CONCEPT ART:

I've had a concept about a noble for a very long time. However, I never knew what to do with it. The idea about having "blue blood" started after I bought a new sketchbook early in 2oo8. I always have themes for every single sketchbook I buy, and I usually have different random colors for them, to code their chronology.

I hadn't done Blue yet, so I figured, why not? I started doodling in the splash page of the sketchbook, and the nobility aspect came into mind. "Blue Bloods" are usually the casual term for nobles, and thus, the idea of my thesis spawned from a single color.

I decided to give the title of my thesis a more exotic feel. I really loathe the English spelling of my favorite color, so I decided to backtrack one culture, to Old French; they spelled it: "bleu." I suppose this is where Bleu Cheese comes from. :]


VISIONS:

I wanted my character to look androgenous, to be more universal. I really hate gender definitions--it doesn't matter when it comes to important things in Life. So, my main character originally was a Prince, who was stuck in the palace with traditional dresses as royal garb. After leaving the Palace, he would've changed into a pair of shirt and pants, but still have the jewelry from the Palace on his ears, around his neck, and on his feet. Livius carried on like this for a very long time (approximately 1 year).

However, in late months of 2oo8, I encountered Rotoscoping for the first time. My final for a Flash class was a Prequel I made for Bleu Blood, and I realized that I wanted my character to look more like this. Before the final, I had an iteration of layering live footage of a neighborhood as a possible background. Sadly, it was replaced by a different feathery texture. I do want to try to revisit these methods, and it makes me rethink my medium for the film as a whole. One more thing that completely threw me off after my Animation Production Studio teacher saw the Rotoscoping, I received a suggestion to completely rework the animation to include both genders. I think this will take me to a completely different level that I have never thought of before.

ART:

"3 No's"--"See No King,"  "Hear No King,"  "Speak of No King."  

This watercolor was based on how I would feel if I was under the rule of a tyrant.  I think this is how Livius would have felt in the Palace.

Pencil.  First iteration of Livius, ever.

Pencil.  Second Iteration of Livius, slightly older.

Pen.  Livius version with both child and adolescent ages.

Pen.  Other versions of Livius.

Pencil.  "Crown Off."  Livius in his one of the final versions.  

Pencil.  "Cathedral."  Livius moping on a pile of riches.

Pencil.  "Road of Roses."  Livius in his fantasy environment.

Blue Colored Pencil.  "Livius looking out to Blue."  Livius as a little girl--I wanted to see what the main character would be like as a female.

Pen.  "Livius Dreaming."  Livius miserable even as he sleeps.  He is back to being a male character for now.

Watercolor.  "Blue."  A painting of what I thought the color Blue would be as a person.

Watercolor.  "Livius in Twilight."  The main character androgenous and dressed in a nightgown.

Watercolor.  "Livius Season:  Autumn."  Monochrome (blue-tinted) series of how I would have liked the second half of the animation to look like in "full color."

Watercolor.  "Livius Season:  Winter."  Livius getting older gradually as the seasons change.  Still bound, but making a decision, by taking his crown off.

Watercolor.  "Livius Season:  Spring."  Livius an adolescent at his prime, taking charge of his destiny.

Watercolor.  "Livius Season:  Summer."  Livius as an adult breaking the chains, his bonds of the Palace and royalty, finally achieving freedom. 

Watercolor.  "Livius:  A Blue Butterfly in the Deep Sea."  Livius getting lost in himself as he's trying to find himself.

Watercolor.  "Queen in Blue."  Not sure what I was thinking when I painted this, but it was between the main character being female again, or the mother, the Queen...

Pencil.  "Prince."  I was thinking of making Livius a female knight, kind of like a Joan of Arc.  I kind of like this idea, still.

Photoshop.  "Livius Rotoscoped."  As the title describes--See Rotoscoping Videos below.

Photoshop.  "Blue Boy."  The first digital iteration of Livius ever.

Illustrator.  "Livius Illustrator Test."  What the main character would look like in 2D.

Photoshop.  "Livius Chained to Duty."  The first finished digitally painted piece of Livius.

Photoshop.  "Livius Revisited."  The most recent digital painting.  I tried long hair on the Prince.

Maya.  "Grandfather Clock (I)."  Full view of an object rendered in 3D, inspired by Bleu Blood.

Maya.  "Grandfather Clock (II)."  Close-up view of the clock from the face, and to some of the decorations on the casing.

Maya.  "Grandfather Clock (III)."  Pendelum view of the clock.

Maya.  "Grandfather Clock (IV)."  Bottom view of the clock.

Collage (Photoshopped Google images).  "Livius:  Le Blue."  An interpretation of an androgenous noble in a Blue setting at the Palace.

VIDS:


The first Rotoscoped iteration of want I wanted for the Prequel of Bleu Blood.  Livius dreaming about the outside world in his isolated room.  I was debating on using live footage of neighborhood streets.... 

...Or, if I should Rotoscope that as well...  

...However, I ended up going with an abstract halo-like texture to create a daydream, self-reverie feeling.  The previous houses were too modern, and out of the fantasical context that Bleu Blood's world revolves around.