From sketch to pattern

When I started working on this robot concept last year I initially thought I would end up just building the head.  I thought I would take a few cleaver head shots of the robot and that would be it.  I never thought I would go beyond that scope, so in the first entry about the robot you see head sketches because that was my primary focus, the other sketches of the robot were either abstract rough sketches or varied from one drawing to the other because consistency or refinement of the lower body really would not be needed.  I was going to tell the robot's story from the head up.

It did not take long for me to add and change the bot.

I quickly realized that if I was not going to build the rest of the body I should at least draw it out so I knew what the body would look like.  Soon after I decided that it really was all or nothing.

I drew up some ideas of the body, I borrowed a lot from sketches over the years, and soon I was constructing my vision of the robot in Adobe Illustrator.  The shapes would be basic for both what I wanted the structure and aesthetic to convey and my sanity in constructing the character.

I admit, building props is not my favorite activity.  I really enjoy painting the props, but building props... not so much.  Building props is like baking to me, it requires a great deal of precision and discipline, you write the recipe and you follow the plan; in baking as in building there are repercussions for improvisation.  This is why I cook to taste and why I enjoy painting.

The robot in Adobe Illustrator

So the robot started off with a lot of gears and pivot points and I have learned through the building process of the robot not to get to attached to the ideas that looked perfect on paper or in Illustrator and have made some modifications/improvements along the way.  Changes have been made for aesthetic or practical reasons.

More alterations to my own Illustrator file.  Most notable in this drawing is that I replaced the clamp hands with fingers.