Character Concepts

When designing the character I started out by sculpting the character's head for two reasons. The first was to get the right facial features for the character and the all important character appeal. The second was to save time when drawing up the character in photoshop. Rather than drawing the characters face from scratch I could import the sculpts into photoshop and paint over them if needed. This would provide a strong template which would keep the facial features consistent.

Here are some of the drawings that I came up with.

During the early conceptual stages of the character I had some issues regarding the build of the character. Frank himself was slightly out of shape. However, I kept making him too heavy which didn't fit the character nor the specifications of the director. I went through a few images before I got the right results. Some of the earlier concepts of Frank had a few animalistic qualities in the facial region which was not wanted. Using reference images of John Goodman as well as the concepts drawn up by the director I set about re designing the character. Although I did like some of the illustrations Chris felt that the physical qualities did not match his vision. I have to remember that my preferences are not always in the director's best interest so I changed the designs in the hope I could produce an image that Chris was happy with. I had feedback from several students suggesting that the character needed to be pushed slightly. Some recommended John Goodman in the Big Lebousky.

Looking at the reference material and character concepts I tried to reach a middle ground between John Goodman as well as the concepts produced by chris. The process took a few attempts but when i finally came up with a build that was appealing it was very rewarding indeed. The feedback as well as the specifications made by the director as well as other students really helped me refine the character. I eventually found the character appeal I was looking for. The image that shows a 360 view of the character was the most popular design.

Just drawing the character was a tough job as I had to create something stylized yet at the same time had to match the specifications of the director. I must remember that what the director wants is the most important thing as every aspect of a character tells you something about themselves.