Character Design

As an exercise for this rotation, we had to turn mundane objects into characters, so I chose a bottle and a mug to come up with this…

• 

• 

Sketches

I sketched out 3 ideas for a character with the theme of winter; a penguin eskimo, an ice king and a gangster snowman. I decided I liked the penguin the most.

Artist Reference – Michael Kutsche

I wanted to render my character like with the lighting and style of Michael Kutsche.

Outline

Using the mainly the pen tool in Photoshop I drew the basic outline of the character in a front and side pose, making sure that the proportions matched and lined up with both poses.

Base Colours

Next I filled in the colours, testing out different variations to see which combination worked the best. I decided to go with the orange and light blue as I felt the warm yellowy hues contrasted nicely with the cool blues, portraying the warmth of the coat and scarf.

Added Texture

Using the pen tool again, I added texture to the coat and scarf. I build up the layers with a variety of tones to create the fur.

Final Renders

To create the final look, I used clipping masks and adjustment layers to paint the highlights and shadows, making sure the light was coming from the same direction for both poses.

I made two final versions; one with a plain background and one with a snowy winter scene.