the brief
For background information regarding thumbnail competition and the expectations of what must be included within the thumbnail, that have been clearly outlined in the brief along with visual references outline including the original artist of reference image seen on the left.
character design
Going from the brief, I started by creating my version using my unique style to make the character outline. By blocking putting the character in Photoshop and being able to create a dynamic pose I wanted him to be shown in.
Thumbnail Development
Thumbnail Outline
Following on from creating the character design then came down to making the general composition of the thumbnail of everything sketched out again using the brush strokes, to create my interpretation of the official art style seen in Japanese manga art of different line thicknesses in certain areas to give the appearance of perspective.
thumbnail Flat Colours
Then by blocking out the colours of the entire piece & central characters and making sure the colour pallet contrasts enough within the composition.
thumbnail detailing & Shading
Following along by working back on the characters with detailing, highlighting and adding shading into the design, and ensuring that all the light sourcing is coming from one direction. Before sectioning off the background, which references all the areas that were played during the length of the video/ stream in snapshot moment style. This includes adding a white stroke around the creature and character designs to allow them to look more lifted from the image and fill in that gamer aspect that reflects the style.
character outlining & background development
Before ultimately finishing the piece by changing the creature outline colour close to a dark version of the section colour and finishing rendering the background with the after and other key background visuals
Final outcome
When developing the final thumbnail, I added a few additional details to the background to give the finishing touches to allow the scene to feel complete, before going over and ensuring there were no errors and blemishes.
