Warm-Up
in this rotation I have explored various exercises such as creating characters that based on random chosen objects. One of these starter exercises was to draw my chosen object within a limited time frame, the next was to draw my chosen object as if they were a humanised version of what they were based off and to finally draw my chosen object in simplified shaped of maximum of 4. These mini exercises were quite challenging but were able to help me grasp a general idea of how I could think outside the box and create characters. The first major exercises was to come up with a storyline and setting for my character. During this time I had come up with various ideas all ranging from dark and eerie to light and quirky.
Story And Setting
my final idea was a bartender who was sick of her day job quits in a fit of rage and ends up finding a mystical alcohol bottle who gifts her the powers to become rummy girl.
I ultimately chose a storyline which basis was in a world where all morticians are Grimm reapers my main character who is a plague doctor is given the chance to be given 1 wish of her most important desire if she finds soul fragments of a wandering reaper. I then was given a task to have 3 major character traits that would ultimately define my main character whilst setting personal goals. I had struggled with this aspect because it was not something I was used to. I was given the task to analyse and explore different character designs and see what makes each one, balanced and contrasting, as well as the movement of each subject.
Experimentation
The next task was to throw away our original design and explore all of the possibilities. This was quite difficult as I am not used to this specific experimentation. The idea was to not focus on a perfected outcome but as a result I disliked quite a few of the drawings and mixed media I dabbled in.
Finalising the design
This part of the task I was to finalise a design that best stunted my character setting as well as the personality traits I assigned them. The first few designs I made I wanted to grasp a traditional eerie plague doctor who had floral patterns. However the more variations I made the more I could see the picture of my main character. I had tweaked the base personality traits and decided I was bold, compassionate and cheerful which is quite different from her design which is what I had hoped for.
After some thought I had chosen to select the design that had the most circular features and shapes because I felt it reflected the character design quite well.
Character Turnaround
Character Expression Sheet
Character Sheet
How will I animate my main character?
for this character I wanted them to move quite cartoonish to express their emotions and how they operate with personal or light hearted situations and relationships however I also wanted the to show contrast on how she treats patients and serious situations. I plan to use pose to pose to animate the body but use straight ahead for more serious expressions/setting.
Squash And Stretch
The idea for my main character to move similarly to Akko from little witch academia to show her bright and bubbly expressions despite the setting.
Anticipation
lots of eccentric exaggerations and anticipation to show how erratic and cheerful she can be. Perhaps bright eyed or starry eyed. Especially when she experiences a joking moment. Or she might move similarly to to the main character Maka Albarn in soul eater.
Follow Through & Overlapping Action
A lot of my inspiration stems from little witch academia and soul eater. In terms of movement I liked how lively and bouncy the style was in little witch academia but I also liked the dark aspects and themes in soul eater. I specifically wanted to replicate the way they go about their weapon transformation.
ease in ease out
just like in the Nichijou anime i wanted to mimic the ease in and out aspect of some it’s shots.
arcs
secondary action