Next we have Mr. Green who, believe it or not, is an embodiment of the color green and in charge of all things green! (The trouble is that he'd rather be any other color). We drew some inspiration from flat retro cartoon figures including Pixar's brilliant short film Night & Day, and the mustachioed fellow from the Pink Panther cartoons. But still, I'm having a really hard time pinning this guy down...
The truth is I've never done character design on this scale before, and I'm wondering: how do you know you've arrived? Is it like love at first sight - you just recognize the right one when it appears on the page?? Or is it a more analytical decision-making process of trying out shapes and parts to see what feels right? Help me out! How do you design characters? Leave a comment, and don't forget to vote for your favorites - they just might end up in a picture book!
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7 comments:
Nifty :) I'm no artist, but it occurs to me that part of the decision should be based on how well you think any of these ideas could be drawn in multiple poses, doing different activities, experiencing different emotions, etc. It looks like the Mr. Green character could be kind of tricky in that regard.
Personally, I like numbers 2, 3, 10, 18, 28, and 32 :)
Keep it up :D
Great designs.
I like 3, 5, and 9 best for the girl. 10's pretty good, too.
I liked 18 quite a bit, until I remembered that you referenced "Day and Night" in your design. The character looks a bit TOO much like those guys.
Beyond that, I'd like to see more from 20, 21, or 28.
I like Lilly #4 (but I wish that she looked less sad) and Mr Green #20, just because he's so simple. They're all great though! Good luck!
PS. Ben says he likes #5, #17, #18, #25. I'd ask the man child what he likes but he's in bed... Again, good luck!
For Lily, I like #4 & #5. For Mr. Green, I like #18. They all look great! I'm excited to see this book when you guys are done with it. It sounds really neat!
I haven't done much serious character design like this myself, but from my amateur experience in such, and in art in general: I've found it best to throw down a bunch of preliminary designs, then gauge aspects of each on how they succeed or fail at communicating what I'm trying to convey, and let that guide me to a final design. I know different people are most effective working in different ways, and I'm more the analytical sort, so I'm probably biased, but I think it's good to avoid any "just knowing" it's good. For me at least, it's too easy to fall in love with a character (or any design/creation for that matter) even when it may not be very effective at expressing to others what you want to convey.
Oh, and I like Mr. Green #'s 17, 21, and 22 :)
Thanks for your input guys, I really appreciate it! I'm definitely taking your votes into consideration. And Jere, I think you're right - 'falling in love' with a design can leave you blind to its faults, so it's not always the most effective route to the best solution.
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