Creating Characters and Their Worlds
To explore the world of Character Design and expand my understanding of story telling and shape language in it, I’m creating three worlds and three characters to reside within them. All characters are designed to be used for 2D digital animation.
Zacharias - “Fallen Skies”
Zacharias is a young, fallen angel without memory of his past life. He lives in harmony within the forests that he landed within upon falling, befriending the animals as loving companions. He lives off of items and clothing lost by those who dare traverse the harsh terrain.
His peaceful life within the forest is disturbed and put at risk as his mysterious past life begins to catch up with him
Zacharias is a very old character of mine that I'm revisiting for this project! Made in around 2019
Hair Exploration. Working with friends, we all agreed that the bottom left felt the most fun and fitting
Outfit Exploration. It was tough to pick one for him!
An early drawing of Zacharias.
Pose exploration and character relationship building between him, Sonny and Sky.
The first turn around. The colors were in the right direction, but the glove was drawing too much attention
The first full, polished Illustration of Zacharias, Sonny and Sky when they were still being developed
Expression exploration, not yet finished. Yes. He can open his eyes! But it needs to be impactful when he does
”This.. Feels so familiar”
Sonny and Sky - “Fallen Skies”
Sky is a young, curious toucan that Zacharias has befriended. She was the first face that Zacharias saw upon waking up in the forests for the first time. She is a bubbly and outgoing, and she tends to be the first one to get into trouble with him. She loves playing harmless pranks, causing playful chaos where she can, and laying out in the sun with him for day long naps.
Sonny is a toucan that Zacharias has befriended. He was the second face that Zacharias saw upon waking up in the forests, introduced to him by Sky. He is quick tempered and snappy, but is the one that tends to Zacharias’s health. Preening his hair, plucking bugs off his clothing, trying to be the reason to Sky’s impulsive influence. Though, he would never admit how much he cares for the boy.
Pose sheet, really trying to experiment with both their relationship and contrasting personalities
Outfits for birds!
Expression sheet-- working again with individual personalities and their contrast
”I’ve never seen a bird like this before?”
Palah - “Cardboard Castles”
Palah is a young girl who has discovered that the castle she built made of cardboard walls and crayon windows contains a real kingdom of brick and stained glass inside of it. Although offered the title of queen upon arrival, she denied the position to follow her true dream:
To be the coolest, toughest knight ever
I created Palah on a whim one night. While I was happy with the general shape language, I struggled with hair style and armor.
Figuring colors out... I love them all too much
The first turnaround. There was an internal debate about what one I should use for her. I ultimately landed on both!
Pose sheet, trying to convey her life as a knight and as a regular young girl.
Outfits! I based them off of my love for fantasy wear and the fact I used to wear a sully costume whenever I could at her age.