[wayfinder]

hey guys.

i'm making a children's book that plays in the south american rainforest. i have a nice little story, which i won't go into detail about now, cause i always start blubbering like i'm talking to a baby when i tell it. anyway, i'm planning to use photoshop or painter for it and i'm currently in the character design phase.

now here's one of the nature studies i drew for it (reference used, but i took some freedoms with it, like using a different plant, changing the frog's pose etc)



ok, the two main characters in the story will be a little monkey (not a green one, unfortunately) and an old jaguar. i designed
the monkey already, and i think it's pretty cute:



the top left one is an older version.

ok, so i got the monkey. but the jag is giving me serious trouble. while i can reproduce it's body shape pretty well, the head is a different thing. i can't seem to find a solution for it: it's gotta be recognizable as a jaguar, it's gotta be an old jag, and he's supposed to have but one tooth left (don't worry for the monkey, the jag's a vegetarian). And of course, it has to be in tune with the rest of the artwork (not too far away from nature).

here's what little i have:



I'd appreciate any help or pointers concerning the design of the characters!


[edit: link fixing]

[ May 08, 2001: Message edited by: wayfinder ]

[Blitz]

These are great Wayfinder.
Childrens book illustrations are fun. I just recently got done doing one for a project in college. ILLUSTRATIONS

I like what you have going. Id love to read the story.....If you have it typed out you could just copy and paste it into a post on the forum.

As for the characters I like the monkey, youve seemed to work him out to a good point. As for the jaguar I would suggest doing just a few plain drawings of real jaguars and then start to figure out how you could tweek it so that he gives off the personality you want him to portray. Disney does this very well. Look at the Lion King and such...Or the Jungle Book. Character Character Character.

::Personl Note::
Actualy if you could also explain what kind of character the monkey has. Try to have your characters almost tell the viewer what and who they are without trying them reading about it. I think thats just cool.


Your doing great so far. Keep it up, Im gana follow this thread...

Ciao Wayfinder....

Blitz

[ May 08, 2001: Message edited by: Blitz ]

[Ampa]

Nice stuff... I like the top two a lot, and the shape of the final image is definitely correct; instantly recognisable as a Jag. But there already seems to be a fair variation in the style - the frog image is very naturalistic, slightly refined / stylished; where as the monkey is essentially a toon. I think you need to go with one style or the other, rather than attempting to mix the two.

As for the jag, I would suggest you look to Disney for some tricks of the trade when it comes to aging animal characters. Lion King, Tarzan and Jungle Book are all great points of reference, even if you don't follow the style.

Hugz Ampa.

[Myself]

just for fun

[patrick]

I would suggest making the head somewhat exxagerated and the body skinny and saggy. The jowls might droop a little more on the sides and make him lanky with skinny limbs and large joints. Personality is all up to you.

[wayfinder]

Blitz: thanks! When i have the final copy of the story, i'll post it. the abstract is that the fearful little monkey gets lost in the jungle, meets the jaguar and they together face their fears, the monkey his fear of everything, basically , and the jaguar the fear that he has lost his edge with age. I'm probably going to implement this with them scaring away some kind of dangerous animal, a snake possibly, or a different jaguar, by teaming up to form a hideous two-headed KING OF TEH MONSTARS!!!

all very cute though, hopefully


Ampa: thanks! the variation in style is because the frog and the jaguar body are more of a nature study, whereas i already passed that stage with the monkey and developed a character from it. the frog will not be a character in the book, but a decoration, so it will not be antropromorphic as the monkey and the jaguar. it will however not be like the one above, which i mainly drew to get a feeling for the frog, its shape and form and such.

I've been getting myself some image references from stock photography and i taped a tv show about a jaguar, so i guess i'll be able to do something with him soon. i'll post it here.

Myself: thanks, that's great! the brows are really good and give a good impression of age. the shape of the head is somehow different from a jaugar, there more round i think but it's one of the decision i'll eventually have to face: will i give him a little white goatee? it definitely communicates "age", but it also makes him look more fox-like.

patrick, i'm sorry, what's a jowl?`the other advice sounds good, i'll try it out. expect more pics to come soon!

[robust]

I just wanted to tell you that the monkey is the most cutest thing I have ever seen
Nice work by the way.

[wayfinder]

robust, thanks

here's a scene test (markers)



and yes, i do indeed suck at colors.

[edit: muh.. when will i learn this fucking link stuff?]

[ May 13, 2001: Message edited by: wayfinder ]

[synj]

that test scene rocks out! how dare you doubt it hehehe

[patrick]

reminds me of the curious george style of coloring...seems to me, that was very succesful...
BTW a jowl(jowel)?? is the baggy part of the cheek that starts to droop with age, right around the smile lines of the mouth. Basset hounds are infamous for their baggy jowls.
Sorry if it still doesnt help