Loughborough Station!

The second assignment for visual design leads us to Loughborough train station, an old place that seemed not to be in use, although we were told trains were active on tracks throughout certain times of the day. This turned out to be much more exciting for me than the parks we visit because of the change from natural environment to hard surface man made constructions. The station had a workshop that sat further down the tracks, with many old (what looked like) steam engines that were in repair or maintenance. It was great to get up close to get a real idea of their materials and scale. I personally really enjoyed this place, though I didn’t think much of it then, I have come to realise that it was also a perfect place to get surface textures for 3D work; dammit brain!! 

I did some quick thumbnails on sight, very quick mark making to get achieve a better understanding of the trains in perspective and what type of environments they sit in. Though it wasn’t perfect weather the outcomes helped provide a starting point. After going through my reference images I moved on to using marker and paints with a prominent focus on the trains themselves, I felt that to achieve a decent final piece the perspective will have to be as accurate as my ability will allow so I practised that here. It wasn’t all too difficult, but it brought reassurance that I am learning more and more, kind of like repeating a task over and over until you know it inside out, and then repeating it a few more times. I must say I always stay away from acrylics or any sort of paint but after looking at 70’s and 80’s sci artists such as Syd Mead, John Harris and Ralph Mcquarrie and their outstanding abilities before digital painting even existed, I felt I needed to do some traditional painting, even if it was quick mark making. 

After doing this, I began digital colour studies to assist my final, though none of the thumbnails here made the final; it was a great way to understand the existing colours in the area and the lighting of the exterior studies. The final went well but it was a little rushed as I had to move on with other work, I may go back in to add more detail but for now I will call it finished. A good weeks work for learning basic vehicle forms and hard surface lighting.