For the first week of University we were given the task of learning how to draw shapes and forms which will help me understand how objects are made using the shapes. So when I begun I have drawn a lot of shapes to get me used to them. Here is an image of the shapes that i did.
After that I had to pick three characters from a show or game, draw the shapes of which they are made out of, and then draw them in different poses. The characters that I picked for this task are Samurai Jack, Ryuko Matoi and Geralt.
Samurai Jack
The reason why I picked Samurai jack as my first character to breakdown is due to him having interesting shapes that makes together the body. Another reason being his simple art style. I really wanted to experiment with a cartoon character. Down below are the images of me breaking down the character.
As you can see his body is made up of a bunch squares and triangles. In shape language, the square means the character is sturdy and strong, while triangles mean danger and speed. Combining these shapes can tell us that Samurai Jack is strong, powerful and fast. Out of the three characters he was the most fun and easy to pose and redraw due to his simplicity. I also wanted to experiment with a cartoon style.
Ryuko Matoi
I chose Ryuko Matoi for her different art style and design. Not only that I wanted to explore the different sides to. The design is simple while having some extra details to. As you are going to look through this post you will see that the characters I breakdown have an increase in detail which is why I wanted to do it as a theme for this task. Anyway here is images of my drawing and breakdown
When breakdown the design, I noticed it had a lot of sharp edges in things like hair and the cloths the character was wearing. To me this suggests that the character is cunning, fast and dangerous. Out of the three characters, Ryuko was fun for drawing things like expression and design wise. Also because i happen to draw a lot of anime.
Geralt
The reason for choosing Geralt is due to his detailed design and character aesthetic. I love how you can instantly tell what he went through by just looking at his design. Here is my character breakdown.
Geralt shape is mainly constructed out of cubes and rectangles to gonvey a sense of sturdiness and strength. Out of all the characters, he was the harder to draw as I need to learn to draw in a more realistic style for him. However I’m still happy with what I have.
Reference:
Here are the references that I used:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/780107966673696600/
https://characterdesignreferences.com/art-of-animation-8/art-of-samurai-jack
Overall I enjoyed this task as it got me in the mindset I should be in when I’m drawing characters. I feel like I could definitely try and improve on some aspects of my drawing.