I’ve said it several times and it’s very true but one of the things I enjoy most about my job as an artist is not just getting my imagination on paper but getting the ideas out of someone else, and creating an image out of that.  Hearing “you took the picture right out of my head” is a big fat check mark in the I did it right book. 

I’ve said it several times and it’s very true but one of the things I enjoy most about my job as an artist is not just getting my imagination on paper but getting the ideas out of someone else, and creating an image out of that.  Hearing “you took the picture right out of my head” is a big fat check mark in the I did it right book. 

Well this particular project is a lot of fun because it is in a world very different from ours, and those are the most fun (the more distance from the real world the more my imagination gets to do).  Anyway, the costume is very dependent on the character, in fact it is the outward projection of who the character is and very often the only, or first information we get about them.  Think of the beginning of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Arc,  for the whole intro we don’t even see his face.  But we see that he is wearing practical tough clothes, dirty and sweat stained, he has a gun and a whip on his belt, and he is wearing a leather hat that gives him a silhouette unique among his companions.  All these elements tell the audience who this man is, and ask questions that don’t show up on the surface.  These are things that the concept artist has to think about.  Know that characters world, present circumstances, and the past history that brought that person to the point we as the audience meet them. 

This guys threads sure tell a story.

Your mom told you “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.  We aren’t writing books.  We are telling stories though.

Max here is in a similar world to our hero.  The costume I am working on is wrapped around some one who also lives in a world were civilization has crumbled, basics of survival are daily challenges, and the very climate has become an enemy.  We also get to throw in a much more toxic and lifeless environment, for fun.  So that’s the world we get to live in.  What does that mean in terms of costume?  Well, working from the most basic needs on outward, given the environment: no exposed skin, and full gas mask.  Moving out from there we have a world that doesn’t provide much food or water, so our hero is a traveler, much like max.  We get sturdy clothes, boots that wont give up on ya, and a collection of whatever personal belongings our character can carry to make surviving a bit easier, and these things need to be easy to carry, so no airline luggage with the fold up handle and little wheels.  Whats more, one look around tells us that the world has been messed up for a long time, which means our character has to stretch what she has for as long as she can, and has done so for a long time.

Result.  Hope ya like it!