#anyway this is something that i really really wish wehad done in my college class | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

constellaj · 2 years

Photo

I have a syllabus made for my character design bootcamp and will be posting exercises as I complete the tutorials! I plan to release everything in two stages- a rough cut (like this post!) and a final, professional-looking PDF-adjacent set. The final will come with an actual daily schedule and weeklong plan, but for right now all roughs will be posted as standalone exercises if you wanna try em out!

All will be tagged as “chaDes bootcamp.”

Disclaimer: as an animation nerd who loves cheap 2d animation, this syllabus is geared towards character designs that aren't inherently complicated; chief inspirations will be gravity falls, steven universe, total drama, and danny phantom, for example. It also focuses entirely on bipedal, human (or incredibly humanoid) characters. While these tips can probably be used for more detailed art styles and non-bipedal characters, they don't consider such, so you're on your own buddy. If you intend to do character design bootcamp multiple times, or are new to character design in general, consider using all bipedal characters your first time around.

Warm-up: Style Swap

Task: Pick a character with a distinct body type from one 2D animated show, and draw them in the style of a different show.

Question: What is a distinct body type?

A distinct body type is one that is unique within the context of its own show, that varies from a given template immensely. Generally, side characters have the most distinct body types, while background characters and main characters have the least distinct body types.

What to avoid

Here are some characters that do NOT have distinct body types, and therefore should NOT be used for this warm-up:

Danny Phantom. Within the context of the show, Danny's body shape and silhouette are common enough to be reused on his two closest friends, his sister, and numerous background characters; his silhouette is very generic for the universe he exists in. If you want to draw a Danny Phantom character for this warmup, consider the Lunch Lady, Skulker, or Amorpho.

Gwen, Izzy, and Bridgette from Total Drama Island. Total Drama has a habit of using similar or identical body shapes for female characters, which will give you little to work with. Better total drama candidates include Beth, Eva, or even Dakota (from roti).

Dipper and Mabel Pines from Gravity Falls. Their designs are a base from which all other designs, especially those of other kids, sprout (compare to Pacifica, Gideon, Grenda, and Candy; notice how all four designs are variations on the twins). Some of the best characters would be Manly Dan, Robbie, Fiddleford McGuckett, or Lazy Susan.

Anyone from the main cast of Equestria Girls. There is no variation whatsoever in these body types; and no, hair does not count as variation.

Additionally: Be wary when picking your characters that they aren't too distinctive so as to make them untranslatable. Steer away from:

Phineas from Phineas and Ferb. The triangle head is all well and good until it looks absurdly incorrect in any other art style.

Most characters from The Amazing World of Gumball. These characters have great potential for humanization, but because they lack distinctive human features, it's incredibly difficult to fit them to any other art style.

Some fusions from Steven Universe. Multiple limbs and facial features will clutter a design, especially on a simpler style. Again, while these designs have the potential for humanization, this warm-up isn't about redesigning, it's about style matching.

TL;DR:

Too many words? Too much to think about? Here's a simple chart you can follow for quick warm-ups. Pick one character from one show, and a separate show to match styles with.

Enough lecture. Let’s draw something.

Follow-Along

After picking a character, select a show to style-match. When style-matching, keep in mind the style context in which the original characters exist, and how that style context changes between shows.

For example: Let's take Manly Dan from Gravity Falls and draw him as if he were a background human in Steven Universe.

Our first instinct might be to take the buffest main character we know of, Jasper, and draw Dan with her exact body type.

However, Dan exists in a world where other buff characters exist; Stan Pines, for example, is in-universe relatively muscular and large. We should set our baseline for buff characters to Stan.

Knowing this, we can probably use Jasper as a standin for Stan's level of buffness; after all, there are some characters who are physically larger than Jasper in the show.

All together, we know now that we should draw Dan as larger and with broader shoulders than Jasper, because he is stronger within his own style context than Jasper is in hers.

Summary and Review

This warmup should teach you to pay attention to style rules and silhouettes. At the same time, it should give you a larger palette to work with-- every different face shape, nose, torso block and eye shape is a new tool to add to your character design toolkit, that you can use later in any of your own designs.

Don’t spend longer than 30 minutes on a single sketch, especially if you’re frustrated.

Pay close attention to what you’re doing, and think about every shape.

Remember that good design and good illustration are not necessarily the same thing.

Godspeed.

#chaDes bootcamp #tutorial #character design #wheee this is messy if you read all the way thru it lemme know and let me know what should be changed #while i respect that captioned images are super important... if you use a screen reader i dont think you have a use for art tutorials #at least not hand drawn 2d digital ones #ALSO IF YOU DO ANY OF THE EXERCISES I POST... SHOW ME #I WANNAN SEE #anyway this is something that i really really wish wehad done in my college class #bc we sort of walked away ill equipped to handle specific styles and with very few ideas of the vast possibilities #in human character design

186 notes · View notes