Rookies 2024

M1-L0 the Android

Poor M1-L0 is both literally and figuratively worn down, so much so that she had to get creative and utilize parts of her scrapped brethren, most of which don’t even fit correctly, to be semi-functional. It’s not like her job at McTronald’s is paying her enough to afford higher-quality parts either, much less a higher quality of life, so it looks like she’s stuck at the counter for the foreseeable future.

Despite this being one of my older projects at CG Spectrum it’s still one of my favorites since one, the character ended up looking completely different from how I initially envisioned her and two, I had gone out of my comfort zone on the style and rendering and produced a result I'm happy with. To be frank I just wanted to create an android that was absolutely miserable, partially due to my own experience of being overworked in a major that I grew to dislike but also because the concept of a non-human character behaving just as or even more human than actual, well, humans is endearing to me. Plus, being exhausted by work and life is something I'm positive most people can relate to.

I was inspired by some sketches my 15 year-old self made to create an androgynous robot character, and it’s pretty obvious early into the thumbnailing process. M1-L0's image really started to change when I began experimenting with more shapes and finally fleshed out her background, as she went from being an awkward unemployed woman to a disgruntled fast-food worker.

Elements such as scratches, stains, and how her eye is yellowish orange, the 50-ish % battery color, are of course meant to help communicate a sense of weariness from her circumstances. And while her body's Frankenstein-esque nature and ill-fitted uniform easily tie into this as well there is also the implication that proper accommodations are far and few between, leaving her with limited options on where to get new parts.

The Walk Home

With the temple now in sight, Momoi sprints up the stairs much to Iyori’s dismay. Once the two are back home the other tengu congratulate Momoi on his first trek through the mountains while Iyori gets scolded for letting the child run off on his own.

Besides drawing, another passion of mine is jotting down tons and tons of undrawn story ideas on my phone, and this project was a good opportunity to bring one of those ideas to life. Because this was my first time seriously making an animatic, the whole process seemed daunting at first, but Eric's experience in narrative illustration was very helpful in pointing me towards the right direction. I ended up liking this assignment a lot more than I expected, and while this was the last project in my course at CG Spectrum, it has made me open to creating more storyboards for my own enjoyment and for clients in the future.

My intention was to convey a brief moment that was heartwarming for everyone to enjoy, but upon further context is actually the tip of a rather depressing iceberg. I put a lot of thought when doing research for the characters' backgrounds, taking inspiration from yokai, or supernatural entities in Japanese folklore. For instance, the boy Momoi is actually a nukekubi, a human-like creature whose head detaches and flies off at night in search of prey, and the stitches around his neck are meant to keep his head from disconnecting from his body when sleeping. 

Meanwhile, tengu are associated with the religion of Shugendo, whose practitioners are known to treading mountains for ascetic training. It's important to note that my tengu characters have rather non-traditional names for tengu, or Japanese monastics in general. Connect all these pieces of information together and you get the story of a group of tengu who don't quite fit in with their kind adopting a boy who doesn't quite fit in with human society, helping him manage his bloodlust in the process.

Studies

Here are three of my favorite studies I've done in the past 9 months. For the first two studies my goal was to get my colors to match that of the reference photo as closely as possible. Since I was more lax with the third study it's more reflective of how I gravitate towards saturated colors.

Sketches

Lastly here is a collage of some sketches for one of my personal projects. While I started this project fairly recently, the story has been in workshop for a few years now and is a love letter to both my Vietnamese heritage and D&D. I'll save the rest of the description for my next Rookies entry...

Thank you for viewing!

Given that it hasn't been that long since I decided to pursue concept art and illustration I am aware that my entry is quite short, but I hope I was able to give you a good idea of my personality, goals, and interests. I'll do my best to produce more works that properly showcase my skills!