Ballpoint pen drawings of water for the projected animation titled, and the ship sails on.

Ballpoint pen renderings of Water and decoy ducks - 
image and layout created by animator Lukasz Pater.

Water renderings, pattern option two

Water rendering, option one

I have had to go back to the drawing board, redrawing the water, making up the major part of the projected animation. The water renderings  are too complex (busy) conflicting with the dragon . The animated five-clawed dragon will be projected moving amongst the three-dimensional decoy-ducks, stretching out his limbs and with his claws he will bring forth positive change.  

Water renderings, pattern option one

Water rendering option two

I had to render water for the second animation titled woe-man. It was very simple and I could use it again. But I wanted this animation to be fresh and closely associated to the reference material. The moon flask as depicted below. We are also trying to keep it simple ensuring the animated image integrates well with the form and the shape of the decoy ducks, and of course the shape and size of the wooden base. 

High definition projectors make a big difference

We need enough open, uncluttered space in between the decoy-ducks for the animated dragon to move freely and be visible in the renderings of the water, without creating confusion. Striking a balance is of the essence. I therefore had to spend two afternoons exploring new creative possibilities to render the water. The second set of drawings were equally complex and I decided to refer back to the original reference, the water as depicted in the surface decoration of the inspirational moon flask.

Inspirational moonflask

Water rendering option three

In the end I took inspiration from the simple yet appropriate cobalt painted decoration that covers the background of the moonflask shown here (image on the left). The chosen image, rendered in ball-point pen, a more three dimensional approach, provides us with an opportunity to have open spaces though which the dragon can move and be easily visible without creating confusion or making the visual representation to complex (busy) as mentioned before.

Water renderings, pattern option three

Water renderings, pattern option final