COMBINE BEAN AND SHAPE


PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Combine the Bean and the Shape exercises by making new drawings from photo references to create lineups of different characters.

This part of the people studies can be looser than the upcoming 5 character lineup titled Body Shapes..

  • This Bean and Shape project will get you drawing and then the upcoming People Studies > Body Shapes (5 character lineup project)

  • This project will have you thinking through the story and the connection between the characters while keeping your shape understanding in the drawing.

  • You can work with silhouettes with shapes like Claudia does or just look at your negative space for good silhouettes.

File Naming convention:

  • BeanShapeCombinedFirstNameLastName.jpg

  • save your jpg as smaller than 1920 x 1080

Submit:

Pinterest Reference: https://www.pinterest.com/visualpump/character-design


Susan Bonner - Take your bean studies (2 min) and add structure to them (5 min)

Continue to think about using straights and curves here.

Get some references: Pinterest Collections work well. Here is Susan Bonner's (You need to have a Pinterest login to see these. You will want one in this industry and it is free.)

Demo on Bean and Shape - how to start your file and create characters with shapes in a line up. - Susan Bonner

Claudia Pimentel - Breaking down Body + Gestures with Shapes

  • Gesture first, the whole figure, using LOA, Bean

  • Simplify mass and volume with shape, keeping structure in mind!

Claudia Pimentel - Using LOA and Bean and quick sketching to establish simple shapes helps ground a solid gesture right away before adding details.

Claudia Pimentel - Shape Language: How you choose to represent form through line and shape

  • Your shape language will develop over time (think of it as your own handwriting) - Some of you may already have a good sense of your shape language

  • Focus on loose and fast sketching, but feel free to experiment with different ways to draw form

  • As you can see, my shape language involves a lot of tapered wedges - yours may differ

Claudia Pimentel - Shape Focus while Gesturing

  • Always gesture the whole figure, with Line Of Action and Bean

  • Don't get focused on the details too soon - consider the whole pose first, long strokes, holistic figures

  • Find simple, but strong shapes! This will keep changing and evolving as you find your shape language

  • Continue finding strong shapes in longer poses

Student Examples:


Corbin Swets - Beans then adding characters afterwards for the best action pose emphasis.

Randy Bishop (@randybishop) - Using triangles to make a villainous character.

Fisher Mancilla

Fisher Mancilla - rework on the squid character

Gai Mathu

Miki Davis