As part of one of my modules at university, I've been working with a 3rd year, Jessica Mckay, to create medieval knights for her project, Knight Dragon. I was required to create concept art for two knights to be used in the film, and then create turnarounds of the two of them to be eventually created in 3D. As usual, I made numerous designs in Adobe Photoshop to see which ones Jess liked.
My first designs were very dragon-like in nature, and were almost fantasy themed in look. In the story, the knights worship a dragon that resides near to their village, so felt it was important to reflect the knights trust and respect of the dragon they worship within their armour. I created one design, then duplicated it and edited each one with different aesthetics. I liked these designs quite a lot, as they had a unique silhouette to them and looked quite imposing. Unfortunately, they weren't what Jess was looking for, as she was wanting designs that looked slightly more traditional. This meant I had to go back to the drawing board and rethink my designs.
The next few were a lot more traditional in design, but I wanted to have my own personal flair in the design. Thankfully, I had visited Leeds Armouries Museum a few years ago, and took many photos of the armour there. This acted as my main inspiration for these designs. However, I also wanted to keep the dragon element intact, so I added things like 'scales' to the armour as well. Jess liked these a lot more, and once she chose two, I got to work on the turnarounds so they can be created in 3D.
This first design was designed with many ridges to almost look like scales. I also knew that the colour red is important in establishing power and dominance, so I included it in his cape. He was the first one I designed, and I'm pretty happy with his design. I purposely created the knights in a t shape so that Jess' 3D modeller could easily replicate them in Maya. It was also important for me to avoid making the character too complex in design to make sure the rigging did not take too much time out of the production schedule.
This one is a slightly more bulky version of the first. I think this design helps in maintaining the consistency between the characters, while also giving him a slightly more unique look, particularly in the shoulder padding and the cape.
I am happy with the way these two characters turned out, and would be happy for Jess to use them in her project. I can only hope that the 3D modeller can successfully replicate these designs and in turn enhance them to truly represent my vision of powerful, dominant knights.
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