IT LIIIIIIVES (for now)

[tealin]

I've decided to take it a little bit easier with this animation test at work, and do some more art in my spare time. What, though? Well, I poked around the internet a little bit and discovered that lo, Herbert West is PUBLIC DOMAIN.



MWAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!


I read the first story over again today at lunch (so appetizing!) hence the youthful visage. First, a page of exploratory doodles where I try to find a head shape that takes him out of the Milo/Wiggins hybrid he was before. Just when I thought all hope was lost, something finally clicked: shorten his face, duh! Thank you David Hyde Pierce for being nerdy and short-faced.

So, then it was turning the page – I'm trying to draw on only one side of the paper now so I was unable to look across my sketchbook at what I'd just done and had to remember it. Urmh, effort. I also thought I'd try a trick someone was talking about at work, where you do a pose and then another pose that could animate off it, or an antic and then a pose or just two consecutive poses or ... I'm getting technical. Drawings:
I like to think it shows that I've been running copies of Tony Fucile drawings for my sister. I was hesitant about giving him a big nose because I went through the phase of Big Nose = More Interesting Design, but it seemed to contrast nicely with the other shapes of his face, emphasizes the horizontal, and has acute angles and a small enough base that it doesn't look like a 'big nose,' it just happens to stick out a long way. And it helps set him apart from the characters he was resembling before. Is this true, or is it wishful thinking? Also, are these just way too big? They looked appropriately small when I resized them in Photoshop but in blog context they look a little .... big. And I don't remember what resolution my monitor is. Also, am I stealing this design from something? I'm starting to get annoying at work for pointing to a design and saying 'that looks like so-and-so' but it's practically impossible to do that with my own stuff.

Mr Narrator will be next, then (if attention span allows) maybe some scene studies or something. I've got plans for you two, oh yes, even if it takes seventeen years...

Comments

[tweakfox.livejournal.com]

These are awesome! (This is Courtney from Cap by the way ^_^) You've got quite the range in expressions going on there! I really like the last one on the right, hee hee, he looks like he's seriously plotting something!

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

ZOMBIES, man! (er... lady) Zombies. Good times.

Congrats on not becoming a zombie yourself!

[tweakfox.livejournal.com]

I almost did too eh? Gradshow was a killer! It's all done now tho, which is good. It's scary out there in the real world looking for work!

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

You'd better believe it! Just don't freak out if you don't get hired immediately – business has been abnormally busy the last few years but grads don't usually get picked up until new shows start production in late summer/fall. Unless the way things are done has changed drastically in the last year or so...

[tweakfox.livejournal.com]

For sure! That's what I've been hearing. I've got my job at the bank to tide my over in the meantime. I've applied all over so hopefully when stuff starts to pick up a bit things will happen! ^_^ Just gotta keep the ol' fingers crossed!

[jesskat.livejournal.com]

I love the last two expressions. The others too, but these especially. I'm not an animation expert, obviously, so I can't comment on the technical side of the design, but I like the nose.

There's something very Hogarth Hughes-esque about the last four sketches, especially #3. If his face were a little rounder and his nose shorter, I could believe it's an adult version of Hogarth. So I think the Tony Fucile influence shows there.

[verselus.livejournal.com]

Those first sketches could definitely pass off as David Hyde Pierce lookalikes. I could definitely see Niles being a model for these. I could also see how you progressed frome trying to get away from the Milo/Wiggins hybrid, but I think with making the nose bigger on him, I think you progressed into a Clopin design with short hair and glasses. If you're trying to go completely unique, I would tweak that a bit. But one thing that does make these designs stand out is the ears. They stick out from the side of his head at a nice angle and help play with the expression. If you used color with the designs, you could definitely use them to your advantage. Color them red when he's embarassed, angry, etc. Anyways, that's my $0.02. But I do love these sketches. As someone who can't draw worth a crap, I think these are amazing! :)

[capnflynn.livejournal.com]

These are fun! Sticking out his lips for different facial expressions is definitely ... er ... expressive.

As a struggling would-be animator, could I beg you to talk more about the technical thing you mentioned briefly? You stopped before I could understand what you were talking about. Thank you! ^^;

[lisafeld.livejournal.com]

Squee! I love his expression in the last pic; that mouth is fantastic!

[beckychan.livejournal.com]

I agree that his nose looks long, but not big. He doesn't look like anyone in particular that I've seen. Maybe a human Dr. Doppler (TP), but then, you did compare him to David Hyde Pierce.

Unfortunately for me, not knowing the character, it's not squee material for me.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I once knew someone who looked EXACTLY like a human Doppler, so I am now blind to people resembling him, but I think Mr West is generally too pointy and slight to make a direct physical comparison.

(No need to clarify; as far as I am concerned, TP is The Doppler Movie... :D)

[beckychan.livejournal.com]

:giggle: I'll keep that in mind for next time.

Yeah, Doppler is certainly rounder in general. Maybe it's the eyes...

[beckychan.livejournal.com]

Hee hee! I love your pic of maniacal you!

[tannhaeuser.livejournal.com]

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

The hair is definitely something I have to keep playing with ... I was looking up photos of medical students c.1910 a couple days ago and they all had their hair plastered flat to their heads -- parted differently, but still plastered. I was thinking maybe I'd ruff it up a bit as he got madder, but I really like that cockatoo look. Thanks for linking to Burgess Meredith, that is exactly what I was going for, and his hair is both crazy and unified enough in shape to not look too anachronistic.

You know what, I didn't even land on David Hyde Pierce until well into the second page of drawings, and didn't look at a picture of him until writing this post ... I guess I have a better memory for faces than I thought. I was trying to capture the tautness and energy (and shortness, of course) more than any particular physical feature...

[tannhaeuser.livejournal.com]

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's fantastic! Thanks!

[tannhaeuser.livejournal.com]

[pooryorick.livejournal.com]

I adored those earlier bits you did of West, and this looks fantastic! It's also really interesting reading about your design process. I think it certainly shows; he's much less Milo-y and is starting to get a very distinct look now. I particularly like the hair, and yeah the nose does seem to work nicely.
Can't wait to see more!

[(Anonymous)]

He seems a bit like Neil Patrick Harris, but only fleetingly. The resemblence is strongest in the first sketches, the one just above and to the right of the bottom one. Well done, and I love all your work! Oops, sorry, this counts as fan mail now, doesn't it?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I have no idea who Neil Patrick Harris is, so it must be entirely coincidental. Thanks for the compliments though!

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Nevermind, just looked him up. I know who he is but ... really? His face is so broad, and his chin so ... not pointy, and I only know him by his portrayal of somewhat stupid jockish characters so I wouldn't have called him up when trying to think of a nerd.

[iseepurplehair.livejournal.com]

I'm really fond of your earlier West bits (made a desktop out of them, even ^^; ) but since I just read the story recently these seem to convey the character more accurately.

I can't wait to see more of your Lovecraft pieces, I've forgotten how much I love his stuff.

[priscellie.livejournal.com]

These are great! So much vitality.

[myster-web.livejournal.com]

I can definitely see the change and improvement from your earlier designs, but he still is the same old crazy mad scientist! :) He's got a bit more character to his face with it being shortened and the longer nose actually works! (I have a love-hate relationship with noses myself) I'm still not letting him in my house though...

[moonmystique.livejournal.com]

The expressions are really wicked on the bottom there, and you kept him nicely on model 8)

[diminutivefox.livejournal.com]

In my completly unprofessional opinion I reckon the nose fits in their great, you've got to love a good nose.

[floramir.livejournal.com]

The mouth on the one on the bottom right makes me think of that sort of animation they used in 'The Phantom Tollbooth' and some of the 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons. Funny, I just thought, about the slicked down hair, he (West) could try to smooth it all back (like Mylo in Phantom Tollbooth when he's going to conduct the sunrise) only to have it poof back up again. x) Messy hair is just better anyway; slicked back usually equals 'villain who spends to much time in front of the mirror'.

Thanks for drawing again! 8D

[hlange11.livejournal.com]

Wiggins sounds familiar to me, but I just can't remember exactly what Wiggins is from....help?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Pocahontas. 'He came so highly recommended...'

[hlange11.livejournal.com]

AHA! Why thank you! I would've been busting my brain till tomorrow figuring it out! Haha, Y'know...I do see some similarities.