Associated Lesson: 👼 Lesson 6: Jesus (Fanart)

In this study, you’ll be doing a character turnaround by using a character shape reference and a motif reference.

Character turnarounds are used in the creative industry to help stabilize the design of a character for production. Depending on the downstream application, turnarounds can have very specific requirements. Today, we’ll be drawing a simple turnaround, for illustration.

Step 1: Generate a motif reference and a character shape reference.

Take a moment to think about what this motif + character reference is. These two pictures mean that I’m drawing “baroque streetwear”

Step 2: Trace out the silhouettes of the character shape reference. Make sure to identify small, large, and medium areas!

Step 3: Paste the motif onto the outline of the traced character reference.

Step 4: Set the references layers to 30% and trace out the reference motif onto the reference character shape.

Step 5 :Turn off the guidelines and harmonize the motif across the character design.

Step 5: Beautify the lines with a little bit of ambient occlusion.

Step 6: Done! Show blk cat your creation with the /submit command at https://discord.com/channels/1017943945214435438/1129477874823479387

As you work this week, be attentive to which character you like the best! We’ll be using it for the final project of this course.

Tips

As you are working, always check the relative sizes of the shapes! The most common mistake when constructing a turnaround is to draw a different shape, instead of the same shape from a different angle. A few guide lines can help you check there.

Feel free to copy and paste parts of the drawing! (This also helps with maintaining sizing) Make sure to manipulate it into the right angle!

When constructing the shape, pay close attention to the contour. Notice that the reference design here has the red contour. However, when tracing it onto the helmet, I changed it to the blue contour, to match the geometry of the helmet.

When tracing the motif, keep in mind which one is your favorite. I liked drawing this double moon shape, so I repeated it often throughout the design.

When placing the motif, constrain the design to areas reserved for complexity. Too much detail everywhere will destroy the read of the shape. A good design should be mostly empty, with details placed on the choice places.

In-Class Demonstration

In class, Chroma demonstrated an advanced version of technique where, instead of tracing the motif, she loosely draws inspiration from the motif reference, and incorporates those elements to the design.

Try this method if you are looking for a creativity workout!

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