Showing a Little Character

I'm a firm, FIRM believer in doing whatever I can to better my skills, my craft, my talent. I've always felt a sort of responsibility to that, as well as to never take it for granted, which I'm guilty of (who isn't). Amidst the chaos of a busy week, I managed to get some practice time in today. I recently found the web site of the incredibly talented Stephen Silver, who teaches online courses at Schoolism.com. I WILL be taking his class, oh yes. But in the meantime, after watching some of his demo's, I decided to try some similar exercises in developing characters. Some of the advice he gives is to work on shape variation, negative space, to push shapes and exaggerate, to be mindful of weight distribution in your characters. Also, be aware of how clothing and accessories wrap around the figure. If you're not sure, get reference!!! Don't guess. You'll only short-change yourself in the long run and have to figure it out eventually anyway. Draw through your shapes, create curves, angles, and watch out for tangents and too many parallel lines. Make sure your features feel connected to the face (easier said than done), and use clean shapes with lots of variety.

So here's what I came up with today. I feel the goofy guy on the bottom right has loads of potential but needs further work and exploration. I HIGHLY recommend you watch the lessons that Stephen so graciously shares on his web site, then go sign up for his Character Design class at www.schoolism.com. I know I will! Thank you Stephen!

www.silvertoons.com