Character Design // Task 2: Development

CHARACTER DESIGN // TASK 2: DEVELOPMENT

Ibrahim Fazal Ahmad / 0337423

Information Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylors University 

---

INSTRUCTIONS 

This week we had to do some pose designs and exercises based on gesture drawing. We had to do timed gesture drawings together as a class. I really enjoyed this exercise as I would personally do gesture drawings in my own free time anyway. So I do have some experience in this! 

Figure 1: 90 Second Gesture Drawings.

Figure 1.1: 90 Second Gesture Drawings.

Figure 1.2: 60 Second Gesture Drawings.

Miss Anis said my gesture drawing skills were good and I should try and explain how I do my gesture drawings to my classmates. I explained that when I draw gestures, I focus on the big movement of the person. Even if it looks stiff you can add some exaggeration to emphasise the motion. You also have to think about the balance of what you're drawing. Whether the person would fall over, or not. Lastly, the relativity of all your joints and limbs to each other. How far is the left elbow from the right elbow. Is the distance the same as something else on your drawing? Maybe the distance is equal to the length of his arm. These details are pretty important and a few things I think about when drawing. As always, I am a student and always learning so I may make mistakes in my explanations. This is just how I personally do it. 

Figure 1.3: Pose Explanation

Here is some pose ideation for Nyx that I did, I looked through the gameplay of Genshin Impact. Specifically, Xiao and Zhongli. Since I had the game myself, I played the characters and recorded myself and watched the poses in slow motion. After analysing the poses, I created some of my own keeping Nyx' personality in mind. I wanted it to reflect his arrogance and over-confidence. 

Figure 1.4: Pose Ideation 1

Figure 1.5: Pose Ideation 2

Here are the final five poses that I chose. With number six being the final hero pose. Number seven is the only pose that does not involve the use of his spear. I had an idea that if he were to use the full extent of his abilities he could turn himself entirely into a shadow figure and use more close-quarter methods such as a knife. 

Figure 1.6: Pose Ideation Final Choices

Next, we had to create some skin designs for our character. I decided on two concepts, the first being a Kitsune skin. The Kitsune is a fox spirit in Japanese folklore, they can be mischievous and even malicious at times. I thought this personality fit Nyx well and decided to use it as a base for the skin. He is wearing a kimono from the Edo period. Donning a mask of the kitsune on his head. Though his base skin isn't particularly "modest" I kept this one modest to respect the kimono. 

Figure 1.7: Kitsune Skin

Next, I did a more Greek-inspired skin. I used the chiton a traditional Greek piece of clothing from the past as his base clothing. I also found some references for Ancient Greek headgear and sandals. Lastly, I used some Ancient Greek boxing gloves I had found online, which I actually ended up incorporating into his final design. 

Figure 1.8: Olympian Skin

Expression Studies

Simple expression studies for Nyx. 

Figure 1.9: Expression Sheet

Development of Poses

Using the details from his original turnaround I further developed the poses. I did ignore anatomy in some of these which I fixed later on. 

Figure 2: Pose Development

Figure 2.1: Pose Development

Figure 2.2: Pose Development

Figure 2.3: Pose Development

Figure 2.4: Pose Development

Colour Study

For my colour studies, I started off with something inspired by more traditional Greek hoplite armour. I then also attempted to change the red to blue, since blue is a very prominent colour in Greece. For the third variation, I used more of a pastel tone that I took from a Greek palette. I also did the same thing and tried red for blue in this variation as well. For my fifth variation, I went for a darker look. Personally, these were my favourites but they ended up looking too "rich" and "regal" for his persona. So, I opted for the first variation of his colours.

Figure 2.5: Pose Development

---

REFLECTION:

Experience: This part has been the most enjoyable for me so far. I had a more solid concept to work with and I didn't feel as lost when working. Gesture drawing is a hobby of mine and being able to work on it during class was very fun. Especially being able to teach my classmates. It felt nice knowing that my understanding of gesture drawings have improved enough to the point I can help others. Further developing Nyx was also really fun in general. 

Observation: I've noticed the importance of observation in gesture drawing. Trying to keep a motion fluid, interesting, and dynamic is no easy task. Though I have a hang of it I can always improve. I feel as though my ability to capture the general motion and idea shines well, but my anatomy skills still require a lot of work when working at speed. In terms of character designing, I feel like one of my strengths is definitely the amount of research I do. I love to learn about what I am doing, I want it to feel as real and accurate as possible. But I need to apply my ideas more creatively in my opinion and further improve the number of ideas I can create. 

Findings: I've learned that anatomy is a very important factor when gesturing. Some of my poses became completely impossible once the details were fleshed out, requiring me to rework them totally. If my anatomy skills were more accurate I wouldn't have run into these issues. Another thing I learned is the importance of colour. Colours are one of my strong suits and being able to experiment with them made me understand even better how colours can portray a characters idea so different. Such as the gold and red making him look a bit more natural, while the dark blue and gold made him look rich and regal.