I've been messing around on Corel Painter trying to get a suitable brush - after messing with the brush settings and making scribbles for a few hours I have finally found a very nice configuration! At times I feel it's far superior to a real brush (in my hands) but at the same time it can be more difficult to produce certain lines compared to a real brush. I have to adjust my pressure, tilt and velocity very carefully to achieve the right look. All things have to be considered for each line - the smoothness, the varying thickness, the parts that emulate the look of stray brush hairs and also the transparency - emulating when the ink of a Chinese brush runs lower towards the end of a stroke.
Taking some images from the storyboard I have created some mock stills which might eventually become my final layouts. I am also falling way behind schedule! But it's all good since I'm making progress :S
Here's a drawing of the graveyard at the beginning:
A background drawing for when the woman kneels at her late husband's gravestone:
A test for how the character would look drawn with the digital ink brush:
The front door from inside the house (notice the different colour background because the setting is now inside?):
A drawing of the female character from front view (also a scene from the storyboard) - there are some proportion issues concerning her jaw line but I think the hair looks good...
I need to get a move on with this animation - I have recently discovered that you can actually animate directly into Painter! If I can get this to work then I'll essentially cut my work time by half which I like the sound of. However, I'm concerned that it's not a well-known or obvious choice of program for animation which might mean it's not very good :S I'll give it a go anyway!
