Prop course final assignment — critiques welcomed.
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Hello, I'm Kris
and I'm new here. Excited to see what this community is up to.For the final assignment, the character I'm designing the "reading corner" ensemble for is Bigfoot. This is a spot where Bigfoot—in my imagination anyway—reads stories daily to the animals from the Book of Moss, a book containing the entire story of the ancient PNW forest.
Despite the instructions, I used the chair as the core design element and focal point, as @Jake-Parker did in his demo. My shape language, I think, centers around cylinders and that wobbly stick shape, though I'll probably go back and clean up some of the wobble, as I think it detracts in certain areas.
Anyway, love to hear any tips or thoughts you may have, and thanks for letting me share!
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I love the ideas going into this! I think the table area with the props are especially strong. I also like the ideas going on in the chair, the moss and how the forks in the branches support the arm rest.
Critique wise, for me, the design of the chair doesn't quite hit the keyword of "cozy" enough for the lighting and the reading time scenario you've established. I'm trying to imagine big foot, with his big ol hairy body, sitting there, resting his arms occasionally on the arm rests, and it doesn't quite ring as cozy. It could be an interesting set up to have the chair small and rickety and we are worried it will collapse under big foot's weight but if the chair is supposed to be a symbol of comfort, cozy, reading time, then I would consider simplifying the design.
On a rendering note, I think it would work well to add in a few line work details on the moss texture- not to much but little marks here and there to really sell us on the idea of moss.
Overall though, this is very appealing! I don't think I would have thought of adding that color for the background, but it looks so beautiful against the soft glow of the lamp, and it gives it a magical feeling. Well done!
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Hi Kris! I’m absolutely loving your designs! I especially love the lamp
In terms of critiques, I think I agree with Tessa about the chair. Bigfoot is supposedly a massive guy and I don’t know if this chair would support his weight especially if he’s using it every day. Maybe instead of sticks, you could use logs and/or boulders. And maybe you could show more wear and tear from use, too. Also, when I first saw your image, I thought the sticks were square (instead of cylindrical) because the light cuts off so abruptly. It makes it look like there’s a sharp edge there. I think if there was a more gradual transition from light to dark, it would read better as a cylinder. Lastly, I think the cup design doesn’t fit as well with the other props. It has a smooth and sleek feel whereas everything else feels handmade. Maybe he can have a cup chiseled out of stone or a wooden bowl or something.I love the idea that Bigfoot reads ancient stories to animals every day! Such a cool idea!
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@TessaW and @aprilshin,
Really appreciate the in-depth feedback. Thank you both for lending your design brains!
Duly noted on the chair, and I'll add that I totally agree: it's for sure the weak point. I'll revisit some of my previous, cozier designs. A few were fairly aligned with the feedback, but were more in the spirit of a wingback, and that felt a little imposing or throne-like. I think a balance between humble and cozy can be struck... the recliner made out of mossy logs dipped a little too humble
Or, as @TessaW said, if it's rickety make it feel rickety to add some humor or emotion—I like that idea!Good thoughts on rendering as well. The edges are too sharp and the moss is a little... vague. Looking forward to some instruction on better inking!
I admit the enamelware cup was a last-minute change—it reminded me of a found object left behind behind by hasty campers. I had imagined the animals bringing small gifts even... Bigfoot would know what to do with it! But, I think given the focused set and lack of background for story cues, it does feel out of place and I agree something carved from stone would create a little more design harmony here.
I'll plan on folding these in. Thank you both again and see you around!
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love it! I looked at it for a long time and found the design very interesting and beautiful.
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While the cup made me pause at first, I got the camping/ found object connection and thought is was cute imagining big foot drinking out of a human sized cup, thinking it was a cool find. Reminds me of my kids thinking it's super fun to drink out of their tiny tea cups. If you ever expanded the environment, it might be fun to put in little touches here and there of human-made, found objects. It would be fun to see what a big foot-made cup would look like as well- but just thought I'd give my 2 cents.
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@KathrynAdebayo Thank you for saying so, and for engaging!
@TessaW I love that idea—his space would need to be a bit like a raven's nest, with collected treasures all strewn about. I actually had not thought about the cup being undersized, but of course it would be for him. Playing off that, he'd probably need a pair of extra-tiny reading glasses, too...
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Woah this looks really cool!!!
I don't really have any critique, but I agree with Tessa. If you up the cozyness a bit, that'd be good. What I would do it turn it into a rocking chair, that's a + + cozy to me!!
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I love this! Nice work!
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@Frost-Drive 100% on the rocking chair. Thank you!
@Jake-Parker Appreciate it, and thanks for the excellent course material. Looking forward to some guidance on inking next
