Pirate's tavern

Designing a Pirate's Tavern location using reference material.

19-20/10/18

Thumbnail sketching potential compositions for a background layout concept for a 'pirates tavern'

23-24/10/18

Concept for a 'Pirates Tavern' - Initially I wanted to draw a shot of the balcony of a tavern, as this would allow me to explore the outside and some of the inside design of the tavern. From my image research I could see that balcony areas/roofs that extend out of the building, held up by wooden columns were not an uncommon fixture in the architecture in the 17th century. However, when thumbnail sketching potential layouts I struggled with achieving a convincing perspective for the drawing. So I tried some different compositions and went with one of them. My reference images influenced the window designs, and the use of wooden shutters over them. Also, incorporated an extended roof that I referred to earlier. The window above the extended roof was also taken from the architecture seen in the reference images. I set the scene at night, and had lanterns and light coming out of windows being the only sources of light. I tried to draw the lanterns based on those seen in the mood boards. Having said all this, I don't think this design is particularly successful in meeting the brief. Without the characters, it doesn't obviously convey a 'Pirates Tavern'. I will have to try again, focusing more on details of the location to tell a story and convey the nature of the background.