Designing a Character is a very long and complicated task. You cannot just make a “character”, you have to think in dept – who they are, how their looks reflect their personality, how the outside world affects them, what is their place in that world, and so much more…
To warm up we did some character workshops in which we explored how to create variations of one character, the meaning of the character’s features and how to use the visuals in a way that reflects the idea, personality and concept of the character.
We learned that an universal way to create a character is to use Stanislavski’s questions:
For my character, I was inspired by the Powerpuff Girls cartoon when it came to the structure. I wanted to make the legs and arms very simple and avoid the structuring of hands, as the emphasis is meant to be on the body.
For the body, I selected to use an hourglass shape. That is to represent both the femininity and the shape of the body of a real butterfly. The face will be semi-realistic as in more detailed than the body.
The details in the hair and wings of the character include the same style – a wobbly curly line. (depending on the type of animation those lines will vary: frame-by-frame animation – every line is different creating a pulsating effect; rigged animation – lines will remain steady and in their original position only.
The colour palette is light and pastel tones: blue and yellow are the main colours (selected as they lay opposite on the colour wheel and complement each other excellently).
Based on my research I decided that organic oval shapes will best suit the story and personality of my character, I plan to use them in every aspect of the Design: from body structure to hair, clothing and details.
Initial Design:
Final Design:
I am also in the process of modelling the character in 3D (inspired of the work I did on the simulated work experience task and the skills I obtained from that project):