Tri-Color Character Concepts

Back when I opened this blog up, I was mainly using it to show off some of my artwork when I didn't have my portfolio online yet.  I just needed a space to show to potential recruiters to say, "Hey, I can draw!"  Today's pictures are ones that I'm actually surprised that I did not post here back then.

One game project I worked on during my junior year of college was a space shooter game (i.e. games like Gradius or StarForce) where the player had to shoot using the primary colors of light: red, green, and blue.  After we decided that the game would occur inside a computer, I was tasked with drawing up some ideas for our hero.

The top page shows a few potential ideas we could have used, including a masked man on a surfboard with a paint brush.  Honestly, though, I really wanted the character to be some kind of flying paint bucket, as shown on the bottom page.  The game was computer-themed, and the paint bucket was not only a common application in paint programs for the computer (like MS Paint and Photoshop), but also the one that I thought at the time would yield the widest variety of ideas.  They ranged from just flying buckets with snouts to buckets carried by hand icons.  Eventually, I came up with the character in the bottom-right corner: Paint Boy.  Not only did the paint bucket form the basis of Paint Boy's body, but I also incorporated other painting program tools into his design: a pencil / crayon to act as his blaster, and the hand tool in order to hold the other colors when he wasn't using them.  This is the design the team eventually settled on.

We actually did make some decent progress on the game, though we only managed to make one level and didn't fully incorporate a boss despite the fact that I actually drew one.  Yes, I actually drew sprites for this project, and I was happy to be given that chance.  Will that be what I show off next week?  Maybe, I haven't decided yet.

If you like what you see, then let me know below.  I look forward to hearing some feedback.