Hello buddies, this is Sergio Ordóñez from SOSFactory and this time I'm going to talk about my workflow used to design mascots for websites. This process in this article was described in real time as I created the designs. Let's look at this more closely.
Mascot Design In Real Time Order - the SOSFactory Way
Sep 16th in Articles, Designing, Drawing by Sergio Ordóñez
Introduction
This time I wrote this post as the job was being developed. This way you’re going to see how the order is developed, from the first sketches to the final result, I hope I won’t miss anything… What stress!
Also, notice this is not a Photoshop tutorial where I explain everything in depth (for that I already wrote a really detailed tutorial about mascot design in Photoshop). My goal here is to show the way I work. Below is the final design I did for Mafia Death.
About the Client
I want to keep your attention, so to give it a mysterious touch, I'll just drop some info:
- Client: Mafia Death, an online game based on mafia stories.
- Order: Design of five characters and design of logotype. The characters must work separately and jointly.
Descriptions:
- The Boss: The family’s chief, he only has to raise his eyebrow and you are a dead man. He is not very talkative, not specially strong physically… His better weapon is his brain.
- The Bodyguard: He is the brawny of the team, the one who fixes the loose ends. His favorite sound? The crack of a breaking neck. If you notice him parking in front of your house, you have less than 10 minutes to make your last will.
- The Latin-Lover: He is in charge to negotiate the important deals. A smart guy, attractive, athletic, with a fine taste for clothing and women, latin appearance and charm. He has a weakness for blondes and is quite independent. If you go out at night with him, tell your parents you won’t arrive home before noon.
- The Girl: Only her sensuality matches her wickedness, she is cold and calculating. She is a precision weapon. She succeeds both between men and women. The last one who mentioned her affinity with Angelina Jolie is dead.
- The little mad guy: His slogan is: "Surviving is irrelevant, what really matters is how many ones you can annihilate". His mind is so insane that he is only useful in desperate missions. Joe Pesci fan. One more important thing: Don’t ask about his scar.
Let the show begin!!!!!!!!!
Summary
- Sketching the First Three Characters
- Sketches of the Rest of the Team
- Scene Composition
- Cleaning the Sketches
- Inking the Characters
- Coloring The Boss
- Coloring The Latin-Lover and The girl
- Coloring The Little Mad Guy and The Bodyguard
- Final Illustration
- Closing Words
Day 1: Sketching the First Three Characters
I love Mafia films, so I didn’t need to look for any references and we directly went for the sketches. Mi idea was to find a mid point between the elegance of “The Godfather” and the modernity and daily look of “The Sopranos”.
I asked my friend Miguel Ruiz to help me with the sketches, I sent him descriptions for each character and the image below is what he sent me back.
The first thing that hits you in the eye is the style, it is not the usual SOSFactory style. But don’t worry, because in the end everything will match. What really matters now is the character´s attitude, their pose, facial expression, the clothing… that each character transmits what it must transmit (have a look to the descriptions at the beginning of this post):
- The Boss: I think this one is great, it is exactly what we need. He has a relaxed pose but transmits a lot of strength by his look. His legs look a bit short to me and his waist is a bit wide, but it is an excellent starting point.
- The Bodyguard: I think this character is quite good too. I’d like to put all the characters on a horizontal line so I’ll have to modify a bit his right leg, which is a bit short. The hands pose doesn’t satisfy me, and I have to work a bit on the left arm musculature too. The face looks perfect to me.
- The Latin-Lover: This character is going to need quite a lot of work. I like the pose but it’s too lateral, there is very little space left for the chest, so it won’t look good. We don’t have place for the gun either, so we’ll put him in a ¾ pose, a little more frontal. I don’t like the feet pose at all, we’ll put them in a 90 degrees angle. The face has to be retouched too, I need him to be more attractive.
Summary of the day: I like the sketches, they have to be improved technically, but they transmit the proper attitudes, specially the first two ones. The third one has to be almost completely redone.
See you tomorrow!!!!!!!
Day 2: Sketches of the Rest of the Team
- The Girl: From this character I like the facial expression, but she looks too classical. I’d rather something more modern and sensual, I think we’ll have to make many changes.
- “The little Mad Guy”: I like his attitude, but technically it’s quite improvable. The hand of the gun is too short; the hand that holds the cigar is too close to the body, we’ll separate it to make the pose clearer; the waist is too wide, it has to be slimmed a bit. He looks too young, I need an older character.
Summary of the day: We already have 5 character´s sketched, the first 2 ones are good, for the rest I’ll make many changes. If I had time I would have made the sketches myself, but because of the circumstances (I’m really busy) the investment was worth the effort.
Tomorrow I’ll make the scene composition. Regards!!
Day 3: Scene Composition
We already have all the team members, now we have to line them up looking for a good composition. I think the central character should be the Boss, the Bodyguard on his right (his right hand man), on his left the negotiator (completing the trio of important characters), by his side will be the girl (we add a bit of sexual tension) and the shortish guy on the opposite side to balance the composition.
Summary of the day: We already have the scene composition, together they look very promising, much better than I expected. From now on I will retouch each character.
Let’s have fun!
Day 4: Cleaning the Sketches
In this step, I try to fix the stuff I commented on from Day 2, I use my Wacom Cintiq and Photoshop, from this point everything I do is digital. I use old sketches, references from other designs or photos, I draw once and again until everything is well defined. Under each drawing you can find the corrections we talked about in Day 2.
The Boss: I made his legs longer, I reduced the waist a bit, I added some details to his suit, I defined the volumes a bit and I retouched the face.
The Bodyguard: I mainly worked on the torso. Notice that I lowered his arms to make his face clearer. I retouched his left arm and I corrected a bit the tallness of his legs.
The Latin-Lover: This character is almost completely redone. I made a little more frontal pose and I lowered his arms to gain some space in the chest area. I drew his legs in a smarter pose, and I gave him a more attractive face.
The Girl: From this character I only kept the facial expression. Luckily I had a sketch I hadn’t used before, and it fit quite well. Now she’s much more sensual and has a more modern look. I used Angelina Jolie as a reference.
The Little Mad Guy: I also changed this character almost completely. The arm that holds the gun was too short so I separated it a bit from the body. I separated the gun with the cigar too, this way the silhouette is much clearer. I stylized the pose with a narrower waist and separating his legs (a much more active pose), I added a clearer scar and a more pronounced chin.
Summary of the day: The first two characters were easy to correct, from the third I re-drew them... Everything is going as I expected.
Let’s continue tomorrow :)
Day 5: Inking the Characters
We already have all the characters ready, now it’s time clean the lineart. I entrusted this to my buddy Carlos Gomez, he’s very clean at drawing. He draws everything with pencil and then I ink his lines and I retouch them until everything is perfect, you can see the progress below.
Click the image below to see a bigger "step by step" image.
I already explained a lot of things about digital drawing in other tutorials, so I wont repeat it again. As you can see in this video there is no secret tips, just practice.
Summary of the day: After a week of vacation in Berlin, I’m back to work. The drawings are ready for the coloring, this is gonna be really fun.
Regards!!!
Day 6: Coloring The Boss
As you surely know, the color is my speciality, it's what I like best and the part I spend more time at. I usually color with a cartoon style, with very bright colors, but in this case I think that more moderated colors will fit better, funny but mysterious, with very contrasted dark tones.
I made a first version with cold colors, it looks OK, but I think that with warmer colors, and more “worn out” tones, it matches better with the theme. Don’t think I colored it all again from the beginning, I used the Photoshop correction tool (Command + B) and I added a bit of Cyan and Green. Easy, isn’t it?
I already did a tutorial about digital color, so I wont repeat everything again, instead you can see how I work in this video tutorial below.
Summary of the day: after many hours of testing, the color looks great, the challenge is now to compound the scene to make the 5 characters work as a whole.
Tomorrow, more!!
Day 7: Coloring the Latin-Lover and the Girl
Now that I have defined the color palette I can work faster. The characters still look good to me separately, but too laden when I put them together. That’s because I decided to soften a bit the colors, here goes the second character - ready!
And here we have the girl. She looks great but we have a problem. The most eye-catching color range is the one on the right, but the more coherent with the rest of the characters is the one on the left. My choice would be to sacrifice the character for the sake of the illustration, but the client doesn’t agree... We’ll see what happens.
Summary of the day: We have already finished the most difficult part, to choose the color ranges, so I’m going quite fast and I’m feeling comfortable. I expect that as I continue working the color will be improved.
Let’s continue tomorrow!!!
Day 8: Coloring the Little Mad Guy and the Bodyguard
Alright mates, I finally finished all the characters :)
I’m specially proud of the last two ones, they are exactly as I imagined them at first. Unfortunately, I only achieved this from the third character (although the first ones are not bad at all). Notice that these characters look good separately, but because of the softer color and a less contrasted source of light, they are more harmonic and will look better when we compose the scene.
The worst part of this character was the musculature... Ufff!!! But it’s finally looking good. I also corrected the position of the hands.
Summary of the day: The last two characters were beautiful, quick and fun to make, I finally got it. After five characters with this color style, I think I can handle it, this will be very useful for me in the future.
Day 9: Final Illustration
At last, the great day, after many hours of work I can say the illustration is finished. I made some color corrections to unify each character. Click the image below to enlarge.
Summary of the day: As I expected, I had to make some adjustments to join the characters. I’m quite happy with the result and the client too. So another good piece for the SOSFactory portfolio.
Closing Words
Well mates, I hope it was useful and fun to read, I did my best. If you like this stuff I'm sure PSDTUTS will invest more to have me writing for you again, so push the comments hard. Of course, if you have any questions I will answer with pleasure!
Thanks to David from Mafia Death for giving me permission to share this info, please give him some love and sign up to play his game.
Sergio Ordóñez on the Web: SOSFactory is my portfolio, SOSNewbie is my blog, sergitosuanez is my username on Deviantart, and 00SOSNewbie00 is my username on YouTube.
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Alvaro Guzmán September 16th
absolutely awesome! thanks for this!
curtis allen September 16th
awesome work guys! Keep up the good work.
insic September 16th
its second time i saw SOS stuff here. and it really awesome
Brent Nelson September 16th
Cool process. Great helpful videos as well.
accessoire September 16th
Lately the tutorials began to become more worst but this one is definitely a great tutorial!!! Thanks can’t wait to read it :)!!!
Yonu September 16th
Another great tutorial. Thanks!
NaldzGraphics September 16th
wow!!!.sergio rocks!!!
Daagen September 16th
I loved it. Not something I will be trying but it was a fascinating read and a great insight into the work of a very talented fellow.
Madriaza September 16th
Absolutly brilliant.
Sergio: how many hours per day do you work on these?
anjum121 September 16th
thank very good
daniel September 16th
brilliant work here!
puffgirl September 16th
Thank you!
diesel September 16th
That was amazing….so much more depth than I have ever….woah….I…..I’m blown away.
Paul Roberts September 16th
great tutorial! great style! back to top quality tuts again!!!!
Ben Jacob September 16th
Envy you !!
Awesome works guys ! Keep Amazing us..
Shane September 16th
fantastic stuff. thanks for posting.
macias September 16th
wow… SOS factory kicks azz… and thx 4 great videos….
Mr Kuzio September 16th
I don’t have any word to tell my sensation… !!
This guy is really skilled. I love his “hand”.
Hey, Sergio Ordóñez, now i’m your fan!
Rahsun September 16th
That is fan-freakin-tastic. Keep up the good work!
Kriesi September 16th
Very nice insights once again. If some of you are not sure if you want to work with sergio and his team let me tell you: I already had the pleasure (completly different direction, was for a running event for kids) and we got a fantastic mascot in a very short time for a really fair price.
Best Regards
Christian
andi September 16th
Amazing work
Lori Cole September 16th
This was a fantastic tutorial - full of depth and breadth and color. It was nice to hear the decisions and changes made in the design as it progressed.
Mason S. September 16th
Totally badass work
amfis September 16th
ASOM!
Quan September 16th
Fantastic!!
Grafiko September 16th
Wow, great tutorial
DNG. September 16th
I’ve been following ur blog a few months now.. U remain awesome!
Joachim in Oslo September 16th
I stopped drawing many years ago because of talented guys like you… lol
Manuel Minino September 16th
cool!
Qbrushes September 16th
Awesome colours, i love the way it all blends in so well.
Mohammed September 16th
just out standing!
Lawrence77 September 16th
Drawing is not so easy to teach you through tuts…
Anyway this final outcome is very neat…
Johnny September 16th
wow, that was an incredible post. great job, and amazing outcome!
PrettyKitty13 September 16th
Thanks so much for adding this, and linking it on dA, this was VERY in depth and got me stumped on how you changed the characters, like when you/the client claimed what to change, it stumped me on HOW you was going to do that XD
This helped me a lot. Especially the colors, how you said the girl would look right with the characters, but the other one was so eye-catching.
Beautiful job.
Make Design, Not War September 16th
Great tutorial - I got stumped at step 1, hehe, but I’m sure with the starting illustration this workflow would shine - Still, it was super helpful to see how you go from sketch to final product - thanks!
Sergio Ordóñez September 16th
Hello guys, first off thanks a lot for so much love, its much appreciated.
Kriesi: thanks a lot, Im hoping to see the printed stuff of that event.
Madriaza: Im not sure how many time I spent per day. I usually spend around 10h per character (3-4h concept, 2h inks, 3-4h colors).
Lawrence77: completely indeed, I cant teach how to draw, really there is no secret tips… its just practice and practice.
Well buddies, back to the work, if anybody have more questions I will reply as soon as possible
Cheeeeers!!
Sergio
oh my GOD ! September 16th
I like it so much I even tried to sketch the characters. Great job.
Shawn September 16th
Wow~
It’s cool.
Eduardo September 16th
Sergio thats great I love to see your workflow I’ve learnt lots from your work This tutorial is really good. I have a question. Aside from the sketching and planning of the characters how much does it usually take to color each character? This being the final color render and lineart coloring. Miguel Ruiz did a great work too!
starlightz September 16th
SERGIO ROCKS!!!
Honour Chick September 16th
wow… great comics.
Lucas Loyola September 16th
OW is too much for me :O
Adapter September 16th
The workflow is great…
Another inspiration…
Tnx PSDTuts & SOS Factory for sharing & posting this one.^^’
Matt September 16th
Too bad the client aped your illustration on their main page!
Finn4life September 16th
http://www.mafiadeath.com/r/4286.php
great work join upits a great game
Dainis Graveris September 16th
It’s my dream to sketch like that - I will try to do some of the tutorials You listed, to get better
Thanks! Very nice mascots!
Johnson Koh September 16th
Thanks for sharing. I’m TOTALLY IMPRESSED
Niklas September 16th
Looks soooo good. Wonderful work! Brilliant!
Dan September 16th
Very nice work indeed. One little nitpick though, the small guy. In the original drawing it was clear that he had the cigar in his mouth and was either about to take it out, or in the act of putting it in. It’s all fine and good that you moved it away so as not to detract from the face, but you seemed to have left the original line that arched around the the cigar. Other than that though, beautiful work.
Gyvulius September 16th
This tutorial just shows that you need to work, practice and work again and work and more practice, just to stimulate all your imagination, to make your hand an “expert”. Brilliant tutorial that gives me inspiration and makes me work harder!!!
Rijalul Fikri September 16th
fun to read
angeloff September 16th
Incredible drawing :). I like The Girl the most
fodcj September 16th
amazing!
Adel September 16th
U have no idea how much this is inspiring me.
Thank you 4 this
I can’t ever get enough of u guys…. always hungry 4 ur new
Mark Abucayon September 16th
I like this post, I really love it keep sharing guys.
Dustin September 16th
Amazing. Boss looks the best
JPH September 16th
Wow. Awesome.
tonzy September 17th
very nice ndeed!
cc September 17th
ooooh yeahhh!! first really impressive tut here on psd. i want to see more stuff like this here!!!
hvdesigns September 17th
excellent write up, and those characters are something special
http://www.hv-designs.co.uk
Kris September 17th
Your an amazing Talent, and one to be appreciated! Good work, and thank you for the inspiration and the techniques!!!
tanicos September 17th
this is really awesome…what is more awesome is that you have revealed the way to make it!
good work
T-Ravis September 17th
Great work and would ove to see more. I think what you are doing here is great. It has instpired me to once again venture into the digital art relm.
sasidesign September 17th
wow amazing…
it is very Incredible man!..
socoduce September 17th
COOL!
Philo September 17th
Great Tutorial! Very Nice Outcome!
Knoxville Website Design September 17th
As always impressive. Thanks for sharing your “secrets”.
BlastBalastik September 17th
Amazing.
No words.
Mike Smith September 18th
You have got to be the most talented mascot designers I’ve ever seen. AWESOME work!
Thank you for sharing a tutorial like this. Inspiring.
.a September 18th
simply amazing and inspiring. will be sure to play mafia death when i get the chance.
bookmarked!
Photoshop Brushes September 19th
Two words: awesome tutorial !
Joefrey Mahusay September 19th
Cool Mascot, great using of color effects.
cLaK September 20th
I love the work of this guy! I know him years ago and Im impressed with his work!
Phil September 22nd
Amazing artwork and a fantastic tutorial with great vids, thanks!!
Zach LeBar September 23rd
PLEASE! More like this! More in this style, by SOSFactory, and more in this style of tutorial writing.
Kichigai-san September 24th
Superb, i just wanted something like this for my site redesign! Thanks, now my designer get to work =)
Mike September 25th
Insic, you’re insanely cute :P.
Rick September 26th
An absolutely brilliant tutorial… but did you notice that your Latin Lover and Body Guard have three fingers plus thumbs, while The Little Mad Guy and The Girl have four plus thumbs?
wenwen September 26th
so good! i had never saw this!
i want draw a cute dinosaur.
if you can offer some advice,it will help so much!
i conceive some figures,like skee dinosaur,fishing dinosaur,sleeping dinosaur,shoveling dinosaur,and so on.
but,i can’t holds the face.
i am a foreign student,i feel shame to ask you.
but there is no wonderful teacher like you.
i just try using my pool english.
if you have no time,thanks all the same.
Sergio Ordóñez September 27th
Hello again buddies, thanks a lot again for all your kind words, its much appreciated
Rick: sometimes I do 4 fingers and sometimes 5 fingers hand, but you are right I didnt realize It.
Wen Wen: my friend, keep practicing, no other secret.
Cheers.
Sergio
wenwen September 27th
thank you. so happy to see that you write me back.
i will try…
madewira September 29th
killer skill…
Michal Skrzypecki September 29th
You are fucking great! When i have a project for which i will need a cartoon, you will be the first i will contact.
Scorpiono September 29th
Can you share the costs for David? I love the way you create the mascots, absolutely brilliant.
Vivekanand September 30th
Absolutely Awesome enough, really really fantastic tutorial and related video’s. Stunning designs…..
Sergio Ordóñez September 30th
Hello Scorpiono, please email me trough the contact for a price list.
Thanks to everybody again
Sergio
Silent Noise October 4th
i wouldn’t call this a tutorial …you’re just showing the process of how you did the illustration
but it’s cool
SABRAWY October 18th
awesome awesome awesome !
ibbe October 23rd
excelleto!!!
M-Fakira October 25th
very fantastic
I love this drawing
HH Shop November 2nd
Highly proffesional!
The only thing that I could do as good as the author is the inking lol, I wish that I could do the rest too. ^^
Rafael November 7th
INCREIBLE!!!… excelentes dibus!!
ims November 12th
nice:)
zoolo BOY November 20th
Woaw - F… it’s cool!
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( GET A GRAVATAR )Your Name November 21st
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