The birth of Morris Kane...

So back to the minor project...
Someone said to me once, that creating a character is a lot like giving birth (not that I would know ofcourse)- It starts of with something small, and takes a long time to develop- suffering through the pain and frustration, particuly nearing the end stages. But once ready, you feel it, and the result suddenly all becomes worth it.

So after going through, well, quite alot of designs and developements for the character, from the evil villain character to the coroner, my designs were getting very complex, as they tend to do- with lines and details that weren't neccesary. I liked them, and some features and elements worked and suited the voice, but I had to think ahead to actually animating this character and drawing it repeatedly...

I started to get very repetative with the designs, even with a varied selection of research into villains, characters and artists, and started to loose direction and found it difficult to move on. In order to get past this, I had to begin to think simpler, think single shapes and rounded forms that were easier to draw and gave a much clearer look and character, only including details that were totally neccesary...

 The design in the top right hand corner of this design sheet interested me and seemed to work- a simple singular shape, with the character's personality still coming through. His small stature, at first, I didn't think would fit the voice, I wanted it to be more of a serious, darker edged character than  i've done in the past, but this desing still seemed to work and added a further visual pun to the piece, with him acting so serious and threatening, yet appearing so small and weedy. So development of the character began...

 The above design of the character was only a quick sketch, but really seemed to work for the character and seemed nice and rounded to draw. His shape and features were simple yet flexible enough for what was needed for the character and his personality. Now the features needed developing to see if anything else can be done with him.

 Several changes were made, but in the end they seemed to over work the character and take away from the inital feel of the sketch and character- overcomplicating his facial features more than anything to a point where it they became confusing and unclear. So the character was taken back to the previous design and tested in quick poses and sketches.

These sketches really seemed to work and fitted the character and dialogue and I felt I could get all of the expression and emotion from him when animating to fit with the voice succesfully, but without being too over the top, unclear and angular. So with a bit of tidying and polishing, heres the final character...

Now the character is born, the fun with him can begin, and Morris will become clearer with creation of the expression and pose sheets...