Now that the Summer Semester is over, my brain is starting to recover and I'm looking at my thesis project in a new light.
While my premise is strong, my characters are not. The personalities are there, but the designs are not. One thing I learned in my Summer class (which I strangely didn't learn in my Character Design class in the Spring) is that characters' personalities need to be spelled out to viewers visually, in more than just the facial expressions and action shots. It needs to be immediate - the way they are dressed, the accessories they wear, the shape of their bodies, their posture, their hair, etc. All of these ingredients should combine to illustrate what kind of character we're dealing with.
In a way, I always knew this, but I didn't know how to go about doing it. I got too preoccupied with drawing in a particular style and pleasing particular people that I wasn't doing the the main thing and creating endearing, original, and immediately readable characters.
So, I'm going back to the drawing board. I have certain concrete ideas that will establish my characters more fully. My first step is to write out personality traits in a definitive way. From there, I'm going to embrace research (something that has become much more of a useful habit than it used to be). And then the sketches and designs will come.
I'm excited to see where this reworking takes me over the next few weeks. I'm excited to see my characters begin to take more definite shape and come to life.
