After reading Thom Taylor and Ed “Newt” Newton’s book “How to draw crazy cars and mad monsters” I was inspired to try a few of my own.
Archive for the 'character design' Category
For this self-promotion piece I went with a circus theme. My initial idea was to have a monster or creature standing behind the ringmaster with only it’s huge feet visible. That didn’t work because you couldn’t tell what you were looking at. Changing it to ape and revealing more of the leg made things clearer. I like the idea that you can only see a part of the ape and it adds to a sense of scale.
As for the style, my inspiration was mostly UPA animation and picture books from the 1950’s. I kept the drawing pretty simple with just enough rendering to show the form. Definitely tried to get away from the painterly look. You can see my development work below.
Redrew the ringmaster making him shorter and fatter and more cartoon like. The creature turned into an ape which seemed to fit the scene better.
My first attempt at the ringmaster (right) had him tall and elegant. In fact he looks more like an equestrian sportsman. I wasn’t sure what do with the creature either. I scrapped this version and started again.
Final pencil drawing – PITT oil based pencil on Bristol paper. Size: 28cm x 36cm.
Rough sketch on detail paper Size: A4.
Col-Erase blue pencil on detail paper.
Brush and ink sketches.
Girls from my sketchbook (Above).
Did these ones very quickly in my notebook. (Above).
Trying to go for a more stylised look. Flattened out the character and worked on creating a distinct profile (Above).
One of the most memorable characters in the St Trinian’s movies is played by George Cole. Flash Harry is a long time friend of the St Trinian girls. He’s the archetypal cockney spiv always involved in shady deals. Definitely a shifty and crafty character.
A few drawings based on The Doll Squad. A movie which inspired the series ‘Charlie’s Angels’. They’re Beautiful, They’re Dangerous, They’re Deadly!
With these sketches I tried to avoid hard outlines. Derwent pencils on cartridge paper, A4 size.
Album cover image sourced from The Retro Spector.
The movie Cadillac Records (2008) chronicles the rise of Chess Records in 1950’s Chicago. R&B artist Beyoncé Knowles plays the blues singer Etta James. These sketches are inspired by both Beyoncé and the even more extraordinary looking (and sounding) Etta.
Here’s this weeks Illustration Friday submission. Topic is Muddy.
These girls were inspired by the look of Sixties singers like Helen Shapiro, Ronnie Spector and Dusty Springfield.
Medium: PITT oil based pencil and watercolours/acrylics on 230gsm watercolour paper
These are my rough development sketches. First I drew the basic pose (left) then on detail paper refined and stylised it further (right).
Method: After I was happy with my refined sketch I transferred it via light box onto watercolour paper using blue Col Erase pencil. Went over the blue line with a Pitt oil based pencil (extra soft). They work well on watercolour paper. Painted using W&N watercolours (pan set) with a little opaque acrylic on the dress, shoes and the gloves.
