Reflections on Character Design
My predominant style of drawing people in the past has been quite line based, loose and expressive. This is partly a result of drawing almost exclusively from observation, often quickly over a matter of seconds. In a still image this captures movement well, but I have been struggling to translate this to animation. Such loose and expressive drawings quickly look chaotic when there are 24 of them a second, and the characters break apart as soon as the perspective changes.
Learning the principals of animation has been such a steep learning curve, I have so far opted for very simple character designs that do not reflect personal style (for example, this character pushing the block, below)
Now I am beginning to get to grips with the medium, I would like to develop the designs of the characters I am animating. I am not yet sure if animating in my original style is possible, due to the fragmented nature of the drawings. In the medium term however, I would like to develop a new animation friendly style of drawing, one based on simplified line and details and bold shapes.
I have been looking to many animators, illustrator and artists for inspiration with this style development, and 2 I have found particularly helpful are the animator Angela Stempel, and the painter Robin Francesca Williams.
William’s characters, although complicated texturally, are simple and bold in terms of shape. Stempel’s often have exaggerated proportions and facial expressions and are more obviously in the style of cartoon/animation, but are also generally based on bold clear shapes.
Below is my first attempt to create a character within the parameters I have set for myself. I’m yet to fully develop her body, but below is a front/side and 3/4s drawing of her head, and a still from the first animation I have used her in, the lip synch exercise. Although I am at the beginning of having fully formed characters I can use in my animations, I am excited to develop this character further and to create more going forwards.