Week 6: Character Design
Our goal this week was to make a turnaround sheet for a character we create.
We had a few exercises in our first lesson. We created 5 character outlines based on adjectives, focusing on the shape language. Then we did ‘steal the shape’ where we used the shapes of everyday items to inspire rough character designs. Lastly we did ‘inanimate to animate’ and transformed objects into characters themselves.
Now onto the main design. We had to choose between the following prompts:
– The concept of ‘winter’
– The song ‘Down Under’ by Men at Work
– A scarf
I like the idea of picking something to do with winter, but also incorporating the scarf somehow as I like the colours and pattern.
This is a character designer whose work inspired me:
She has a sharp and angular style, as well as shiny lighting and shading. She has an extensive and impressive portfolio of designs. She made me start thinking about doing a sword-wielding character.
Here is my brainstorm!
I really couldn’t decide which one I liked more, so I combined them. I had the idea of the warrior wearing the deer skull as headgear, as it seems as if she’s flaunting her prey. Maybe she even slaughtered the spirit, in her story. I also imagine the scarf as some sort of precious blanket to her that she wears as a cape to keep safe. I did some different iterations of her character, testing out clothing and making sure the values work well.
I’m very pleased with the final outcome! I based the forward facing pose off of my original sketch, then used gridlines to carefully create a side facing view. I paid close attention to the silhouette too, as it’s important that your character stands out even in their simplest form.
Next time, I might taper the line-art a little to give more dimension.