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- James Tarleton
James
Tarleton
Kintsugi
Migraines are a common occurance in my family and their constant presence can be overwhelming to deal with.
This project was inspired by the desire to convey that pain in a unique and visually interesting way, so I looked to the traditional Japanese pottery crafting method of Kintsugi.
The character in the project is an amalgamation of different insects with visually interesting characterists – specifically the Assassin Bug, the Trilobite Beetle and an Ant.
Macrophotography images of insects showcase the truly alien feel that they have and I felt like a scaled up insect the size of a human might be a horrifying thought but despite its inhuman form, the character’s body language of clutching its head in pain reflects an expression of suffering.
The model was made in Z-brush, retopologized in Maya and textured in Substance Painter, the final environment renders were captured in Unreal Engine while the character renders were captured in Substance Stager.
This project was created under the Game Art and Design course but I personally wanted it to be simply an art piece conveying a sad truth that people can be worn down and broken by their own bodies.
Drake's Hoard
I love fantasy and being able to make something from scratch is nothing short of magical in itself.
For this project, I wanted a confined cave space that was lit internally and focused on one focal point – a drake, sitting on its pile of gold and treasure.
There is an ambiguity to the drake itself, is it alive or simply a statue meant to scare away trespassers?
I wanted it to be influenced by the cave around it, its skin turned to stone and wet from the dripping cave walls.
Abandoned Lunar Colony
This project was part of a brief to design an abandoned lunar colony but I didnt just want to set the colony on our moon, rather an alien moon.
The feeling I wanted to encapsulate was an abandoned fuel depot with large pipes and fuel tankers lining the place.
There were two main reasons as to why it was abandoned in the first place, an meteor impacting close by – destroying the main fuel lines and an alien fungal outbreak coiling around every building – spreading its spores.
The art style I wanted to go for was a retro-futuristic aesthetic, with curves and straight lines appearing in many of the buildings.
The initial plan was to model the interior of one of the buildings but due to time constraints, I opted to focus on the outside environment instead.