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Character Design Brief

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On our first session for the new year, we went as a group to The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Looking to find initial inspiration for our upcoming character design brief, we sketched from various objects around the museum, particularly focusing on interesting shapes and forms.

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It has been enlightening to look at shape in a more abstract sense when thinking ahead to character body design. Usually I would be thinking more literally about humanoid or animal forms to study from, but an odd-shaped vase or trinket of some description could easily spark off new ideas as well.

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First sketch of the day. [Pendant in the form of a Stag. Copper alloy. 1000-700 BC. N.Iran.]

I liked the sausage dog interpretation of the stag, and the almost Aardman-esque antlers (like Wallace's hands sprouting from the head).

 

I found myself drawn to any cabinet of miniatures in the museum collection, as it seemed more likely that I would see more exaggerated forms than those at life-size or bigger. Perhaps the small size and disposable materials encourage a sense of abandon and therefore a boldness of design. Any time I have myself fiddled with a tiny lump of clay or blu-tack, it is easy to stretch or cartoon-ify the shape spontaneously, whereas with a larger sculpture I would pause to consider if I'm wasting substantial materials on something frivolous.

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['Schematic' votives (bronze offerings) from Pre-Roman Umbria. 525-300 BCE.]

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Next, sticking with the miniatures, here's one from the middle as photographed. I'm fascinated by ancient cultures and lost objects created by unknown craftsmen. These offerings are the main surviving evidence of the religious practices of the people in Umbria before the Roman conquest. Therefore, in the absence of further knowledge, we are left only to imagine what this culture involved. I realise in my response to these compelling objects that I value not knowing just as much as knowing, particularly when it comes to images. Mystery feels as if it has a worth all of its own, and I feel free to explore new ideas unbound by historical accuracy.

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Here I'm using 4B pencil, smudged to block out tone quickly. Usually my preference would be charcoal but pencil allows a more sculptural approach and I like the mix of hard line and soft shadow.

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From my first sketches I was spacing out my drawings a little too much, and there is something to be said for a dynamic sketchbook double spread.

 

Over the years I have got out of the habit of sketchbooking, though I really have missed it. When I have focused on exhibiting my drawings, I have stopped seeing regular experimentation as a good use of time if it doesn't lead directly to clean, saleable work. Being on this course has let me come home to a more genuine creative state of mind, where all ideas are welcome and it's necessary to try a variety of techniques.

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[Clay askos (flask) 'in the shape of an imaginary winged creature with a plump body and deer-like head'.

1725-1600 BC. Tamassos.]

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One of my favourite sightings at the museum, as sketched above. I was drawn to the pick 'n' mix imagined design, which I could see in a story about a one-man-band or swiss-army-knife sort of creature. It's amazing to see how imaginative ancient pieces of art can be. Often I spot characters which would not look out of place in a 20th century cartoon.​

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[Remnant of sandstone statue of Egyptian king, Akhenaten. 1351-1334 BC.]

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A surreal but monumental piece from the Egypt section. This large chunk of a lost statue, though just a fragment, was really striking and showed a brilliantly convincing treatment of facial features. The fact that this is carved in stone is mind-boggling. There is an absurdity to the image as it currently remains, and could fit in something like Alice in Wonderland or a Dalí painting.

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The Victorian Era

The next area to explore is a randomly selected time period from which to draw inspiration. In my case, I pulled 'Victorian' out of the hat.

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John Atkinson Grimshaw, 'Reflections on the Thames', 1880.

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I collected a range of images to immerse myself in the rich aesthetic of Victorian era. The world conjured by these pictures is both romantic and profoundly bleak, depending on the lottery of class circumstances.

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My Pinterest page is linked here for further visual research.

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The Victorian era spanned 63 years of immense social change from 1837 to 1901, following the death of Queen Victoria. Britain was undergoing The Industrial Revolution, bringing exciting innovation and drastically changing the landscape of the country. We saw the emergence of telecommunication, photography and Charles Darwin presented his theory of evolution. The British Empire was still expanding, though that wealth failed to trickle down to the working classes, whose hardships are well documented to this day.

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Factory or 'workhouse' conditions for the workers were very poor, and working people usually stayed in overcrowded homes. Shoddily built and cramped terraced houses had tragic consequences on public health, spreading disease in the absence of proper sewerage and clean running water. A survey in 1889 declared that one third of Londoners were living in poverty, leading to a push for government action. We are all familiar with the images of child labour in the retelling of the work of Charles Dickens. Children were expected to aid chimney sweeps, as they could fit in the tight spaces. Several lowly Victorian occupations are pretty nightmarish to contemplate, such as toshers (sifting through sewage for valuable items), rat-catchers and matchstick makers.

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Despite all this injustice, the Victorian era holds a vivid place in our collective imaginations. In no small part to storytellers like Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with his Sherlock Holmes stories, we do like to see the romantic side to the period. Horror and murder mystery seems to just fit the age, so we keep on retelling period classics like Jekyll & Hyde and Dracula. There is a distinct visual language to indulge in. Foggy London streets, moustachioed gents, greasy mutton chops, penny farthings, lamp-lighters... It's a world that people love to keep imagining, for a multitude of reasons. Some people remain oddly fascinated by the grisly case of Jack the Ripper, and maybe there's something intangibly mysterious and atmospheric about the 19th century. The 'steampunk' style of imagined technologies from a bygone era endures with a lot of creative designers, offering a continued pioneering spirit and handmade aesthetic that feels missing with modern technology.

With character design in mind, I have sketched out in ink a variety of people in Victorian dress. I'm not committing to a specific aspect of class attire yet, just getting familiar with the styles of the time.

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Designing my character: The 'Stag'

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It's time to start combining my research and prompts into developing a character. First I selected one of my initial museum objects as the main basis for my design: that being the small 'stag' pendant. Then I needed to think about the Victorian era, juxtaposing that world with my stag figure.

 

My mind wanders into storytelling, and I started imagining a downtrodden stag in the guise of a chimney sweep, using his antlers as a brush. 'Brushhead' was the name of the stag, and I thought it could be the name of the chimney sweeps' profession in this fictional version of Victorian England. The chimneys led me to considering a Christmas conclusion, encountering Santa's reindeer. I like to keep track of unused ideas; there's usually at least an image or two that remain usable at a later date.

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What took me away from this first idea was the character trait prompt which I pulled randomly from the hat. Mine said 'dishonest'. This presented a challenge where my natural inclination is to make a main character relatable and sympathetic. I assumed I would need to steer into villainy and outright cruelty, particularly given the era of history I had been immersed in. However, as I expanded my mind map of word association, I recognised there could be a whole spectrum of dishonesty, from the irredeemable to the charming rogue. My first thought, again from my moodboard research, was Dickens' character from Oliver Twist- The Artful Dodger. A pickpocket, yet a fun, likeable chancer; I thought I could have fun with that kind of deceptive character.

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Here are the first five pages of my sketches working out the look and characterisation of the 'stag'.

It's never a bad strategy to just keep drawing. Although I might have thoughts written down, the sketchbook is the best place for generating new ideas. I tried to draw the stag in as many ways as I could, at this stage not settling on a final design and staying open to changing my mind about aesthetics, characterisation and overall tone.

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Here I began with coloured pencil just to get myself drawing something. Certain character traits start to emerge here, i.e. the 'master of disguise' notion, inspired in part by Sherlock Holmes. This could work as a playful motif to move amongst different social groups, perhaps infiltrating the upper classes. Also, as it comes to designing the form of the character, it's quite a useful device to define the features of the stag underneath a disguise. If he's recognisable to the viewer underneath a hat and moustache, then it should be a strong design in any circumstances.

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The other pages were sketched in black ink, largely inspired by the monochromatic world of the Victorians as depicted in photography and traditional printing methods i.e. etchings. I used a broken Magnum stick dipped in ink to get a broad line, and to encourage myself to create bold, simple shapes. I like to just get my hand drawing something, and let my thoughts respond. Often it can feel random when something really works, so I just need to allow myself to keep going and look to surprise myself, interrupting usual habits by varying mark-making and character features.

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