a story knuckled down and story boarded and to start work on backgrounds, as well as finishing up designs with the characters.
My story at the moment seems to be heading towards something along the lines of the fox heading to a temple where people worship the mask spirits. Once there he attempts to steal from one of the sculptures, which is the dragon mask. I'm guessing it would be a jewel or maybe he wants the actual mask? Well, the statue comes to life and escapes from the temple. The fox isn't so easily disheartened and sets after the mask, and thus a chase happens.
I'm still fiddling with bits here and there, and trying to come up with a decent ending. Some of which have been the idea that the mask forces the fox to become a mask spirit as punishment, and is forced to be a sculpture with them till he's summoned?
Or my lecturer was musing with the idea that his punishment was that he had to travel around the place telling his tale, and to take heed of trying to steal from the spirits, and that the story should be him telling this to the audience, through the form of a song (hence instrument playing) or something.
I was also playing with the idea of the fox going to destroy the mask spirit because he assumes he is evil, and thus chase scene occurs, but as the story progresses he discovers that the mask isn't evil, and that he's actually good, and nurtures the surrounding forest/creatures.
I'm still working on it and hopefully should have some updates real soon!
So please do check back soon.