Frankenstein's Cat

Frankenstein's Cat is created by Curtis Jobling. His main influence for this is and a lot of his other work is The Sandman. He uses characteristics, such as the the dark lighting and basic yet outstanding shapes for the characters.

Whilst looking at Joblings work it has made me look at character design in a new light. To create a successful character you need to take them down to the core essentials of who they are. What is their identity? Also to make a good character you need to give them a timeless feel (don't give the characters clothes that are the height of fashion) otherwise they will be out of date very quickly.

I have really enjoyed looking at his work he has inspired me even more to look into character design and how I can bring this in to flash work.

MY NEW GRAPHICS TABLET!

I experimented with layering photographs. The photo was originally of a fire that I think works well to separate the characters.
This is the first illustrations I have created on my NEW GRAPHICS TABLET. I was really excited to use it and mess about with drawing again. I think for my first go after a few scribbles It worked out pretty well. I enjoyed layering the colours and line thicknesses to create depth. One of the best things about using the graphics tablet was how I felt I could create a more free style through digital art.

Whilst experimenting with the pen I felt that I wanted to make characters out of the 2 women so I could see how colour, line, tone and texture work together. I think the vivid red tones give an bold, feminine feel to her. Whereas the other 'earthy' character allowed me to experiment with blending but I dont think it was as successful as it looks too scratchy for my liking.

Character Reactions

I have created this character collage to show how different characters react in different situations. I choose Kim Possible, Pocahontas, Fiona and Violet Incredible to represent different characteristics I can relate to that might add to the features of my avatar. 

Kim Possible: this was one of my favourite cartoons that I felt that I could relate to as I grew up because of her feisty personality and I also thought it was cool that her side kick was male. I liked the way it's message was that woman can be just as strong as men. Also they guided each other in situations which added to her caring character. The 3 images of her show that she is just a normal girl (brushing her hair,) but anything can happen to her. She can even fight villains and turn into a horse.

Violet Impossible: Violet called out to me simply because every woman has been as her difficult teenage stage. Hiding who they really are and 'flowering' into the person they are in today's world. That is her process in the film, growing from an uncomfortable teen to a strong young woman.

Pocahontas: she is my favourite Disney character because of her charm, her strength and her need to explore. I think Glen Keane animated subtly by broadening the stokes defining her gradually to show strength. She also shows delicate emotions when she and John need to come to terms with their sharp cultural differences. I am in amazed of how her emotion reflect what is going on in the world around her. I think that is a vital part successful multimedia designs.

Fiona: My favourite part of this character is that she is so different form the other heroine. she isn't waiting for the perfect princess that is so typical of fairy tales. She just stumbles upon shrek in his, lets face it ugly state. She falls for his personality and because of this is strong minded. Even though she is in love she is shown (in the above pictures) to be in control of this. She knows her own mind yet has a loving, caring, reflective side. 

Now that I have looked more closely at character reactions and how they build the character I think this will help me to develop my avatar into a more well rounded character. I think lately my design has been quite flat as I wasn't thinking about how they react to other people/situations and environments. I think all of this will help contribute to a character that better describes my identity.