VAILL 385 Character Design Fall 2014: 09/17/14

The DaVinci Device - Shape Exploration

Drawing is the process of dreaming while awake – We actually already know how to draw perfect people, characters, landscapes etc. .. We draw them every night in our sleep. - Ian McCaig

Boston

One way to practice the dialogue between what we know and what we draw is to find or make stained paper. stained perhaps with spilled coffee or smeared paint or even mud. Let the paper dry and then try to see images in the stains. Reinforce these images with pencil or pen or colored pencil. This is so-called “da Vinci device”.

You already know how to draw, but old habits of seeing interfere with that ability and block it.

We tend to see what we expect to see or what we decide we have seen. …Learning perception through drawing seems to change this process and to allow a different, more direct kind of seeing. The brain’s editing is somehow put on hold, thereby permitting one to see more fully and perhaps more realistically.

The painter draws with his eyes, not with his hands. Whatever he sees, if he sees it clear, he can put down. The putting of it down requires, perhaps, much care and labor, but no more muscular agility than it takes for him to write his name. – Maurice Grosser

The truth is, you can cause yourself to see what is actually not there, and you should strive for this phenomenon.

Drawing on the right side of the Brain - Betty Edwards

There is no ONE way to do this. try several. Experiment. and however you do it, keep practicing your character designs!

http://cupodoodle.blogspot.com/

try using negative spaces

How many things can you create out of the same shape?

Designing around a Dominant Shape

"Gestures “start with the body, the body is the foundation upon which all the appendages are attached Are dependent upon for positioning. if you locate the body, gesture-wise, you have somewhere to connect the neck, arms, legs, eliminating the need to shift the foundation because you built the kitchen too far west.” -Walt Stanchfield

SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE

Start with a Domnant shape!

what is it's overall message? Gesture?

This will set the tone of your Design.

Success in shape making primarily comes from the use of a variety of Large, Medium and Small shapes.

- Peter de Seve

Predictability and uniformity is dull, even to drawing and design. When a Design is composed of too many large shapes, it is empty and bland. when a design is composed of too many small shapes (such as small detail) without enough large shapes to balance it, the design is chaotic, confusing and exhausting. Variations in shape sizes and groupings creates a dynamic and interesting design. Great character designers have mastered this principle and use it to direct their viewer's gaze and impressions.
(if you want to see a cool scientific explanation of how our mind deals with different groupings of sizes check out the Gestalt principle as explained by Sam Neilsen)

DOMINANT MASSES

Reduce each character to a simple graphic shape with an instantly recognizable silhouette, and distinct from each other. Pay attention to the language of shape.

In this example, notice how the shape is full, safe, friendly and simple. all detail is secondary to the big shape.

BobbyPontillas: http://bobbyinnewyork.blogspot.com/2011/09/design-presentation.html

Looking at the Aladdin style sheet, we can see each character reduced to a basic shape that provides an easy, immediate read

look at each character's Dominant Mass

Each character has one mass that the rest of the design “hangs off”—the Genie’s chest, Jafar’s shoulders, the Sultan’s belly etc. Again, it’s all about a quick graphic read.

NICO MARLET - Master of BIG, MED, SMALL

Check out Nico Marlet - He is a master of all of these principles. look at his work and see if you can spot it. [Note how the characters are primarily comprised of a few strong shapes; a dominant, which usually dictates the primary action line, just a few subordinates and an accent or two. The small details are all laid in well after the character is fully constructed]. Marlet varies grouping of shapes, making the big shapes REALLY big, and the small shapes TINY!. sometimes he even skips the medium shapes to emphasize the Big and small shapes.

Notice that this Principle is worked into the DESIGN of the Character, Not just their POSE

This actually helps keep a consistency in the quick read of your character. (we will get more to this later.)

Positive and Negative Shapes - Shane Prigmore

notice how Prigmore designs his negative spaces. his characters have interesting and fun silhouettes and his negative space is as varied as his positive space. even negative space should be designed with Big, Medium and Large in mind.

Shane Prigmore's Blog

Head Features

The shape of the Head is a very important aspect of a character's personality because of its quick read and silhouette. Close up, however and the other features of the face take on their own significance. Even more than with the shape of the head, we tend to draw the same types of features over and over again.