Dark Hearts Character Concepts 2

Character/Creature concepts for "Dark Hearts." I didn't have time to make up new drawings for the FengHuang and Qilin for the Yin composition, so I'll be working on that over the break.

Xian (the monk)'s image will be used on a different composition than the others, however I needed an image of him so I used the one I did for presenting.

Dark Hearts Character Concepts

Character final concepts for Jun, "Ge", and "Black Tortoise." These aren't quite finished yet and are meant for a bigger composition; just posting to update on my progress.

Each character of Dark Hearts has a story and a style of fighting (only exceptions are the spirits that Xian summons).... but those stories are for a later date.

Jun-Raven Concept

A sort of pre-visual concept for Jun, one of the main characters in Dark Hearts, along with the final concept in my stylized art style. Even though the character never takes this form, it was a fun drawing. I wish I could post more on Dark Hearts, however due to time constraints, it looks like I won't be able to do much now. Final character concepts will go up after Senior Reviews are over.

Journeys WIPs Cont.

Painting skies is SO much fun. :D

Journeys Color WIPs

I haven't posted in awhile, mostly from working on Part 2 of Thesis a bit early before coming back to Part 1. I'm glad I took the break; The paintings look better thanks to that.

Work in progress for Journey's. It's been quite the fabulous journey. :)

The Big Plan, part 2

I took some time earlier this week and re-thought out my Thesis. It is now as goes:

Part 1: Dreamfallen (Novel)
Conceptual art focus: backgrounds / environments
Style: Realistic

Part 2: Dark Hearts (Video Game)
Conceptual Art Focus: Characters/Creatures
Style: Realistic/Stylized

Part 3: Exploration of Life (Children's cartoon series)
Conceptual Art Focus: Characters/Animals/Nature
Style: Cartoony/Stylized


I'm 100% sure what I'm going to do for the first two parts and am in the process of planning out the 3rd one. I have a general idea of what I want for Exploration of Life, however the characters are not 100% all thought out. Still, I'm very optimistic of my Thesis so far.

A little behind, but I've decided to put off the 3rd thumb for Dreamfallen until the first two paintings are worked out. Journeys has been pushed to color and it's looking fabulous so far.

Lightning WIP - Moving to Color

I took a break from working on Journeys and moved back to Lightning and began working on moving it to color. I have a couple ideas for this piece, however know have to be careful with it; I can't neither over do it nor under do it; it has to be at the right combination of softer and realistic technique. It needs to feel like a dream, or rather the ending of one; the feeling that this stage is over, and it's time to move onto the next one.

I'm still having trouble with the 3rd thumb, which is big trouble for me since I should have sketched it and considered its lighting already. The 3rd piece is the hardest and most difficult to do of the 3 of these, and needs more attention than the both of these combined. I do have thumbs but none of them are really quit what I want. I'll try updating more on this later this week.

Journeys Progression

Progression of Journeys"




EDIT: more...

Journeys WIP

2nd painting of the Dreamfallen part of my Thesis. I'll be doing colors later. Like the first painting, just wanted to get the values just right first.

This is actually the first of three; Lightning is the 2nd painting and "Waking Up" will be the third.

I had quite a few thumbs for this one; I'll edit this post later to include them when I have the time.

Lightning Thumbs

Some pre-visual "Lightning" thumbs for the "Dreamfallen" section of my Thesis. This is painting #2 of 3 for the Dreamfallen section.

I was going to do more thumbs however I enjoyed the dynamic of the 2nd thumb on the top row too much to do more. I've started on the actual painting however made it darker by making the sky much darker and the cliff lighter closer to the character (where she's being hit by lightning).

EDIT: "Lightning" is officially underway. No colors yet; I want to nail the values down first.

Bao Xin and Kyanji sketches

I needed to do some face practice, so I found some reference online and did a couple sketches today in class in prep for my Dreamfallen paintings. Trust me when I say they look better in my sketchbook.

The reference I got for Bao Xin was a bit older than I would have liked, but I think it worked out okay. I couldn't find a reference that I particularly liked for Kyanji, and I honestly think he probably doesn't really look like that. Still, it was cool practice. I'll be doing a few practice sketches here and there, so be expecting that.

Thesis Thumbs

Some extremely quick Dreamfallen thumbs for my thesis.

The Big Plan - Detailed

Break up of work for the semesters. This is a rough and it'll probably change as I zoom into things.

EDIT: Re-arranged things to do by priority.

1st Semester:
(Art)
1. Finish Dark Hearts Prose
2. Edit Dreamfallen Prose
3. Finish all thumbs
4. Dreamfallen Paintings (3-5)
5. Start on as many DH painting bases as possible
(Business/Misc)
1. Order 1st set of business cards
2. Take Online commissions
--> Halloween event
--> Thanksgiving event
--> Fall event

Winter Vacation:
(Art)
1. Decide 3rd part of Thesis (either Exploration of Life or Steampunk Western)
2. Work on DH paintings
3. Start 3rd part painting bases
4. Design Black Postcard and order them
5. Order 2nd set of business cards

(Misc)
1. Take Online Commissions
--> Christmas/Hanukkah events
--> Winter event
2. Make "Agni Kai" if possible

2nd Semester:
(Art)
1. Finish DH paintings
2. Finish 3rd part paintings
3. Make adjustments/touch up Dreamfallen pieces if needed
4. Decide on background color for Thesis
5. Organize Portfolio/Digital Portfolio
6. Order frames
7. Send out Black Postcards
(Misc)
7. Take Online Commissions
--> Spring event
--> April Fool's event (pending)

After Graduation:
Make Dreamfallen Tarot Cards
Take Online commissions
--> Summer event
Visit relatives or work

The Big Plan

Welcome to The Dream Shoppe, where one can buy dreams and stories. My name is Kimberly Tsai, and my pen name is Raika Mikata. I am a concept artist for stories, and this is my Senior Thesis blog for Otis College of Art and Design.


My thesis will have 9, 12, 15, or 21 pieces, and I will either do 3 stories with 7 artworks or 4-5 stories plus some stragglers. Please note the mindful usage of the number "3", for ; it is a number of much personal importance to me.

Stories will include Dreamfallen (Reality based with Fantastical elements), Dark Hearts (Dark/Fantasy/Reality based), and possibly a children's educational cartoon I've been planning. I wish to include a sci-fi/steampunk genre to further expand my promise as a versatile artist. I might include the animation of one of my characters dancing to Daft Punk however I doubt if I have time.

If I have time during winter vacations or after school, I'll make "Angi Kai," an AMV I've been thinking about using clips from Avatar: The Last Airbender timed to E.S. Posthumus' "Pompeii."


My idea for the overall concept came from a dream. In the dream, I was working for the first time in a shop that sold miscellaneous items. One of such items were black postcards that were positioned near the front door. They were later stolen by a man, however I later found out that this was okay; their purpose was useless unless one actually bought it.

When I awoke, I turned the dream into a story, and gave the black postcards even more meaning. I decided that they were not just postcards, but in fact portals that could transport persons to the actual shop itself, and the only person whom could use them was the person whom it was addressed to in the first place. Such was the nature of The Dream Shoppe, and such is the idea behind my own senior thesis. I will be sending out black postcards as invitations to my own Senior Show and will be giving them out during the show as well.

I also revamped my website in preparation for the show, so if you have the time do drop by!