Monday, January 12, 2015

Creating a Character (featuring Inspirational Illustrations)

Its a few weeks late to be talking about New Year's resolutions, but I'm going to give it a 
shot.

For 2015 I'd like to create a reoccurring character to help develop consistency in my illustrations rather than continuing to create entirely new and unrelated ideas from scratch. I figure this could help to better define my own brand of work.

I've brought a few examples to demonstrate what I'm after.


Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis appeared throughout the war.



Des Taylor's secret agent Scarlett Couture started as the star of several stand alone illustrations before she eventually scored her own comic book series.


Brandy and company are practically the mascots for comic artist Frank Cho.


The Spirit is immediately identifiable with Will Eisner.





This woman in white appears frequently in Chris Reccardi's work before finally manifesting as Agent Xero in his short film "The Modifyers".

As for myself, I'm working to identify some common denominators in what I like to draw, sifting through various genres and archetypes.

Now I want to hear from you. What kinds of elements in my work would you like to see more of? Also, is there a reoccurring character you admire in the arts?
 

6 comments:

  1. It will be interesting what you come up with. Will the character be more like you or more like Honey Lemon? She has to be real. I have to believe that. What is the backstory? I am waiting to find out.

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    1. Glad to have you back here Cal!

      A character based on myself probably has a narrow window of marketability. A heroic female character is far more likely. The general idea is to create a character that doesn't need much backstory, so as to easily fit into many adventurous situations.

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  2. maybe something heroic and/or mysterious with elements of your yourself and a bit of comedy too would be nice.

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    1. You may be on to something there John. Its weird having such a blindspot to my own tastes and interests. Fortunately I have people such as yourself to help me focus!

      You're right than humor and heroics are right up my alley, that's probably why I dig Will Eisner's The Spirit so much!

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    2. I can't wait to see what you come up with Erik.

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    3. I'm hoping to post updates as I develop this project. I have some ideas going on right now and just want to see where they go.

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