THE BLIND PIG The famous New York Speakeasy! In our world we have The Blind Pig, a version of the Leaky Cauldron, populated with wizards, witches and all kinds of magical creatures and lorded over by the goblin, Gnarlak. PPOP
THE BLIND PIG The famous New York Speakeasy! In our world we have The Blind Pig, a version of the Leaky Cauldron, populated with wizards, witches and all kinds of magical creatures and lorded over by the goblin, Gnarlak. PPOP
THE BAR ELF For this character I used photographic reference for the skin textures to give it some realism. For this reason, I kept the eyes small rather than the usual larger elf eyes. PC
THE CLIENTELE AT THE BLIND PIG This was completed after brainstorming ideas of who might frequent The Blind Pig. After a few too many cocktails, some cantankerous wizards have a bar fight and after they make up they are left with the result of their slurred spells. PC
QUICK DIGITAL SKETCHES OF A GOBLIN These seem to be more successful in portraying character than some of the other ones that I laboured a lot longer over. PC
GOBLIN SKETCHES These two are quick digital sketches that I completed to get a reaction from David Yates. PC
THE BLIND PIG BAR SCENE I really enjoyed doing the series of black and white sketches of bar scenes. Most creature designs have a single creature on a page, where these hopefully show a bit of personality in their interaction. The lack of colour also helps place them in the period of the film. PC
MUG SHOT OF A NEW YORK GOBLIN More of a street urchin type. RB
ANOTHER MUG SHOT This was a great way of showing off goblin designs and placing them in the twenties. RB
NEW YORK GOBLIN GENT Another chance to mix dapper and disturbing. RB
THE CLIENTELE AT THE BLIND PIG A particularly favourable aspect of working in 3D is being able to produce multiple angles of a given scenario. RB
THE BLIND PIG CLIENTELE SHEET These head sheets were put together to show prospective looks for the various ‘types’ frequenting The Blind Pig, including: a tattooed lady; three witchy sisters; female goblins; the spirit of a native American; and a gangster ghost sporting his bullet holes. RB
NEW YORK GOBLIN/RB
A GOBLIN The time and setting of the story provided the opportunity to design a few goblins sporting a relatively modern look, to show how goblins might dress up for a decent night of illegal drinking, impressing the ladies and fist fighting. One sports a fancy hat, all have more than their fair share of fingers. RB
NEW YORK GOBLIN WITH FANCY HAT Prospective goblin for The Blind Pig. Notice he has two thousand fingers. RB
GOBLIN WAITER I liked the idea of a goblin being servile and very polite yet utterly disconcerting to look at. RB
A GOBLIN GENTLEMAN WHO HAPPENS TO BE DATING A FLAPPER/RB
ANOTHER ANGLE INTO THE BLIND PIG/RB
EARLY DESIGNS FOR GOBLIN JAZZ BAND THAT PLAYS IN THE BLIND PIG SPEAKEASY: very early sketch of a goblin musician, the banjo survived to end up stuck on the side of the double bass; goblin close-up, a one-man brass section; the piano player, whose goblin hands allow him to play more than an octave with each one; early design of goblin buddies, I think the character on the left ended up being used for the drummer. RB
GNARLAK DESIGN At some point we gave goblins seven fingers per hand, possibly a consequence from needing more fingers to play instruments in the jazz band. RB
GOBLIN BAND AND SINGER This was an attempt at illustrating the goblin band as a 1920s jazz band with a Siren-like singer whose hair floated mesmerizingly in slow motion around her as if underwater. PC
THE JAZZ SINGER IN THE BLIND PIG This was the first sketch of the prospective singer with The Blind Pig jazz band. I recall she was out of the band for a while but I left this picture pinned on the wall behind me. And, as chance would have it, it eventually found favour again. RB
THE JAZZ SINGER IN THE BLIND PIG Dermot and I had many conversations about the lighting, for this concept, and it was probably worth it. RB
PORTRAITS OF THE GOBLIN JAZZ BAND These portraits of the goblins that play in The Blind Pig’s jazz band were done as facial reference for the visual effects department. In the portrait of the drummer (top) I was trying to make him less like a goblin, while still separating him from your average homo sapien. Pointed ears obviously help with the process. The middle portrait is of the pianist, and the bottom one is of the ‘one-man’ brass section. I originally drew him blowing into one of his many instruments, but then drew him in this neutral pose to aid the VFX department. RB
THE BLIND PIG JAZZ BAND The band originally consisted of four male goblins. The goblin playing the double bass was removed after the (re-)arrival of the lady goblin on vocals. RB
THE BLIND PIG JAZZ BAND Sometimes limitation can be a useful aspect of design. We had a lot of instruments needing to be played but only four goblins to play them all so, out of practical necessity, the overworked goblin acting as the brass section became a multi-instrumentalist. When we added a singer the quartet of players became a trio. RB
CHARACTER STUDIES OF THE JAZZ SINGER IN THE BLIND PIG/RB
THE FULL LINE-UP OF THE GOBLIN SPEAKEASY BAND FRONTED BY THEIR FEMALE VOCALIST The period microphone wasn’t strictly necessary but it was a nice visual addition. RB
JAZZ-PIPES Stuart Craig came up with the idea that the goblin brass player might have a set of bagpipes. It sounded crazy, but my design actually looked really effective and proved that Stuart is always right even when it seems like he might be wrong. RB
THE JAZZ SINGER IN THE BLIND PIG Whilst referencing earlier concept work from Rob Bliss and Pablo Grillo we gave her goblin proportions whilst retaining her femininity, as well as ageing her a little to be more like Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald in their prime. With references from our hair and makeup designer Fae Hammond, we designed a makeup that helped accent her black eyes – making them as alluring as possible. Her features were a key reference point in creating an attractive, sensual character as briefed by David Yates. VH, KS, SM, MB, DH, DS
GNARLAK DESIGN I distorted photographic references of aged skin to help achieve a higher level of realism to Gnarlak’s craggy, weathered face in this early series of concepts. I also tried invoking 1950s screen actors like Spencer Tracy and Kirk Douglas. PC
GNARLAK DESIGN These two were completed after knowing that actor Ron Perlman would be playing Gnarlak. We were trying very hard to keep Ron’s distinctive look but I found that, by adding traditionally goblin features like a long nose, his distinctive looks started to disappear and become someone entirely different. PC