Hei
Right now, I want to share with you the behind-the-scenes of character design.
You may see a lot of character design circling the character sheet, yet what is behind the scenes of that character sheet?
In this thread, I hope you can learn or be informed about this, and maybe open a new window on how I need to design my character.
What I will share is based on experience and knowledge, knowledge that came from a great teacher who has some background in the animation industry.
First in character design,
Its premise. It's a simple sentence.
The sentence will be like this
S-P-O-T-S
Subject + Predicate + Object + Traits + Settings/Timeline.
Subject is the who (Who is your character, or what is the profession)
Predicate is the action (Want to do what)
Object is the purpose (To what or to whom)
Traits are the why (Because of what? Something happened to the subject?)
Settings/Timeline is basically the place (it is used for the costume or the fashion of your character)
If you want to expand or maybe help, you can use the literature hero archetype
-Classical Hero
-Everyman Hero
-Superhuman Hero
-Tragic Hero
-Epic Hero
-Anti Hero
An example, Classical Hero.
An undercover operative posing as a wealthy heiress baits corrupt politicians into betraying their secrets to fulfill a promise to expose the syndicate that destroyed her father, driven by a cold, sadistic pleasure in seeing powerful men fall in the high-tech, futuristic VIP lounges of modern Tokyo.
So in this phase, there isn't any personality like confident, timid, shy, carefree, etc. Because you don't need to focus on preference first, what you focus on is the character. The cold and sadistic pleasure in my example isn't the personality of the character; it's the true desire of the character.
What happens if a timid person feels the same? What happens if a confident and strong person feels the same? What happens if the carefree and joyful person feels the same?
The next step,
Make the concept based on the shape.
Shape can tell us the personality of a character. However, in this step, again, we don't focus on the personality or the preference of the character. We focus on body language.
Basically, in these steps, we will draw this character from the premise in different personalities, but with focusing the premise. How do we draw personality without focusing on the personality? Shape.
There are three shapes that we need to focus on: Rectangular, Oval, and Triangle.
Those shapes will shape the personality in raw looking.
Rectangular is for a strong, confident, tough character.
Oval is for a friendly, timid, shy character.
Triangle is for sneaky, dangerous, carefree.
These shapes don't need just one shape; you can combine each shape based on the premise. For example
The character is strong, but she is also timid; you can combine a rectangle with an oval.
The character is strong, but she is also dangerous; you can combine a rectangle with a triangle.
You must be asking, "My style is anime, so this shape is hardly achievable."
For stylized style, this method will be fun to draw or achieve. For realistic or anime style, which the style is so rigid, so to make the body shape with basic shape, hardly to execute. However, this shape is not just about body shape. It can focus on the clothes, accessories, hair, or even eyes. With this, the silhouette of the character focuses on the costume and accessories, not fully on the body shape.
For example, my own drawing, the last thread.
In this sketch, firstly, the shape of the hair and the pants. However, this is still weak. You can add accessories that emphasise the shape, like a necklace, an armband, a ring, a bag, or even a pattern. In the first character, I need to draw a heavy belt like an industrial belt, a necklace that shape rectangle, and a rectangular bracelet, or even the eyes.
In this step, the artist will draw a lot of concepts, not fully done, maybe a sketch. As this step focuses on the shape, the raw concept is enough, which focuses on the silhouette and basic costume.
Because the main purpose of this step isn't to see the final product of the character, but the personality of the character from the shape. The director, producer, or supervisor needs to see this exploration of shapes as the premise is still raw. Usually, the one who creates the story will analyse every shape and choose it.
After the shape is chosen, for example, a rectangle.
Now, the artist needs to explore the focus of this shape.
Different pose, different attire, different hair, etc.
The purpose now is about appeal. From the shape, we have found the personality and character of the premise. Now we need to find the appeal that shows the character's personality.
There is a story in Tangled behind the scenes, "The Hot Man Meeting". Basically, the character designer couldn't tell whether the character is handsome or not. So they invited all the women into one room, and discussed the exploration of looks, which one is the most handsome.
Basically, they knew the Premise (Charming Thief) and the Shape (needs to differ from the bulky Stabbington brothers), but they had to iterate hundreds of specific features to find the right kind of charm.
So in this step, it's about the appeal of the character, what is the charm or the appeal of the character, what is the personality of the character, why this character needs to wear these specific clothes, specific accessories. The clothes and accessories need to emphasize the personality, not just for preference, but also for the tool. If you can't answer why this type of clothes, it means you lack the foundation of the appeal.
Almost finish.
The next step is about color.
It's color theory and exploration. You have the premise, the shape, the look, yet you need to know about the color.
Coloring isn't just putting red, yellow, etc.
Color has psychological. Warm color, cool color, and monochrome have their own meaning.
As my character is strong, I need to use warm colors.
As my character is passive, I need to use cool colors.
As my character is strong but a genius, I need to use warm + cool colors.
After that mix is, there are some theories: Complementary, Analogous, etc.
Coloring has a pattern. 90/10 ratio, 60-30-10 rule, and etc.
What is the focal point of the character?
My focal point character may be dice. So this dice needs to be colored differently from the character, yet how can the viewer see the focal point?
60-30-10 rule.
So you use color to make the viewer's eyes focus on the dice.
For example Starfire
She used split complementary. What is split complementary?
Color scheme using a base color and the two colors adjacent to its direct opposite (complement) on the color wheel.
Back on Starfire again. Her power is the color green, so the designer needs to make this color as appealing as a show as a main focus if she uses the power. How do I do? They use split complementary for the costume. In the purple and red costume with green power, her power is impactful, strong, and the main show.
In this coloring step, the artist will basically color the character with as many colors as possible, they will try a lot of patterns, theory and, etc.
There may be a Starfire raw design with purple power, with orange and green outfits like the color wheel above.
After the color is done.
The design is done. The artist will draw the character sheet. The expression, the exploration of the pose, and the turnaround of the body.
So, let's start from the beginning, if you want to draw or design a character.
First, you need a premise.
One of the big questions from my teacher makes me think a lot and use that question a lot.
"What is the first thing between the character and the story?"
The story is the first thing you need to do. Don't think I want to draw a cool character; I want to draw a tragic character. If you think like that, your mind is basically in a cage, and you are stuck.
For me S-P-O-T-S Method is the best way to create character in writing or designing a character. Trait in there isn't a personality. Personality is the surface behavior; desire is the engine underneath. Basically traits are like the engine.
Secondly, explore your concept first; don't focus on the final product. You need to focus on the raw material first.
Keep this in mind, on shape exploration.
"Shape answers: What does this character feel like at first glance?"
So with shape exploration, you slowly get to know your character. Like someone introducing themselves to you, your character is slowly being introduced to you.
Thirdly, explore the appeal.
You have the premise and the raw personality of the shape. Now, you want to know about your character personality, not just personality, but also an appeal.
Appeal answers: Why do we want to keep looking at them?
Like "The Hot Man Meeting," as the character is handsome and charming, there must be something we need to know. How to make that character appealing to the audience? How do we make the audience keep looking at them, as they will look at him all the time, or the entire movie? Basically, they want the character not to be boring, for the entire movie, the audience doesn't want to see a boring character.
Lastly color,
Color is about focus. You have the premise, the shape, the appeal, and now you need a focus. How to make the audience captivated or focus on the character. How does the audience know the story behind the character? Color can be a tool for that.
Character sheet is circling around the premise, the shape, the appeal, and the focus (color).
I hope with this, you can see the character sheet as a big window. Because, back then, as a young person, maybe in high school, see character sheet as a sheet of information. Trying to copy it. Yet, it always stuck. Now, I see a character sheet with a glance of aspiration. There must be a lot of breakdown to achieve that sheet. So, what I am trying not to copy the sheet. But the copy shows how the artist breaks down the character, the premise, the shape, the appeal, and the color.
The character sheet is the finish line, and we need to see behind that finish line.
If you have character design, I will gladly review it for you, or if you are stuck, I will gladly help it for you.
Have a nice day, and hope your day is shining like the sun.
Right now, I want to share with you the behind-the-scenes of character design.
You may see a lot of character design circling the character sheet, yet what is behind the scenes of that character sheet?
In this thread, I hope you can learn or be informed about this, and maybe open a new window on how I need to design my character.
What I will share is based on experience and knowledge, knowledge that came from a great teacher who has some background in the animation industry.
First in character design,
Its premise. It's a simple sentence.
The sentence will be like this
S-P-O-T-S
Subject + Predicate + Object + Traits + Settings/Timeline.
Subject is the who (Who is your character, or what is the profession)
Predicate is the action (Want to do what)
Object is the purpose (To what or to whom)
Traits are the why (Because of what? Something happened to the subject?)
Settings/Timeline is basically the place (it is used for the costume or the fashion of your character)
If you want to expand or maybe help, you can use the literature hero archetype
-Classical Hero
-Everyman Hero
-Superhuman Hero
-Tragic Hero
-Epic Hero
-Anti Hero
An example, Classical Hero.
An undercover operative posing as a wealthy heiress baits corrupt politicians into betraying their secrets to fulfill a promise to expose the syndicate that destroyed her father, driven by a cold, sadistic pleasure in seeing powerful men fall in the high-tech, futuristic VIP lounges of modern Tokyo.
So in this phase, there isn't any personality like confident, timid, shy, carefree, etc. Because you don't need to focus on preference first, what you focus on is the character. The cold and sadistic pleasure in my example isn't the personality of the character; it's the true desire of the character.
What happens if a timid person feels the same? What happens if a confident and strong person feels the same? What happens if the carefree and joyful person feels the same?
The next step,
Make the concept based on the shape.
Shape can tell us the personality of a character. However, in this step, again, we don't focus on the personality or the preference of the character. We focus on body language.
Basically, in these steps, we will draw this character from the premise in different personalities, but with focusing the premise. How do we draw personality without focusing on the personality? Shape.
There are three shapes that we need to focus on: Rectangular, Oval, and Triangle.
Those shapes will shape the personality in raw looking.
Rectangular is for a strong, confident, tough character.
Oval is for a friendly, timid, shy character.
Triangle is for sneaky, dangerous, carefree.
These shapes don't need just one shape; you can combine each shape based on the premise. For example
The character is strong, but she is also timid; you can combine a rectangle with an oval.
The character is strong, but she is also dangerous; you can combine a rectangle with a triangle.
You must be asking, "My style is anime, so this shape is hardly achievable."
For stylized style, this method will be fun to draw or achieve. For realistic or anime style, which the style is so rigid, so to make the body shape with basic shape, hardly to execute. However, this shape is not just about body shape. It can focus on the clothes, accessories, hair, or even eyes. With this, the silhouette of the character focuses on the costume and accessories, not fully on the body shape.
For example, my own drawing, the last thread.
In this sketch, firstly, the shape of the hair and the pants. However, this is still weak. You can add accessories that emphasise the shape, like a necklace, an armband, a ring, a bag, or even a pattern. In the first character, I need to draw a heavy belt like an industrial belt, a necklace that shape rectangle, and a rectangular bracelet, or even the eyes.
In this step, the artist will draw a lot of concepts, not fully done, maybe a sketch. As this step focuses on the shape, the raw concept is enough, which focuses on the silhouette and basic costume.
Because the main purpose of this step isn't to see the final product of the character, but the personality of the character from the shape. The director, producer, or supervisor needs to see this exploration of shapes as the premise is still raw. Usually, the one who creates the story will analyse every shape and choose it.
After the shape is chosen, for example, a rectangle.
Now, the artist needs to explore the focus of this shape.
Different pose, different attire, different hair, etc.
The purpose now is about appeal. From the shape, we have found the personality and character of the premise. Now we need to find the appeal that shows the character's personality.
There is a story in Tangled behind the scenes, "The Hot Man Meeting". Basically, the character designer couldn't tell whether the character is handsome or not. So they invited all the women into one room, and discussed the exploration of looks, which one is the most handsome.
Basically, they knew the Premise (Charming Thief) and the Shape (needs to differ from the bulky Stabbington brothers), but they had to iterate hundreds of specific features to find the right kind of charm.
So in this step, it's about the appeal of the character, what is the charm or the appeal of the character, what is the personality of the character, why this character needs to wear these specific clothes, specific accessories. The clothes and accessories need to emphasize the personality, not just for preference, but also for the tool. If you can't answer why this type of clothes, it means you lack the foundation of the appeal.
Almost finish.
The next step is about color.
It's color theory and exploration. You have the premise, the shape, the look, yet you need to know about the color.
Coloring isn't just putting red, yellow, etc.
Color has psychological. Warm color, cool color, and monochrome have their own meaning.
As my character is strong, I need to use warm colors.
As my character is passive, I need to use cool colors.
As my character is strong but a genius, I need to use warm + cool colors.
After that mix is, there are some theories: Complementary, Analogous, etc.
Coloring has a pattern. 90/10 ratio, 60-30-10 rule, and etc.
What is the focal point of the character?
My focal point character may be dice. So this dice needs to be colored differently from the character, yet how can the viewer see the focal point?
60-30-10 rule.
So you use color to make the viewer's eyes focus on the dice.
For example Starfire
She used split complementary. What is split complementary?
Color scheme using a base color and the two colors adjacent to its direct opposite (complement) on the color wheel.
Back on Starfire again. Her power is the color green, so the designer needs to make this color as appealing as a show as a main focus if she uses the power. How do I do? They use split complementary for the costume. In the purple and red costume with green power, her power is impactful, strong, and the main show.
In this coloring step, the artist will basically color the character with as many colors as possible, they will try a lot of patterns, theory and, etc.
There may be a Starfire raw design with purple power, with orange and green outfits like the color wheel above.
After the color is done.
The design is done. The artist will draw the character sheet. The expression, the exploration of the pose, and the turnaround of the body.
So, let's start from the beginning, if you want to draw or design a character.
First, you need a premise.
One of the big questions from my teacher makes me think a lot and use that question a lot.
"What is the first thing between the character and the story?"
The story is the first thing you need to do. Don't think I want to draw a cool character; I want to draw a tragic character. If you think like that, your mind is basically in a cage, and you are stuck.
For me S-P-O-T-S Method is the best way to create character in writing or designing a character. Trait in there isn't a personality. Personality is the surface behavior; desire is the engine underneath. Basically traits are like the engine.
Secondly, explore your concept first; don't focus on the final product. You need to focus on the raw material first.
Keep this in mind, on shape exploration.
"Shape answers: What does this character feel like at first glance?"
So with shape exploration, you slowly get to know your character. Like someone introducing themselves to you, your character is slowly being introduced to you.
Thirdly, explore the appeal.
You have the premise and the raw personality of the shape. Now, you want to know about your character personality, not just personality, but also an appeal.
Appeal answers: Why do we want to keep looking at them?
Like "The Hot Man Meeting," as the character is handsome and charming, there must be something we need to know. How to make that character appealing to the audience? How do we make the audience keep looking at them, as they will look at him all the time, or the entire movie? Basically, they want the character not to be boring, for the entire movie, the audience doesn't want to see a boring character.
Lastly color,
Color is about focus. You have the premise, the shape, the appeal, and now you need a focus. How to make the audience captivated or focus on the character. How does the audience know the story behind the character? Color can be a tool for that.
Character sheet is circling around the premise, the shape, the appeal, and the focus (color).
I hope with this, you can see the character sheet as a big window. Because, back then, as a young person, maybe in high school, see character sheet as a sheet of information. Trying to copy it. Yet, it always stuck. Now, I see a character sheet with a glance of aspiration. There must be a lot of breakdown to achieve that sheet. So, what I am trying not to copy the sheet. But the copy shows how the artist breaks down the character, the premise, the shape, the appeal, and the color.
The character sheet is the finish line, and we need to see behind that finish line.
If you have character design, I will gladly review it for you, or if you are stuck, I will gladly help it for you.
- ❑ Can I explain the character in one SPOTS sentence?
- ❑ Can I draw them in 3 shapes without losing premise?
- ❑ Does every accessory answer why, not because cool?
- ❑ Is there a clear focal point controlled by color?
Have a nice day, and hope your day is shining like the sun.
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