Character Designs
I find the creation of characters to be a way to explore ideas and figure out what works and doesn't work to tell a story. Character design is an important part of visual development, and it's a part that I enjoy doing. I have created a lot of characters in my spare time, as well as an exploration of worldbuilding.
The Odyssey
For this project, I had to choose a myth or fable and create a visual development project based on it. For my project, I chose to do this project on The Odyssey. I had to create a line-up of 5 characters, 2 turnarounds for 2 characters, and 3 poses and expression sheets for 3 characters. I ended up falling in love with the character designs for this project, and I plan to add more character designs based on other characters in this story written by Homer.
This is my character line-up in color.
Left to right: Odysseus, Penelope, Telemachus, Circe, Calypso
Odysseus Turnaround: Front, 3/4 Front, Side Profile, 3/4 Back, Back
Peneople Turnaround: Front, 3/4 Front, Side Profile, 3/4 Back, Back
Telemachus Poses: Dissapointed, leaning over a railing, Getting punched in the face, On the ground protecting his eyes, Super excited with arms in the air
Telemachus Facial Expressions: Shocked, Annoyed, Relieved, Happy
Circe Poses: Crazed with Fire, Kneeling on the Ground, Plotting with Hands Together, Arms Crossed
Circe Expressions: Flirtatious, Happy, Scared, Angry/Furious
Calypso Poses: Squat, Crying on her Knees, Lovestruck, Hunched Forward while Angry
Calypso Expressions: Questioning/Nervous, Scared, Annoyed, Flirtatious
Coraline Redrawn
For another school project, we had to break down a script of our choice and choose a character, prop, and environment to recreate if we were working on the visual development of a movie or TV show. I chose to work with the film, Coraline. We weren't allowed to choose a child character, so I chose to redesign the Other Father. I made a turnaround, a poses sheet, and an expressions sheet. I learned a lot about building characters with shape language during this project, which I have brought into my own work.
Other Father Character Design, 3/4 Front and 3/4 Back
Other Father Turnaround: Front, Left Profile, Back, Right Profile
Other Father Poses: Sitting in a Chair Ready to Eat, Scolding with Knees Bent, Hunched Over in Pain, Elated while Playing a Piano with a Leg and Arm in the Air
Other Father Expressions: Happy, Sad, Angry, Fearful
Original Characters
Throughout my artistic journey, I have created many original characters. As I have improved my skills, the designs for my characters have changed to reflect my growth. I like to share my characters on social media and use sites like Unvale to help me better understand them and develop their stories.
Ambrose character sheet and expressions sheets used for the Monsters animation. Ambrose is a fetchling ganzi and character in a Pathfinder 2e campaign I was playing in. Ambrose doesn't speak in the animation, so I didn't make lip sync charts for him.
Adeent characte sheet, expressions sheet, and lip sync charts used for the Monsters animation. Adeent is a human aasimar and a character in a Pathfinder 2e campign I was in. Adeent gave the monologue in the animation, so I had to make lip sync charts for him.
These concepts and final line-up are for a project that I am working on for my final storyboard project. The project doesn't have a name. The story takes place in a medieval setting.
Character Line-up Left to right: Dieb the Fox, Aiore the Sheep, Eremita the Deer, Malupit the Doberman
The storyboard has Dieb, Aiore, and Eremita running through a forest away from Malupit, who is firing a gun at them. Dieb, Aiore, and Eremita are fleeing prosecution, which Malupit wishes to deliver upon the trio.
For an exercise I did in a class dedicated to visual development, I was asked to create characters based on the concept of prehistoric skateboarders. The characters had to look like they would belong in a children's show. The character on the upper half, the triceratops, is the protagonist of this fictional show, while the character on the lower half, the tyrannosaurus rex, is the antagonist. I also added a potential color palette that the characters would have.
This character is my original character, Wisteria Willows. She was the character I played in Pathfinder 2e in the same campaign that Ambrose and Adeent from the Monsters animation are from. Wisteria is a doll and is the smallest of the party she traveled with.
Turnaround: Front, 3/4 Front, Side Profile, 3/4 Back, Back
Oliver is a character for a story I am working on. This turnaround was an exercise to get better at turnarounds, as well as a reason to give him a redesign.
Turnaround: Front, 3/4 Front, Side Profile, 3/4 Back, Back
To practice more with creating character line-ups, I worked on this character line-up of a group of characters that I had created. All of these characters were created during Goretober but evolved into recurring characters in my character roster. This group of characters is the Jones family. The family consists of a mom, dad, 3 children, and a cousin who lives with them. This is another story I wish to develop. I also used this line-up exercise to redesign these characters and give a proper design to the character of the far right.
Left to right: Nate Jones (oldest child), Iris Jones (middle child), Mark Jones (youngest child), Sally Jimenez-Jones (cousin), Maria "Ms. Bruised" Jimenez (mother),[REDACTED] (father)