Evaluation

For this project, I set out to write a dissertation on designing characters to explore the use of shapes and colours to see if it made character design better. To test the theory I would put it to the test on my own characters. I believe I have done what I set out to do and have informed my practical through my research. I am very happy with the result, especially on the bat. I feel this project has made me a better character designer and I am looking forward to doing more. 
If i were to do this project again I think I would do more non related character designs before I started to design the final one as this was good with the few i did as it helped me learn and practice, i wish I had time to do more of these. 
Overall though I am very pleased with this project and I believe it will be a great portfolio piece and hopefully will be the base of a successful animation.

Academic poster

Presentation of final work

Here is how i wish to present my practical work. This shows the workings through and the final products. I will also submit the final boards themselves i think. I think this booklet is a professional, elegant, concise way of presenting my work that looks good and could even be printed out and still work http://issuu.com/elysejackson/docs/practical_booklet-please_look_at_we?e=16839447/33061000

Quetzalcoatl style sheet

This is the style sheet for Quetzalcoatl that explains his design including the use of shape. I think this looks good and ties in well with the bat one and is informative enough that the animator will be able to draw this in whatever form it needs.

Quetzalcoatl

These are the various facial expressions of Quetzalcoatl. I believe these work well. The eyes were difficult as the sides of the face are not face on the they are slanted back slightly. Cartooning the ultimate character design book by Chris Hart  p 35 was very helpful in drawing facial expressions.

Quetzalcoatl

I then refined Quetzalcoatls action pose which would be when he gets angry and it looks much better than the original design i did with bigger and better wings and a better facial expression. I even moved his tail as i believe this would be a secondary action that shows his emotion much like the bats ears. As Quetzalcoatl is quite a calm and still character that doesn't appear much, this is the only action pose i did as i don't believe others were necessary as he won't use them.

Quetzalcoatl

Next I did the turnaround. I don't expect Quetzalcoatl to move very much as he is more like a deity or idol which tend to be more still that people just go and visit. For this reason I just did a basic turnaround. I like the side view best as it shows his more regal pose with the big wings and head feathers.

Quetzalcoatl

I decided that Quetzalcoatl looked too nice and not important enough to say he is a god. To combat this i decided to make the wings stand up and out a bit to create a more regal feel. I also changed the facial expression so look less cute as this makes him seem more like a friend and not someone that important.

Bat style sheet

I created a style sheet as this is what designers do to put their character across and try and give the animator the best idea they can about the character they have designed. This needs to include, facial expressions, turn arounds, action poses, and possibly a bit about how to draw the character. So here is mine which include all of these things including a few comments about why things are the way they are.

Bat design

Putting the bat into poses was quite difficult but having the turnaround for reference was helpful. Although it was difficult, it is a necessary part of character design as it shows what your character is like in his personality rather than just stood still.

I used 3d shapes the start off these images as it helped to get the positioning right and angles. I learnt this from the book How to draw comics the marvel way which helped me a lot and really improved my drawing abilities. As you can see from the first image, I didn't start this way. This caused my design to look flat and lifeless. A little angling can work wonders! I learnt this from creating characters with personality by Tom Bancroft p.71.where he describes tilts, and curves and rhythm

I think overall the poses work well and this has made me really look forward to animating this bat. I think i could still learn a lot about movement in my drawings but i think it just takes practice which i intend to.

Bat design

I created a sheet with different facial expressions on. This helps me get to know the character and the way his face moves and allows me to figure out how he shows his emotions. I figured out that it would be interesting for the bat to show its emotions like a cat- in his ears. I think this works really well. Then of course most of the rest is in the eyes.

Bat design

It was decided that there should be no texture as it looked more professional but also would make it not so complicated to animate in the future. After deciding this and getting the design down to how i wanted it, I made a turnaround. p57 in creating character with personality by Tom Bancroft was helpful when it came to the side view. it started off really flat but then i remembered how making things stick out farther can create more appeal.

This consists of the front and back view, each profile view, and the respective 3/4 views. This helps to figure out the size and shape of the character in 3d form so when it comes to posing the character later we know its form.

Bat design

I set up a colour scheme voting sheet and took it to our crit and asked everyone in the class to vote on what they prefer. 
After much discussion we decided together that the bat should be grey with green eyes. This shows that the bat is a boring colour which is more reason for the change and also grey is a colour associated with the antagonist as it is a form of black.

Tutorial #6

Practical needs to be finished including style sheets.
Written - make sure quotations are right, illustrations are all cited correctly. Rephrase a lot of it. Tidy up layout. Needs proofreading. Then binding.
Hopefully I will get this done by Friday.