Some of the feedback I wanted to spend some time on from the last term was to refine my character design and make a stronger connection between the character’s younger and older design. It was particularly the younger design that seemed to fall short of having a resemblance to the older character model. Also as I had already completed work on the 3D model, the 2D character moments were easier to change.
Character Construction Sheet from previous term:
The original construction sheet I had made for the younger version of my character was one of the first construction sheets I had made for the character. I was experimenting trying to decide what shapes and sizes I would need to make a consistent look in the 2D animation, however, I was focused on that and not on the strength of the character design itself. Luke Coventry gave me some great advice about how to strengthen the design, specifically about off-centring the hair and how to make the character look younger, with fewer details around the nose, making things look rounder and smaller.
Luke's advice:
I looked at some references such as Mowgli from Jungle Book and other child character construction sheet sketches whilst I redrew some of the sketches for this character. I feel I was able to achieve a much younger look by just making a few tweaks. The asymmetric hair was something that I particularly think helped the design, making a stronger silhouette as well as showing more resemblance to the older version of himself.
Reference images:
Here is the new sketches I created for the young version of the character!
This is still an area I would like to improve on generally but for this specific project I elected to move on to the rest of production as there is much 3D to complete!
