Animal Character Design - Andrew Shek - Straights and curves

http://elephantart.blogspot.com/

Check out these sweet pages on Straights and Curves as applied to animal design.

Animal Character Design - Barry Reynolds

http://barryreynoldsanimaldesign.blogspot.com/

Animal Character Design - T.S. Sullivant

T.S. Sullivant: Thomas Starling Sullivant (1854–1926)- was an american political cartoonist who depicted animals with greatly exaggerated features that are nevertheless firmly rooted in his understanding of correct anatomy. His "grotesque yet believable"[6] animals were remarkably detailed and anatomically accurate, despite their gross exaggeration, and expressive moods, emotions and attitudes they displayed.[7]

labels

Stacking and overlaps - adding Dimension

“Good illustration demands a particularly high degree of draftsmanship. If a student illustrator fears he is on the way to achieving a greater aptitude than he will ever need to employ, he is almost certainly wrong. Greater knowledge can and usually will result in a better illustrator. - Robert Fawcett

Good drawing deals with understanding. Understanding of drawing is best brought about by absorption, by constantly looking at other drawings. By studying, appraising, and analyzing, one develops a set of standards that not only begin to satisfy and enrich but which also begin to define who one is and what his work may become” - Robert Fawcett

 I loved these posts by Rad Sechrist and found it very useful for adding dimension to a character.

Stacking overlaps comes from your shapes having volume. the contours on those shapes dictate the volume of the shape and how it is turning in space (such as towards or away from you).  Think of a can, either angled towards you so you are seeing inside of it or away.  choosing to draw the contour lines that best define the shapes (also meaning you need to understand what shapes you are drawing:), especially as they intersect other major shapes will give a sense of real volumes interacting. not just lines.  Which lines you choose to draw, emphasize or thicken will help some shapes come forward and push others back, thus giving a hierarchy or "stacking" to your shapes.

Follow these links to Rad's posts.

1) http://radhowto.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-i-do-when-i-have-to-storyboard.html
2) http://radhowto.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-i-do-when-i-have-to-storyboard.html
3) http://radhowto.blogspot.com/2010/01/quick-anatomy.html

Here are some examples in which the artists have used stacking shapes to organize and clarify their drawings.

Continually ask yourself which shapes are in front and which are behind.  What overlaps what.

Workflow Example - Bobby Pontillas

This is a really cool walkthrough of a Character Design from beginning to end by Bobby Pontillas - Disney and Bluesky Artist. Go to: Bobby's Blog

Nice rundown on
Silhouette
Proportion
Pose
Shape



Thumbnail, done tiny tiny



Thumbnail Blown-up


Shape Breakdown



Line Breakdown

Go HERE to see the rest

Assignment #9 – Ashley Sanborn

Inspired by Justin Gerard— I didn't do his work justice, but he has great whimsical shapes that play with thick/thin, as well as soft coloring and shading with points of high contrast. He's also great at big, burly type characters, which is where the idea for this guy came from :)

Natalie Hansen — Assignment #9

I looked at David Catrow a little bit, and imitated the ear and some body proportions of one of his characters. It's still not super similar because I focused more on getting the line varied and other stuff.