Gathering References

Over the weekend, I met with my accountability group in Manhattan and took the opportunity to gather reference material for my project. My main goal was to capture images of buildings to use as reference material for the background and to get inspiration for what to include. 

We decided to walk along Prince St. one I initially chose at random, but fit the vibe I was looking for. There was no specific place I wanted to copy as none covered every aspect of the city that I wanted to highlight at once. I more so want to capture the vibe of the area.

Being out and about also helped to brainstorm different aspects from the space around us to include, some of my favorites being joggers that consistently run through the scene, a passing subway that can only be seen by a subtle shake and lights visible through the grates, and the inclusion of stoplights.

Luckily enough it was also lightly snowing, providing me even better references for the environment. A fact which my groupmates found equally exciting.

One thing that was surprisingly useful was getting references for people’s outfits and umbrellas. It’s one thing to look on clothing websites for popular attire, but it's another to see that distribution play out in a real environment. Even if the weather didn’t match exactly what I was going for, the color distribution at the very least gives me a place to start. The same goes with umbrellas, walking down the street, almost none of them are alike, and getting references for variety helps a lot.

Using these references, I think I’ll touch up my scene, adjusting buildings, adding more objects and light sources, and get a good set of characters to test with.