Character design - work so far

So this term we have character design with Justin. This is comprised of two parts; set class excersises and working on our individual projects. Each week Justin introduces a new concept or element by setting us excersises. We then take these into our own individual projects.

 We were each given a scenario from the below list and that was the starting point for our character.

Week 1: Person/Animal

This week was largely focusing on drawing from reference and capturing the character and style of a specific era, place or character. This would then develop into animals and creatures. 

The era I was given was Regency England. It was lovely to look at all the furniture. 

We then progressed onto animals and looking at how you put character into animals, without anthropomorphising the animals too much. I was given a zebra. I have to say looking carefully at animals in details can definitely change your view of the animals. 

I then began to work on my cat character with Justin. The drawings immediately below were his drawings to give me an idea of how to reduce down the detail in the anatomy, and to increase the amount of character in each drawing.

These really helped me to begin to figure out what I was doing and where I was going from there.

I then began to draw cat skulls at the suggestion of Justin as this would aid my understanding of the construction of the skull underneath possibly very fluffy fur. I had honestly never realised how wierd kitten skulls were.

I then began to draw kittens with fur using what I had discovered from the skulls.

Week 2: Constraint/Trait

This week was focused on maintaining a style or characteristic for numerous drawings belonging to the same set. 

The style I was given was that of the animated series "the Fairly Odd Parents". This is a Nickelodeon animation that I watched a lot when I was younger, so I was quite interested in seeing how the character design broke down. 

I started off by drawing the pre-existing characters in order to figure it all out.  

I then began to draw my own characters in the style of the show, and exploring how you can maintain the same character across different forms and animations.

I spent a lot of this week doing research into the style of 1950's B movies, and how this would translate into the style for my character design. 

Week 3: World/Time

This week we were starting to explore architecture, world building and keeping elements in the correct time period and state. 

I was given Notre Dame to draw from and create emphasised and more characterful environments from. It is such a beautiful building to work from, but I kept getting lost in the individual elements of architecture. 

We were then given a style of architecture to work from and a context. I was given an ancient Persian alchemist. I decided that he would be hidden in a basement and be kept a secret as at the time an ability to control the elements would have been unbelievable. This found itself worked into my design. I think this is a drawing I will come back to later.

I then began to work on the environment for my character. For me this is the Nevada nuclear test site. This meant looking at the outcome of historic nuclear events. I also decided that since the style I would have to use would be a B movie style, that I would set it up in this period so there is a consistency in the style. 

Upon looking at my work, Justin suggested that the style I had used in the above drawings was too much like a children's illustration from a storybook. He suggested that this wasn't a suitable style for the subject matter, and that it didn't really fit in with the B Movie style, and drew the demonstrations below that might be more suitable.

Week 4: Mind your language: Body Language

This week was focused on the lines of action, strength and movement that make up body language regardless of the character type, role or form. This meant that we all posed for each other and drew different scenarios. This was very useful as it helped to picture the lines that Justin was talking about. 

I then had a short tutorial with Justin in which I showed him the model I made (below) over the week. This helped me picture the shape and expressions of my character. 

He then drew the following drawings from my model to help me envision where I go from there. 

I began to then draw my cat character using the line of motion and strength concepts that we were taught earlier in the day with Justin.

From here I intend to model my character some more to try and figure it out more for myself. I think the use of green and purple in the above drawings is definitely beginning to explore where I want to be.




















I also spent some time working out the facial composition of the cat character. I decided on number 38 as it will look the most expressive.