Premise: Character Design Exploration - René

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For my Premise project, I wanted to push myself in terms of the character designs. As this story is based on my previous character project, I wanted to develop the style a bit more to suit the romantic atmosphere. I'm starting this design exploration with my character, René, the male lead for my animation. I put together some mood boards for his appearance to get an idea of how he could look. My tutor, Alan, suggested I collect some images of celebrities that I could use as reference and inspiration for his looks.


I wanted René to have a soft and kind face, but still quite chiselled to match his aristocratic background. I also wanted to figure out what kind of clothes he would wear, so I sketched some outfit variations, keeping in mind that because he is from an aristocratic family, he would be well dressed in smart suits. I also created some quick colour variations, keeping the palette neutral to represent the era that I'm basing the story in, 1920s France.

I'm taking inspiration from the Art Nouveau movement, however I was advised to have a look at the animated short, "Paperman" from Disney, so I wanted to experiment with a more cartoon-y style of drawing to see how it would look. I want to keep the shapes simple but also wanted to make sure I include René's significant features, his slicked back hair and crooked nose.

I like how both styles look, and although I am slightly leaning towards the first style, I'm still unsure of what direction I want to take. I may try and sketch a combination of both and see how that appears and see how this translates to my female lead character, Linette. 

Comments

  1. Art of Max Ashby24 April 2020 at 22:28

    Awesome designs Chelsea, I like the second set :) they look much more stylised and expressive!

    ReplyDelete

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