Concept Album - 1

Hello folks. I've got some exciting news! Well, I'm pretty excited about it, and I hope you will enjoy a curveball in my usual content.

I recently took a freelance gig for a music producer, who I can't disclose at the moment. I usually avoid large commissions, as it disrupts my patreon and gamedev duties, but this one has a fat budget, and provides a great opportunity to spread my work to a massive audience. I couldn't rationalize refusing the offer.

To sweeten the deal, they agreed to let me share my work in progress with my patrons. Therefore, roughly the next 6 weeks of content will be focused on my development of the project. I know it's not what you're expecting, but I will provide an in depth behind the scenes experience that can provide insight into the creative process, and the world of freelance. What's more, you'll be getting an exclusive look at loads of cool artwork.

I can't divulge specific details on the concept, but the gist of the project is to create 12 artworks, one for each track on the album. The artworks will loosely tell a story, and some even physically connecting in composition. They will also include subtle animation. Ultimately, they will be posted on youtube, so they need to be in 16:9 format, which I'm going with 320x180px for. That's slightly on the large end for me but still a nice resolution for crisp visible pixels.

When the series is complete, we will also release them as NFTs. I haven't released any NFTs yet, but I'm interested in the scene. So, I'll also be learning about that and will pass on any wisdom I pick up from the experience.

Now, on to the art. The first image is the current state of the first artwork for the title track. This will also be used for the main album image, so it will need to be cropped to a square in some cases. That's why the sides are a little lonely, but it will be fleshed out with more elements. Also, there will be the artist's name slapped across the chest of the mecha, and the album name will be placed on the bottom of the comp. The mecha monkey is pretty well developed, but the environment is all still rough. That nebula is actually a Thyrian Defenders asset I'm using for a placeholder at the moment. I plan to tone down the gradients into fewer colors eventually.

The second image was my first pass at the composition. The client didn't want the mecha covered by foreground objects, and the colors were too light and jolly. The mecha needed to have more monkey quality, not so bulky. The gesture of the human was off.

The last 3 images are my sketches for the mecha design. There will be 2 mecha characters in the story as well as a man and a women who pilot them. I based the first 2 sketches on a gorilla, and the 3rd one is inspired by a mandrill. The first sketch is the concept being used in the final piece. The 2nd sketch got the axe for being too spiking and bulky. The 3rd sketch is a tentative concept for the female character's mecha that will be introduced later.

Don't be shy if you have any questions. Let's have fun with this!