Lion and Hyena Characters..

Yup, I'm having quite a bit of fun designing two new characters for a children's book (to be published - hopefully - by Fantasi Books). I've been learning a lot from Ed Benedict's approach to character design (of course my stuff isn't nearly as brilliant as Ed's designs.. duh!). Also, I'm just trying to have fun with it and follow my own design insticts. The last thing I want to do is copy someone like Ed Benedict's style. I try to search for character personality by means of drawing my characters with various facial expressions (usually I imagine my character reacting to something specific). At the same time I'm searching for design shapes that fit together. I'll post the more refined character designs later.

Exploring Character..

I'm really starting to explore the possibilities with my two characters - trying to find a balance between good design, cartooniness, fun, and originality. And I have to tell you, once you let go of your intellectual preconceptions, it's really not that difficult. I'm having such fun. Lately I've been inspired by the creative thought processes and ideas of Ralph Bakshi, Tex Avery, Ed Benedict, Ward Kimball, Matt Groening, story artist Warren Foster, and, of course, John Kricfalusi. I've also been very inspired by the idea of creating something that doesn't suck as much as most modern "designy" cartoons, and bad 3D animation movies.

I would really urge anyone in the business of creating cartoons to read this great post by Ralph Bakshi: http://www.animationarchive.org/2007/08/opinion-bakshi-on-2d-vs-3d.html

New Characters..

I started playing around with a couple of cartoon characters the other day. Not really sure what I want to do with them yet. Maybe a cartoon strip. Maybe I'll create an animated cartoon. I'll see.

All images copyright © Gerhard Cruywagen 2008

The one is a rhinoceros. The other is a chicken, i think - or at least some sort of big bird (which strikingly resembles a chicken). I started refining the designs and exploring their facial expressions. More to come soon..