Skip to main content

16th May 2020 - Character Design


On 16th May, Creating Comics met up online to learn about character creation.

 We explored:
  • shape theory, 
  • body language and mannerisms, 
  • character signifiers. 

Character design in comics from ChloeStarling

After the presentation, we spent 15 minutes on the drawing activity. It was great seeing how everyone interpreted the different shapes!

So people could continue to explore character design after the session, there were resources for people to explore. Due to the circumstances, I tried to use resources that could be accessed online. 

 Useful Resources...
Character Design References (n.d.) Visual Library. [Website]
CIA (2014) Quick Tips for Character Design. [Website]
Hana Al-Ali (2019) The Shape of Character Design. [Website]
Salgood Sam (2015) Character and Design. [Website]
Strip Panel Naked (2018) The Silent Reaction Shot | Strip Panel Naked. [Audio-visual content]
Super Eyepatch Wolf (2017) What Makes Good Character Design? [Audio-visual content]
Tomatatoro (2016) Character Design Tips. [Website]
WeAre.MakingComics.com (2020) Comic-Making. [Website]
Will Terrell (2012) People Sketching. [Audio-visual content] 

Our next session will be on the 20th June, and we'll be continuing to look at developing our characters. This time, we'll be exploring characterisation and how to apply this to our character designs. 
You can find out more on the WIP Comics meet-up. 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inspiration and developing ideas

After struggling with the noise at South Bank last year, these sessions were our first in Westminster Reference Library. A quiet space where we could talk about comics and participate in creative exercises using the library’s resources. The activities for these sessions were adapted from Lynda Barry’s Making Comics . Session one - New Ideas and Inspiration Our first activity was designed to wake up our imaginations. We all folded a piece of paper into four and scribbled into each section. The piece of paper was then passed to the next person, who drew four monsters using the scribbles on the page. This activity encourages our creative sides in a low stress, light-hearted way. In her book, Making Comics, Lynda Barry states that people become self-conscious of their drawing skills as they get older. Doodling is a great way to get comfortable with drawing and kick-start your creative process! After the exercise, we discussed where we found insp...
Post a Comment
Read more

Characterisation in Comics

Characterisation is such a big topic, which is why we covered it in two sessions instead of one! This time we focused on how to develop a fully-formed character, and apply this to our character designs. Characterisation in Comics from ChloeStarling Resources we used...   Bookfox (2016) 50 Fantastic Creative Writing Exercises. [Website ]   CIA (2014) Quick Tips for Character Design   [Website] Grimes (2019) TheVirtues + Vices Exercise (forCharacter Development) . [Website ]   Hana Al-Ali (2019) The Shape of Character Design [Website]   Masterclass (2019) Writing 101: Guide to Direct Characterization and Indirect Characterization   [Website ]   Scott McCloud (2006) Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels. [Book]   Strip Panel Naked (2018) The Silent Reaction Shot| Strip Panel Naked. [Audio-visual content]   Terrible Minds (2012) Ask A Writer: Building A Better Character. [Website...
Post a Comment
Read more