By firstly designing the characters on paper before transitioning into a digital format. I found that the overall character has maintained an organic and fluid like construction. Wanting to achieve a style similar to UPA I decided that the character should have minimal detail in the design opting to instead have the posture and actions define the characters personality. Having features such as the nose, hair and body shape can add to add to the overall character.
After drawing the characters in Photoshop the original satisfaction from completing the design on paper didn't hold with its second passing. The characters looked generic and flat, I didn't originally intend to have these characters coloured rather thinking it would be nice to have the environment display the colours. Listing out the problems I found that the character:
- Looks flat
- Looks dull
- The arms distract from the overall design
- Can't instantly tell by glance which character inhibits which emotion
To combat this I decided to highlight the basic shape of the character by using solid block of colours accenting the character with only a few black lines to highlight the features such as eyes, mouth and hair. To balance the character out, additional black lines to define his waistline and pants cuffs/shoes were added.
With the creation of the second set of characters. I can comment on how I am able to quickly separate the two apart, along with the posture the colour chosen for both can give the person a quick insight on the current state of mood of the character. I feel that the selection of the brushes used with the carefully placed lines makes the characters quiet appealing and the design seems to work without the addition of arms.
Looking at these characters I'm reminded of the Pixar short "Day and Night"
