For my upcoming video, I will be addressing the topic of great character design. For those who prefer reading about a topic over listening to an entire diatribe, here you go!
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Part 1: Do's and Don'ts' of Character Design
I'm writing these articles from the perspective of my own experience with creating characters. There's something kind of thrilling about taking a blank page, and putting a brand new entity on it. Since I was young and discovered that drawing is one of my many talents, I decided to stick with it and hone it.
Instead of boring you with more details about how my artistic skill grew, I'll continue to share my current experience with drawing and modern cartoons.
First, we'll cover the do's and (absolute!) don'ts' of character design, but I'll put it in a way that highlights both the negative and positive:
What Not To Do and What You Really Should Be Doing
1. Don't just create a character for the sake of filling up your sketchbook. Otherwise, you'll come up with something like........ugh....UNCLE GRANDPA!
(I can't even!!!! 😠)
Seriously! What is this!? I'm going to go out on a limb here and express how disgusted I am with whoever drew this....thing...!!
Uncle Grandpa is only one of the worst, and certainly there are others that are even more horrifying. If you watch Phantom Strider's "Top 10" or "Top 5" lists on YouTube, you'll get a better idea of what I'm talking about. But let's go over the basics of what exactly is wrong with this character:
a. The body structure is just weird! I know it's just a cartoon, but you would think the creators would make it memorable, right? .....Right?? Uncle here only looks like a bunch of shapes thrown together, which is an indicator of weak character design. It appears that the designer started with a circle, then just added the legs and arms on different days of the week, and finally decided on a face. Talk about a thought process poorly executed.
b. Uncle looks deranged. If you're going to create a main character, at least make him/her look pleasant. I almost don't know where to begin. Let's start with the eyes: anyone can draw circles for eyes. The problem with simplified shapes is that it gives the impression that you didn't put too much thought into the character himself. That's not to say that all simplified characters are bad, but when you stick with the superficial, don't expect it to look great. When I draw characters, I always begin with eyes, following the idea that the eyes are the window to the soul. Then I form the character from the head down. The idea is to provide a great first visual impression, but also a lasting one. If the first impression doesn't resonate with the audience, then you should either ditch the character or modify the design.
c. Why the mouth pouch? This is more of a side note, but the mouth pouch is just ugly and does nothing to enhance the character; it just brings him down more. When creating a character and you are in the process of adding "extras," ask yourself, "What purpose does it serve?" Then move on from there.
d. The head shape is random. Not only is Uncle's head shape odd, it just doesn't lend itself well to the character's balance (or lack thereof). Look at it: large squared chin that juts out, pointy head (with a stupid hat), giant ears, just to name a few. Not to mention, a lack of eyebrows. Eyebrows are what make your character interesting and basically complete your character - and make them look normal.
2. Don't draw carelessly!
Uncle Grandpa, Teen Titans Go!, Wolverine and the X-Men: all examples of what it means to be a careless artist.
(Meh...)
In Wolverine and the X-Men, the character designers got a little lazy. The females are the best example of this. It looks as if the artists created a base, and then just added various features so we could at least tell the difference between all of them. (Understandably, if production costs are low, I can see how artists would use a base; but at that point, why bother?) Only the male characters have the most amount of variety in their physical design. But even then, the wide shoulders and skinny hips/legs don't work well, nor do they balance the character out. I half expect Logan's legs to snap under the weight of his bulging chest and Popeye arms. If I were the designer, I'd fix the balance and give the female characters different body shapes, just to make it interesting.
(Grrr! Who else finds their mindless stares infuriating?)
And speaking of interesting, let's look at Teen Titans Go!, which is a mess all around. Who, or what, gave the studio artist the brilliant idea of giving the Titans giant bobble-heads with teeny-tiny bodies that look like they're going to break under the weight of the heads? I don't mind if a character design is altered, as long as it's pleasing to the eyes and doesn't look little-kiddish.
Compare that with the original 2003 designs:
(Seriously, I'm fangirling!!)
When you look at the two, you can see which set of designs had the most thought put into it. And it's not so much thought as it is understanding who you're putting on the page. If you're simply drawing a likeness of a person, but not looking deeper into your character's soul, then you should probably stop and ask yourself what is his/her purpose - or you will end up with something as purposeless as Teen Titans Go!.
What I find unsettling about TTG designs is how mindless they look - like no problems in the world, just fun and games (and fart and butt jokes)! I understand the creators wanted to focus on the more humorous side of the Teen Titans, but the 2003 show did it well enough without being offensive.
Now, being a cartoonist is more than just drawing silly stuff on a page. I feel this is what gives cartoons a bad rap in the non-cartooning community: many cartoons are indeed silly and pointless (like the three mentioned above), but there are cartoons that are worlds better! Cartoons are one of the ways to make some kind of meaningful connection with people. And if we as artists/cartoonists only make silly stuff, then we lose that connection. At that point, we need to take our artistic abilities more seriously.
I'll use Steven Universe as a good example of serious and strong design. At first, I was a little put off by the character design, but then it grew on me. For those of you who don't know what Steven Universe is, here's a sample picture of only a tiny portion of the characters:
(Poor gem...)
Caring about the characters you're creating is the first step in making great cartoons. Even if your drawings only end up on the comic page, what you want is for people to remember your cartoons after the first read.
3. Don't draw characters without a purpose. That's more of a "do" than a "don't", but you get the idea.
You will find sometimes that your character may not have a purpose right away. So making a character with a purpose can be tricky.
Many stories come into play with one question: What if...? The same goes for designing a character. Below, I'll provide two samples from my sketchbook and explain each one.
Sorry, the photo is a little dark.
This character, who goes by the name Cynthia Skunk, came to be during my college days. Here was little ol' me, at age 18, in Character Design class making my first cartoon character. That was one class I never regretted. Our first project was to be done as follows: create a character in your sketchbook, and recreate that being as a full-color 3D clay sculpture. Challenge accepted! (In my video, I will show the initial concepts of Cynthia and how she was finalized.)
This is where the "what if" part comes into play: the first thing I thought of was Pepe le Pew. Being a Chuck Jones fan, I decided to create a skunk character of my own - a female to boot. Then I asked, "What if she was Pepe le Pew's love interest?" Then it snowballed from there.
Cynthia's first concept sketch was a little older and sassy, and kind of looked like a male skunk in drag. The second concept was young, more feminine, and kind of pretty. The third drawing was what I consider my masterpiece: a combo of the two original sketches, which became the character you see now:
Now for the next picture:
I don't have a full color picture of this little guy yet, but it's on my agenda.
Meet Boo-boo the Elf! This bundle of cuteness arrived in my sketchbook with a purpose almost immediately. His mission in life is to bring people happiness by using his magical paintbrush to create original works of art. Basically, he gets messages from Earth about people struggling with life issues; then he comes down from his elven realm and visits with those who are hurting.
This ties into my last point for this article.
4. Don't create without a vision.
Vision and purpose go hand-in-hand when it comes to drawing characters. The vision is what you want the character to look like and where you want him/her to go; the purpose is the driving force of the vision.
If your characters look silly, ugly, and/or deranged, then the purpose behind those characters, other than being an annoying goofball, is almost non-existent or the purpose is not that great or convincing. But if your characters are pleasing and their purpose is a positive one, then your stories will go far.
Now that we have established what is behind both good and bad character design, I will discuss next time how to properly design your characters - you know, so they don't look like Uncle Grandpa and Teen Titans Go!
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Disclaimer: All images of trademarked character designs have been found on Google Images, and are only used for the purpose of this discussion.
