Two games that have recently caught my eye.

APB (All Points Bulletin)

APB is an online urban themed multiplayer game that has you choosing between two factions: Enforcers and Criminals. Players can then form sub-groups within these factions as they fight, do missions and gain money.
What has drawn me to this game is its character art work, produced by Arnold Tsang. Arnold is an artist i have been following on Deviant Art for some time now, and it was only recently that i found out his character work was for the APB.

(Arnold Tsang's Gallery)

Arnolds work has really influenced me over the past few years, especially his colouring technique which (i adore) im now trying to clamp down on.

What impresses me a lot about Arnold's art is how he only uses details that count, details that will help add to an image and not just to make it look "cool" or "pretty". He achieves the wow factor through logical placement and bringing to our eyes the essentials.





The theme and style between APB and our project are very similar, and as a result Arnold's work has been a major reference point for me when it comes to my character design.


A lot of critique i get with my concept work is that its hard to see how my sketch would look when created as a 3D model.


Here Arnold's 2D render has been near enough perfectly replicated as 3D model, you can clearly see how every bit of detail has been transferred across, and as a result ended up looking like the original artwork.

This is a great skill to have, to be able to produce 2D work that shows exctly how the character would look in a 3D space.

EDIT: I just got a reply from Arnold via email about the time he sets aside for these characters, this is what he said:

"For the APB characters, from beginning to end, I would say 3-5 days."

So with this in mind, i will a lot myself 3-5 days dedicated to each characters creation.

I've added this video because im simply stunned by its customisation abilities. Even if we arent using a customisation element in the project, this has given me numerous ideas for character design and 3D modelling.

• - The addition of veins
  
• - Ideas for creating tattoo's
  
• - Body reference
• - Hair styles.

CQ