Project 2: Character Studies

Character studies by Jamie Noguchi from his sketch blog Angry Art Monkey

David Hockney's costume designs for Mozart's The Magic Flute (click for larger view)

Kiwi studies from Jennifer Harlow

PROJECT 2: Character Exploration
1. Pick five of your silhouette studies and revise them based on the feedback you got in critique. Post your before-and-after versions to the blog with a brief write-up on the revisions. Did the work improve? How? Was it easier to see your work with more "gestalt" after you had some time away from it?

2. Create 10 characters and do a minimum of 5 studies of each character for a grand total of 50 drawings. You may use any medium or combination of media you wish. If you are doing characters with a recognizable gender, do a mix of males and females. Don't draw the character in the exact same pose each time; try a variety of views/angles/actions.

3. For each character you create, find at least one visual reference (minimum 10 total). This can be for any aspect of a character - pose, hair-style, dress, hat, wings, paws, eyebrows, weapons, vague inspiration, mood, color, visual approach pointers - anything. Post your visual references on the blog.

All components of the project are due before the beginning of class Monday, January 17.


READING
Read Maurice Sendak's essay on Disney and Mickey Mouse. The essay, reprinted from Sendak's Caldecott & Co., Notes on Books & Pictures, is not available on line, so I'll hand it out in class.

Preview of next week's focus. Advanced Character Studies!
Steve Hammond - SOU Alum and texture artist for Rhythm & Hues. Check out his flatbook.
Alex Munn - Lead background artist for Diablo II - general super star.
Daarken - Photoshop character design painting demo by  - Character artist for Warhammer

REFLECTIVE ESSAY:
In two or three clear, precise paragraphs, write an essay inspired by Sendak's. Who is your Mickey Mouse? I'm assuming it's not Mickey Mouse, because we all grew up with the crappy, corporate version of Mickey instead of the cool, ghetto Mickey. I digress.

GRADING
I'll be using the following rubric to assess the project. 5 categories, maximum of 5 points per category. Click the image for a larger view or click here for the .docx file.

Herodotus studies by Miles