Cucumber Quest and Colour

Cucumber Quest is one of my favourite webcomics so this post is gonna be fun!!! And because I love it so much, I wanted to give myself some extra time to write the post. I still don't feel 100% satisfied with it, but like, whatever. Sorry.

I'm going to try something different, where instead of reuploading the pictures, I just link to the site and the pages that I need.

Cucumber Quest is a webcomic by Gigi D.G. about a kid named Cucumber and his sister Almond. They need to defeat seven "disaster masters" and the Nightmare Knight himself, who has taken over the castle in the Donut Kingdom. Almond and Cucumber are joined by Princess Nautilus and Sir Carrot for their journey.

It's not that simple, but you get the gist, I hope?

Anywho, if it sounds like a video game plot, then I'm not surprised. CQ seems to take heavy influence from video games. Check out the character portraits page with its stats and the like. Come on.

And, while it's not exceedingly obvious just glancing at it, the art style seems to take influence from video games as well.

Cucumber Quest uses a lineless simplistic art style with strong colours.

Strong colours are important because lineless art absolutely needs that. If you don't have good colours in lineless art, then it doesn't work and there's no distinction between anything. If you have lines then you can lean on them if your values aren't clear, but with lineless? Distinct and good colours are a necessity.

Cucumber Quest uses flats and some subtle gradients, though mostly flats. This also means it uses lots of cell shading. Using flats is another reason it needs good colours because they're untextured and there are only so many colours can go in a palette.

The colour schemes can vary depending on what's appropriate for the situation and area. Almost every room/place has a distinct colour palette that helps accentuate the mood of the scene. Kind of like how worlds in video games also tend to have their own associated colours.


Here are some examples.

Some artists (read: me) get scared to change the colours of characters too dramatically, but not this one. Gigi is not afraid to have skin or hair become grey or blue or red or whatever in different lighting.

Having such strong colours also lets interjections stand out better. Let me explain.

Sometimes, panels focused on a character's reaction have different colour schemes compared to the rest of the page, which lets them stand out better and draw more attention / intensify the feelings. It's a very nice way of drawing attention to their reactions and intensifying their feelings.

Cucumber Quest doesn't actually have very complex backgrounds for every panel. You'd think I'd notice that, but I really didn't?? Instead, there are usually establishing shots and then the rest focuses on the character or dialogue. Backgrounds are usually simplistic gradients with vague shapes for these close-ups. Example. Though it's evident in some of the other pages I linked to as well. Doing this helps draw focus to the characters instead of a distracting background and saves time for the artist.

In terms of stylization, it's kinda anime-esque but has rounder shapes. It also has more simplistic limbs, sort of like a cartoon. And that works! They're cartoony and cute, but human enough for their actions to feel real. On top of that, all the characters have bunny ears instead of human ears, which is adorable. They used to have bunny noses too, but they slowly transitioned out of that.

The characters have interesting outfits as well.

For example, Princess Parfait's outfit is like food. The arm poof things are strawberries, and the collar and crown are whipped cream.

Creative, right?

Anyways! In conclusion, Cucumber Quest is a pretty webcomic! It has a unique and simplistic style whose colours strongly affect the emotions behind scenes. The art also has a soft crayon texture and the letters are hand done, which makes it feel more organic. I love Cucumber Quest's visual style. Please read this webcomic.

The Painterly Style of The Tale of Princess Kaguya

In terms of analyzing animation, I've only done western TV shows so far, so how about I subvert that by analyzing a Japanese movie?

The Tale of Princess Kaguya is a film by Studio Ghibli based off the Japanese folktale "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".

In the movie, a bamboo cutter named Sanuki no Miyatsuko finds a miniature girl within a bamboo plant. Believing her to be divine, he elects to raise her as a princess. There's more to it, but, like, you can read the folktale if you really want a synopsis of the story. Besides, being based off a folktale, it shares much of its plot, meaning that the main focus is on the characters.

I'm not focusing that hard on the characters though. Nope! I'm focusing on the style, and boy what a style it is. Seriously, what a pretty movie! And what a unique aesthetic!!

It uses only a few brief lines to define shapes and what appears to be watercolour to colour the backgrounds. Often, only splotches of colour are used to define objects, while the rest is not afraid to display the white of the canvas. This gives everything a very organic and painterly look as well as makes everything surreal and mythical.

On top of this, the linework for the characters is very rough and inconsistent. It varies in both thickness and opacity, and many of the lines are only incomplete segments. Thin lines are used against the hair to define the strands because there is no shading. Still, even the lack of shading helps to fit in with the painterly style of the movie. It lets them keep their palette more limited and makes the more "flat" characters stand out against the textured environments.

The character designs are interesting. While the typical "ghibli style" is used for the main leads, other characters have dot eyes and more exaggerated features. Their bodies are pretty simple, likely for ease of animation and to mesh with the style better.

The colours in general are fairly washed out and pale (but not in a bad way!), like the whole movie is made out of watercolours.

It's a unique and very lovely colour palette that I enjoy quite a lot.

In conclusion, this whole movie really feels like watercolour painting come to life! I love how it looks, and a surreal style like this is perfect for a folktale. The only downside I kind of see is that the style can make it difficult to get immersed in the movie, since you may get caught up on the unique style instead of the plotlines. I still think it's very beautiful and well worth a watch, however.

The Amazing World of Gumball - How it Blends Styles Seamlessly

The Amazing World of Gumball is a British comedy show by Ben Bocquelet that airs on Cartoon Network.

It's about Gumball Waterson and his "pet fish", Darwin (though he's more like his sibling), who get into all sorts of trouble at school and at home. It's kind of like a sitcom, if you added in the zaniness of cartoons into the equation. 

Anyway, it's pretty unique visually because it mixes in a bunch of different styles together, all at once.

"What? That doesn't make any sense???" you may say.

Well, here's the cast.

Yep! Like, every character is animated in a different way. We've got the standard 2D stuff, but we've also got CG and puppets and pixel art and some other things in there as well.

That's… pretty nuts, huh?

And while it's not the first case of blending styles together (some cartoons enjoy placing photographs as jokes), Gumball is an example of a show that really has them mesh together in a single coherent universe.

But how?

Well, let's start with something I haven't covered very much yet: backgrounds.

Despite being a cartoon, generally, Gumball's backgrounds have pretty neutral colours. Nothing too bright or unnaturally vibrant. They're also really really photo-realistic.

Doesn't this look like a photo to you? Heck, it might even be a photo. 

Now, let's move onto the way that the characters interact with these photo-realistic backgrounds. Because, let's be real: if they just went in and slapped the characters in and called it a day, then they wouldn't go together as well as they do in the show.

But how do they do it?

One word.

Interaction.

They aren't just placed as props over the environment. They physically interact with it like any other place.

And, on top of them doing that with their actions, the physics behind their bodies does the same thing.

At the school, if you look closely beneath their feet: not only do they have shadows, but they leave reflections against the tiles.

Those lockers look really shiny.

In terms of just being there, subtle gradients and lighting effects are applied to the characters themselves so that their own colours fit with where they're at. If the place they're in has dull lighting, the characters' palettes become darker as well.

The picture of Gumball on the couch is one example of a subtle lighting effect. Here's a more dramatic one.

And, if they're outside, the shadows beneath their feet become much harsher to reflect the sun's light.

Now, this isn't to say that seeing characters side-by-side can't be jarring. It can be.

 However, it does help that they all interact with the environment on a level playing field. It helps sell them as being in the same universe.

Plus, while the character designs are varied, they don't get too wacky or realistic. They're mostly pretty simplistic. Nothing too out of the ordinary, so nobody is too removed from anyone else.

That's all I have for now. I could go over more, but the way that characters interact with their environment is the main thing I wanted to cover in this post.

See you next Sunday!

AESTHETIC OVERVIEW - Ghost Trick

Ghost Trick is a game developed by Capcom, originally for the Nintendo DS, but it has been ported to mobile devices.

In it, you play as a man who has apparently been murdered. You don't actually know how or anything, because you are suffering from some laser-guided amnesia. Still, you want to solve the mystery behind your own death. Unfortunately, your first / only lead quickly ends up murdered, which kicks off the plot of the game.

In terms of gameplay, your character has the ability to manipulate objects in a minor fashion (these actions are known as "tricks"). But this is nothing in comparison to his rather impressive ability to rewind time to exactly four minutes before a person's death in order to save their fate.

The first thing I want to note about this game is its portrait art and the strong colours involved. Like, they have a pretty warm and varied colour palette and they stick with it through the whole game. Here are some portraits as examples.
 


 The colours are harsh against each other and also contrast heavily with the shading that is the same colour as the bold lines. Plus, because the shadows are so sharp and dark, it makes the portraits have something reminiscent of dramatic lighting. And, hey, guess what? It's a crime-solving game. Of course some dramatic lighting fits into the picture!

Some of the bold colours are so bright that they're almost neon, but they have the outlines to balance it out. This prevents it from hurting too much if you look at them for too long, and it gives your eyes somewhere to ground themselves.

In terms of general stylization, they're sort of cartoony and their hair can get kind of outrageous, but it's not too distracting, in my opinion. The people still look human with reasonable proportions, so the stylization isn't as hardcore as it could be.

Anyway, getting too real would kind of distract from the fact that you're a literal ghost with the ability to rewind time. Like, sometimes the game can get pretty serious, but it's important to remember that the premise doesn't exactly lend itself to "100% realism" very well.

I really like the portraits for this game. They're unique and fit the mood and their use of colours is pretty great.

Another thing to note is that the animations are buttery smooth and dripping with personality. If you want an example of character acting in animation then, well, here it is!

He's just full of personality as he tosses that stopwatch. This character also dances down the stairs; he's great and super fun to watch.  

Still, because the animations are so smooth, sometimes they don't feel as sharp as they could be and end up a little sluggish. But then again, this may have to do with the time-based nature of the game, where you need to do things as certain things are happening for puzzles. Animations that are too snappy or action that's too fast could make the game a frustrating and difficult experience.

I still really like them though.

 Anyway, in conclusion, I like the way that this game looks!  It's got an interesting premise, and the style is pretty great. On top of that, every environment is designed incredibly well so that it fits in with the gameplay. I'd definitely recommend checking out the game, even if the gameplay isn't for everyone. It's got a free demo on iTunes, so what are you waiting for?

 (sorry for the short blog post! I'd go over more, but today was super busy for me! Also I know this doesn't have to do with visual aesthetic, but this game's got a pretty rockin' soundtrack too!)

AESTHETIC OVERVIEW - Wander Over Yonder

Wander Over Yonder is a children's show that aired on the Disney channel and later Disney XD. It was created by Craig Mccracken. You may recognize him as the creator of Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

The plot of this show revolves around a kind wandering soul aptly called Wander, who wanders around the galaxy with his travelling partner, Sylvia. Wander generally solves problems by being exceptionally friendly, while Sylvia is more partial to using her fists. In their travels, they frequently butt heads with intergalactic conqueror Lord Hater, who Wander wants to become friends with, but who hates Wander back.

the animation is bouncy and energetic, and the colours are vibrant! (original gif by wanderin-over-yonder.tumblr,com)

While the colours can vary according to the required scene or mood, Wander Over Yonder's colours are typically quite vibrant. This fits with it being a show aimed at children as well as with its optimistic bright and bouncy mood.

Speaking of being bouncy, Wander Over Yonder's animation definitely fits the bill! It is incredibly energetic. It seems like every second, something is moving in an interesting way.

What else would you expect from a show from Disney?

The held poses have strong lines of action and clear silhouettes, and everything also moves in a very bouncy manner with a strong sense of timing. Also, the characters tend to be quite squishy and stretchy, which allows for even more pushed poses. The show also uses smears (the animated equivalent of motion blur, basically) quite liberally. These all contribute to its lively animation.

Wander Over Yonder has strong poses.

This show's writing is rapid-fire, which the animation style matches perfectly. you can watch this show and even miss a few jokes because sometimes it moves so fast.

The character designs are simple and round, to lend with making the animation more smooth. Round and squishy shapes make the springy animation look better. Complex character designs are also more difficult to animate, so simple tends to be better, especially for a TV show that moves as much as this one. The cartoony designs also serve to make it more, well, cartoony, which again works with the whole, "being aimed at children" thing.

A fun thing to note about the designs is that Wander compliments Sylvia perfectly. They've got complimentary colours; Sylvia is bottom-heavy while Wander is top-heavy; and they literally fit together like puzzle pieces when they hug,

And don't think that they don't hug often - they hug a lot!

The animation and colour design both fit this show well, as if you took a picture book and brought it to life. I think it would be a pretty different show if it had a different aesthetic.

I really enjoy the visual style of this show, especially the animation and how bouncy it all is. The colours and poses and character designs are fantastic, in my opinion. I didn't even cover everything in this post! For example, it does experimental things too - one episode, The Breakfast - features a split-screen the entire way through! Seriously, I'd recommend watching it for the fact that it's basically an eye-candy factory alone,

Anyhow, thank you for reading! Until next time.

OBLIGATORY INTRODUCTION POST

Hey, what's up? My name's Lara and today I'm going to be explaining what I plan to do with this blog.

WHAT IS THIS BLOG?

In this blog, I'll try to figure out how things such as different colours and different styles can affect media.

Why does it work? What makes it appealing? Because these things can have a huge effect on what you're perceiving without you even noticing.

It says analyzing aesthetic, but I really mean analyzing visual style. I'm mostly planning to do animation and video games, but I might drop in a movie analysis or an illustration analysis. We shall see.

Send in suggestions, if you'd like.

BUT WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?

Well, I'm an artist. I want to improve. One good way of improving is observing other people and what they do.

That's what I'm going to be attempting here.

Please keep in mind that I'm not a professional. As I said before, I'm just a student. My analyses will mostly just be how I personally noticed that the style affects things—you might have another idea or different thoughts that are certainly also valid. Maybe you can share them in the comments?

Anyway, thanks for reading. Next post should be up on Saturday or Sunday!