This week I started to research “Gravity Falls”, the show I chose for this project. Gravity falls was a highlight of my childhood and I absolutely love the art and character design behind this show! Alex Hirsch was inspired to create the show from his childhood memories with his sister during the summer. I loved the overall theme of this show and I think the loveable atmosphere was really empathized by the character designs. Gravity falls characters, the younger ones anyway, are round with exaggerated features especially their chins and eyes.
Gravity Falls Style
I started by exploring the design of characters in the show, analyzing shapes, facial features and general character design!
These are some examples of my sketches including some of my own character designs. I struggled trying to create my own character even after my analysis. I wanted to create a unique character that stays true to the style while also still resembling the other characters. I explored the idea of a creature for the show. This is a recurring aspect of the show and I wanted to create a unique design myself! I researched cryptic and folklore of the area gravity falls is based in and rewatched episodes of the show to remind myself which creatures have already been explored!
-> This is my own character design. I started experimenting with creature designs and then simple human designs. I started brainstorming a moth man esc character but I discovered this was already a creature mentioned in the show and I also loved my human character sketch.
To research the style of the show I looked into the character design and environment designs. I analyzed the shapes that make up the characters and tried to pick aspects I liked and didn’t like.
Grunkle Stan is very boxy. His nose, because hes an older male character is larger. I don’t love his character design and felt I wanted to do something more childlike and rounder.
Exploring Design Techniques
I wanted to explore how I would approach creating a 2D character to fit a 3D space specifically in the gravity falls style! I did this by looking at other peoples models on sketchfab analyzing how they did the design. They usually used a sphere for the eyes of the model. They also didn’t include eyelids instead just placing the sphere over the face. I also liked the approach in the second image where the designer created a 2D outline to the 3D model allowing them to create wrinkles and other facial details. I loved the line details in the gnome design and wanted to include this in my own design.
Designing my Character
I knew from my character research I wanted to design a younger character. I found out certain aspects I wanted to include within the design such as the bulging eyes, large chin and mouth, skinny arms and legs with a rounder torso. I looked at the children’s character designs and loved the shows approach to glasses.
Research
Gravity Falls Wiki- Robertryan Cory Character Designer
Art Station.com- Background Art