character development
here was my instagram caption
this man's house
is about to be run over by a bulldozer.
His upper lip is stiff, his gaze is resolute and he’s NOT going to let it happen. He is definitely not wearing a dressing gown.
ford prefect
I though Martin Clunes would make the ideal Ford so I cast him in the role, but with a pot belly, skinny legs and a curly blonde hairdo.
haha just found another
early sketch for the Hitchhiker’s Guide. This was the Vogon captain reciting bad poetry after a disastrous affair of the heart, and before his sidekick threw our heroes out into space.
marvin
I didn’t go with this OC design in my ink drawings.
I should have done. Maybe next time.
this was a study for
a restaurateur.
Sometimes first scrbbles just come right. That happens about 3% of the time.
Even so, I don’t know if this guy is wearing a mask or he just has a double chin.
joey
a character invented and described to me by Ania for a story she is going to write one day.
Mr Sir
as described by Louis Sachar when we first meet him.
Holes is a wonderful rich book. One day I should do more on it than I have.
stanley
credulous overweight middle-schooler.
zigazg
nascent psychotic with a blonde mop
Pendanski
slimeball creep
sachar
gives a fantistic credibility to all his characters.
X-ray for example has exactly the character that natural leaders have, despite being quiet, non-violent, and physically short.
early stage
sketches for Zero, X-Ray and Armpit.
and our
dysfunctional band of campers takes shape.
Skottie Young says that all main characters should have recognisable silhouettes, and that’s good enough for me.
See my finished work here.
women of a certain age
inspired by a lovely poem called Lunch With Girlfriends by Kathy O’Malley.
Though not all of my character exercises are appropriate to that.
“my name
is Gregory Peggory” I replied with dignity.
brock
also referred to as “Badger” – a sketch for an original character in my own poem describing the exploits of Brock and Ted that you can find here.
captivated
by Sam Gayton’s book Hercufleas.
Here is our hero as a bright young thing, liberated by his own ignorance before the troubles of life throw themselves at him.
My character. Nothing like the illustrations in the book.
and
plonking on some emotions or “fleamotions” as I guess the pun-loving author would have it.
Back on the Hitchhiker;s Guide, and here’s
slarti-bartfast
My character study based on John le Mesurier, who Douglas Adams had in mind for the character (according to Wikipedia)
trying
to capture that farawayslightly-angry a-bit-dissapointed smile-frown
slarti-bartfast
– getting there –
yup!
happy with that!
All of the above, and a bit crazy too!
the anti hero
from a Polish fairytale.
He’s just stolen his brother’s sword and can hardly lift it.
and
a witch and a troll from the same story
the miller's tale
everyone’s favourite tale from Chaucer.
Here are Nicholas and John.
fun fact
I had a student holday job once mopping the floors at Marks and Spencers, Edinburgh.
Another long story: This was a DTIYS based on one by Craig Imrie and some of the elements can also be found here.
someone's
nerdy brother from a project that didn’t get off the ground.
and
her grandpa too.
footnote to mobile site . . . This note appears in a sidebar on computers and tablets . . .
this was the instagram caption
to an early sketch of Arthur Dent for the Hitchhiker’s Guide.
Developing a character for an illustration project I’m working on. This guy is English. Home Counties. A Guardian reader. (More likely he reads both the Guardian and the Telegraph) Of genteel stock. Often confused and frequently angry but possessed of a certain sense of sardonic humour and resilience. His name is Arthur Dent.
I have a yearning to illustrate the works of literature I admire most. The challenge is to take something lovely and add another layer of complementary beauty. That needs creative reinterpretation – If I’m not adding value, the task isn’t worth the candle.
This story is screaming for fantasy caricature illustration. 40 yrs too late, but hey it’s a classic eh? .
This is an exercise in getting to know my characters as if they were real people.
But they aren’t . . .
