Below is the map of images I used as I worked:
Despite these being pretty basic outlines I think her shape is already improving. I looked at the images of anorexics and I also pulled one image of a thin model to see what shape the hips would make if someone was literally pulled upwards. I think her shape sits better now. She's still unnaturally thin and quite angular but it's a little more believable. The front view hips don't have any details so I'll work that out next but I think it's a big improvement!
Great Molly - character design is all about refinements and the application of real world logic in an intelligent way. It's not about 'going backwards' when you revisit a design - although it might feel that way - it's about taking things forward. For further inspiration and some pointers re. dynamic poses for the female form, check out the illustrations of Erte:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.art-deco-style.com/images/Symphony_in_Black_by_Erte.jpg
Ahhh brilliant, thank you! Once I get her design right I'd really like to try out actually drawing her as a character instead of a study so I'm looking forward to doing some research into dynamic poses :D
ReplyDeleteThe most important thing in Character design to remember is this word :
ReplyDeleteSilhouettes.
Always make sure you're returning to the silhouette and making sure it reads as a black object. Making sure the shapes and negative spaces are interesting and original. This also translates into 3D in Maya by the way, with no lights in the scene, by pressing 7 (or may be 6! Its just muscle memory for me at this point :() you can make the model completely black and look at it in its bare silhouette form.
Oh excellent, thanks! I'll try and make sure I keep popping back and checking the silhouette when I'm working. I haven't tried tackling modelling characters in Maya yet (I'm actually pretty scared of it X( ) but when I get there I'll try out silhouettes in that too :D
ReplyDelete