Digital painting for fun movie project

From simple sketch to digital painting. This project arose from a discussion with two youngsters aged four and seven.

Avid fans of - or should we say: experts in - all things: Batman, both of the youngsters are enthusiastic with pencil and paper, gaining great satisfaction from drawing. Exercising their imagination and developing their ideas skills in ways words don't support, whether written or spoken. As the young are apt to do though, they instantly become disheartened because they cannot, in the five minute timeframe they operate by, get anywhere near the standard of illustrations they see. Unlike any period previously, dishearteningly astonishing illustrations abound, easily accessible like never before - overwhelming for embryonic aspirations. It all feels so dauntingly unobtainable - ever-ever.

Above: initial sketch - a collaborative art direction activity combining different elements from several sketches. This has been extended both left and right.

The project was born out of desire to create something. Everyone got sketching, shouting out ideas and insisting on various elements, especially and specifically an essential component: rain. Once everyone had explored various ideas and decided aspects of each others brainwaves were "yeah, co-o-o-ooool" the final concept sketch was worked-on, combining the "co-o-oolest" bits from everyones drawings.

Above: in-progress detail showing a section of the panorama. The foreground roughed-in.

The aim of this fun digital painting exercise is in reality quite a serious one. It aims to get the youngsters involved in practical ways and importantly, it aims to let them see that their own ideas can end up as great art and all it takes is a bit of time and work. The kind of illustration they aspire to create is demystified by demonstrating step by step how simple and entirely do-able it all is - not so daunting, not so unobtainable afterall.

Above: the full panorama (in-progress) for use as a backdrop to a movie.

The finished backdrop will be published here. Credits to art directors and assistant artists: James and William.

Update: showing the working up of detail – the fence and the near buildings on the old quayside.

Updated: Dec 2011