The 12 Principles of Animation Created by the pioneers of animation, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston and first introduced in 'The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation', the 12 principles of animation are seen as the 'ultimate guide' for creating appealing and realistic character animations. Using these principles can help you animated something that seems more 'real' in terms of how it moves, and how that movement might be used to express character and personality. They don't always have to be included depending on the style of animation you are going for but they are good basics and despite originally being written for traditional 2D animation they still apply to 3D animation. Other books and animators such as How to Make Animated Films: Tony White's Complete Masterclass on the Traditional Principles of Animation and The Animators Survival Kit discuss these principles in depth and their own thoughts on how to approach them. Although animation can be approached whatever way you wish, if you want to keep within the requirements of the industry you will find it easier and better to adhere to the basic principles of animation. It’s not about mesmerising the principles but whether or not you truly understand and can utilize these ideas that matter. Squash and Stretch
(I looked more at these principles here as well) Using the principle of Appeal we are to create a character design. I started looking up existing characters for inspiration, like the goofy side kicks in the likes of Disney movies to see their designs and shapes. I came across my all time favourite- Morph From Treasure Planet. He is the simplest character but is just such a lovable blob. Although his design is simple it's the way he moves his body, his expressions and personality that makes him such an interesting character. Morph from Disney's Treasure Planet (2002) I was also looking at the designs of some of the Studio Ghibli side characters as most of them are pretty unique. I particularly like Heen from Howl's Moving Castle.. he has bird feet rather than paws and is always grumpy. And the giant, duck things from Spirited Away because they are hilarious looking. I started by playing around with some basic shapes for characters to show what kind of build each of them had. I drew the shape of the characters out first then re-drew them but added a design that came to mind based of the shapes. An important factor for the principle of Appeal is to use a variety of different shapes when designing a character- every good character deign starts with a basic structure of shapes. The shape of a character can also help give a better understanding of what their personality is like for example a slouched over shape can make the character look tired or grumpy, a large chest and shoulders with narrow hips and legs can make the character look more powerful or proud. Another is to keep it simple, too much detail can be distracting and also makes the character difficult to animate- I tried to give these practice characters very simple outfits.
You can see how I tried to start with basic shapes for these characters and add some sort of 3D structure, I wanted to go back to keeping a simple yet appealing design. So developing the moth girl further I came up with the design shown below. I think keeping her curvy with unrealistic proportions makes her interesting looking and the the fluff around her neck, wrists and ankles helps give her a more 'cutesy' look. I liked the idea of doing an exaggerated 'girly' character kind of like Madam Mim when she makes herself look like a pretty woman. Madam Mim from Disney's Sword in the Stone Using her basic shapes and proportions I attempted to do some different poses with her to see how consistent I could keep her design. The thing with appeal is that it can all be down to personal taste- I tried to keep her design cute and colourful to stick to an atheistic that most people would like. The first batch of drawings are poses that contain a lot of perspective so I tried drawing these poses using this characters structure. I struggled with the sitting down pose where the legs are sticking out- considering this characters feet get really narrow at the bottom I wasn't quite sure how her legs would look with this pose and perspective on the legs. Drawings below: I've drawn lines of action and applied the design of my character on top with a pose, making sure I keep her anatomy right while also making her look believable and balanced. This is probably one of my favourite things I've picked up from life drawing classes. Using these lines helps me visualise the characters pose before I even draw it and helps to emphasize any emotion they may be feeling. It's also helped me give these poses more balance meaning they don't look stiff and lifeless- this also improves the appeal of the character. Another principle of animation I took into consideration when drawing different poses of my character was Solid Drawing. As I was looking a balance using basic lines and line of action I also kept in mind the volume and weight of my character when drawing her in an open space. Drawing different angles of her basic shape (in 3D) helped with this and below I drew out a rotation of her head along with some different expressions. Squash and stretch test The style I went for with my character is based off manga and the ‘cutesy’ appeal it has. Of course, whether someone likes the design of a character is all down to personal preference but with this style I am able to redefine the norms (for example with the exaggerated curves, the eyes and face). Even though the character can look simple to begin with, usually in this style they transform to have some sort of power/ magic ability- a bit like superheros, and who doesn't love superheroes? In terms on animating a character like this, the style of manga (or anime for animating) allows you to have an engaging story and despite some characters looking a bit crazy they are relatable, the style can also be a visual spectacle. With this style, I can also execute all twelve principles of animation because the design allows me to flexible with it. I chose to design this character this way because I thought it would be an interesting character to look at but also fun for me to practice drawing techniques on. References
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