Showing posts with label character development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label character development. Show all posts

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Eyewitness: Wild Fox Character Designing WIP 001

Eyewitness: Wild Fox Character Designing 

I've been doodling, practicing, and sketching up all kinds of studies of foxes for a while now. My time is so screwy, because my kid keeps having off the wall medical problems EVERY DAMNED WEEK. Today, she got worms! Yesterday she had severe nosebleeds that grossed out the teachers, and they made her go home after the 4th or 5th gush. But, we fixed that up with VITAMIN C + antioxidants like I SAID, really fast, only to find out she got parasites, all that PLUS she her shipment of blood meds arriving the day before that, and a hospital visit the previous days before that... This is NOT the way I EVER planned to live, DID NOT expect, nor EVER intend to live, and yet it keeps ongoing... 

I just want to get my film done for UMASS which is supposed to be screened on the 20th, plus I have to take her to a doctor tomorrow, fit work in somehow, and THEN go to an event at night... 

If I COULD edit videos at home, I WOULD. But, my 2009 comp + video cards, plus 4 year old Apple laptop can;t edit HD videos in Davinci Resolve, and i don;t have Adobe CS. 

Honestly, if she doesn;t stop having these medical problems by next semester i WILL drop out. I CANNOT HANDLE THIS. I'm PAST MY LIMIT. This is EVERY FRICKIN WEEK MORE THAN ONE THING. Either her, or me, or SOMETHING else. Also, my credit card numbers got robbed this week as well.  

So,  since I can't edit videos at home, and can ONLY do it at school, and I was just SO tapped out today I couldn't go, I can;t work on my film until HOPEFULLY MONDAY. I say HOPEFULLY because the last 2 Mondays I COULD NOT MAKE IT TO SCHOOL.... because she's dying of whatever else... shock- horror- drama- I'm FED UP! Ergo, when I go through periods where I'm at home, stuck here, and can;t do ANYTHING, because those happen too... and I HATE feeling, or being unproductive after a certain point.... yeah, most of today I sat and watched YouTube & Snapchat... ERGO: I'm working on designing the wild fox character for the storyboards I HOPE to do after I'm done with my film...



Mostly I'm just practicing from various references, trying to come up with my own original design... I've been trying to sketch actual photos of foxes on Google, which too many are fluffy winter foxes. My scene is SUMMERY so I need a SUMMER COAT FOX which is slender.

When I reference other artists, animators, and cartoonists, they all tend to draw foxes with stubby legs, weasel-like, too dog-like, too cat-like, or some look doofy. Altho' I loved some really good designs out there, they just weren't true to what  fox actually looked like. Foxes actually have long, slender, spindly legs. many artists also try to portray the fox with their heads and necks down, but real foxes have upright heads UNLIKE a weasel, and their necks jut either strait up, or with a slight angle. But, ALWAYS upright.

Some really nice designs I found when trying to see how other artists interpreted a fox for animation was a nice one on a blog by Toni REYNA. And, a FAVORITE of mine was by TheUrbanFOX on DeviantART. But, like I said, i need to come up with my OWN design.

So, I'm still trying to go with the whole Preston Blair formula style with geometric shapes, stylized, yet still semi-realistic, yet simplified.

So far, most of the sketches I've done have been more of a practice sketching and doodling to try and get to know and understand what a fox is, how it looks, but also what makes it look cool as a cartoon. Real foxes also have a very strong personality, and every move and gesture is so full of its unique personalities, and foxes have this intense prettiness to them. I also haven;t quite nailed down the scale of their ears yet.

Here's a progression of what I've been practicing so far:


A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on



Well, that's it for the moment... I'm guessing that whenever I feel the urge, I'll probably be sketching more with this... I'm so annoyed that I cannot work on my film. When i went to AIPH I could work nonstop whenever I felt like it. But, going to UMASS Boston isn't anything like that, plus I have all these other responsibilities, and pressures.








Sunday, December 4, 2016

November Djehkäujaa Sketches

November was NON STOP busy for me!

I did get to do some sketching practice once in a while, whenever I wasn't doing something UMASS related or hospital related, because my kid could've bled to death, and still has this issue ongoing.

Djehkäujaa was especially on my mind for most of November. I would very much like her singing voice to be someone like the late Melanie Thornton (La Bouche), who's anniversary passing just occurred. It was interesting because I'd totally forgotten it was that time, and my art practicing with Djehkäujaa was way surpassing my expectations out of no where, and I kept thinking about Melanie. I know I'm such a baby over it, but it stings.
Miss u Melanie!



Here's the sketches as I got them going last month:


A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on


A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on





A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on

A photo posted by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on






If you want to see the full version on DeviantART of Djehkäujaa's nude sketch it's HERE but u need to be logged in because it's censored due to nudity.




Wild Fox Character Rough Unfinished Character Designing

I still want to continue practicing sketching, human anatomy, and continuing working on developing & refining the characters for "Zenith", but as things come to me, sometimes I need to take advantage of what is happening and go with it to make the most of my times. I definitely still plan on developing more with Djehkäujaa and Ao Xingtao, but I really want to try to push through these storyboards before February.

I'm not sure exactly how this this little wild fox character will turn out yet, since I just started last night by sketching from wild life photos on Google of foxes, but I need way more practice.

It's a VERY short animated short concept. So, I want the characters to look n feel exactly right. I am thinking about keeping Lively much the same, or similar to, way she is in the charcoal piece.


As you can see, the little wild fox is crouching beneath Lively, freaking out over the throng of flying horses landing in the savannah.

As I think about it now, I think I might've actually chosen BLUE charcoal paper due to Erasure's song "Blue Savannah". At the age when I worked on this concept, I owned a moderate stack Erasure CDs (and some tapes) and when I worked on the charcoal picture at home I was playing mostly Erasure's "I Say I Say I Say" album, along with Disney music probably Aladdin, as well as music by Real McCoy, and Fun Factory. I also listened to Soho's "No Hippy Chick", and tracks by Stereo MC.


I'm thinking I probably want to may the fox's paws & legs as black, or dark brown. But, I think probably black. The ears with probably be black. I'm not exactly sure what color i want the fox to be. I wasn't sure if I wanted it to be a brown fox, or a typical red fox. Or, should I go off the wall n make it cherry red?



Anyways, I've consulted my daughter to come up with some concepts & designs herself also for the wild fox. I like a lot of the designs she comes up with. So, I want input from her.

I want the shape & form of the fox to have more geometrical shapes to it. I don't know how to explain this. I want it to be pretty and somewhat cute, but not TOO cute. Not too round like a baby face, and not doofy. I also want it to dart around, and be streamlined.

This could take me some time.

The bulk of my time for now is finishing my film at UMASS this month. Also, today I have VIP tickets to watch The Moscow Ballet perform The Nutcracker in Boston w my daughter thanx to Yelp Elite (because I'm Yelp Elite 2016).

Friday, June 3, 2016

Djehkäujaa Inspiration at The Gym

 Often, when I go to the gym, I find tons of ideas flood me! Or, also when I'm out taking a walk... since we often had good weather off & on, EXTREMELY OFF AND ON AGAIN, I would go walk among nature at South Field (Mass) and be among nature, and trees. Shea Field is kinda zen for me... But, I've been all over that place!

But, lately, its when I go to the gym. I keep getting floods of visuals for scenes in my mind!

There was a REALLY great scene I kept getting, overwhelmingly, that I often would black out, and forgot I was on a treadmill.

But, when I would sit down to try and sketch it out, I was often frustrated with my skills... which is why I'm doing a lot of croquis lately.

Actually, this scene is quite beautiful. It involves a window... and a lot of music... this film keeps wanting to be musical! Like, YOU HAVE NO IDEA! I often can HEAR IT. But, this song I couldn't really hear... it was not really connecting with me in audio... but, the visuals were there. 

And, it was also developing quite a bit of Djehkäujaa's story and character, herself!

Apparently, Djehkäujaa is very much a night-life person... But, what did ya expect from a DRAGON that hangs out with OWLS? Am I right???

It's funny, because Djehkäujaa in her humanoid form is often sullen, stoic, and stern... but, when the music is playing, she's kind like a Goth chick! You know the type! The music starts playing on the dance floor, and they;re all emotive, passionate, expressive, artistic, expressive!
But, Djehkäujaa could never really be a Neo-Goth. She likes COLORFUL THINGS, and a flashy SHOE collecting fetish, and likes shiny clothes. Especially colorful ones! 

I had a whole small story about Djehkäujaa's night-life, life, backstory stuff that was actually really good. But, I could also cut it out of a feature film version without it hurting the flow of the story. I like the idea of various versions of the story that's cut, or re-cut.

It actually has a very MTV music video cut to it... yet, still telling the story with music, song lyrics, and video... Altho' I haven't actually written any lyrics for it yet.

Djehkäujaa is also VERY MUSICAL. VERY
It's a DRAGON THING.




Oh, and here's a doodle... still working on developing Ao Xingtao.... still working on it...

he'll get there eventually...

But, I will say this. Even tho' Ao Xingtao and Djehkäujaa have some unexpected dragon ties in the story, THEY WILL NOT HOOK UP.

I also DO NOT want them to look alike.

I kept getting frustrated over trying to develop him last month, and the sketches looking too much like her.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Xingtao Rough Sketch Practice Character Development 001

Xingtao Rough Sketch Practice Character Development

I was wanting to blog this for a while, but I was doing other things, and since sketching took more thought and effort plus blogging, I was just publishing my older photography of everything from Boho to my Pirate wench OC on Deviant ART, and interacting with people on there.

My Gallery on DeviantART.

I have tons of other blogs of various content, including on Blogger/Google and also Tumblr, as well as multiple social media platforms.


I know pretty much what I want Ao Xingtao to be and look like, only it hasn't quite come together yet. Plus, I want my sketching/drawing skills to improve.

These are very very rough:




I actually really like this design:


The face is loosely based on a combination of Jincheng Wu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and a tiny bit of Nicholas Tse (Xie Tingfeng), but also vintage Tony Leung Ka Fai.

Jincheng Wu:


Nicholas Tse:

But, I also like Donnie Yen. I like the long skull/face look pretty much for this character.
Donnie Yen:

Vintage Tony Leung Ka Fai:


I really like Jingcheng Wu's head shape and facial features. He has very thick strong eyebrowns, and his nose is set into his face with a very sharp look. I also really like the sideburns on him. he's significantly hairier than the other actors. I also like his necklines.
Nicholas Tse doesn't have the long face but there are many mannerisms in his acting style that I like.

But, of course, I don't want my character to be a carbon copy of 1 or the other... just some influences...


But, I was also studying quite a lot of old vintage stuff from the 80s/90s. I was especially enamored with Christian Slater's HAIR:



OMG! Do you see this hair????
It's like super voluminous!

I want Xingtao to have his look honed, and refined, but I haven't reached it yet. I figure that'll be my goal for this year. I'd originally been wanting to practice my painting skills, but I lost my fire for it... meh...

I don't want Xingtao to always have the long hair, like I did in the old picture I did. I like the long hair, but I want him to go through hairstyle changes. Female characters do this, and especially Lively does. But, in real life, men (unlike my father) also change their hair.

It's weird, but it often feels like I forgot how to draw... intellectually, I know what to draw, and how to draw, but it's like my hand-eye coordination is way off. But, as I was going through my old artwork I did before I realized I'd gone through this many times before. So, I know I can get through it again.

But, I need to work out what Xingtao's face will actually be before I can move on to the hair styles... but, part of the practice is both.

Another thing I don't want to happen, is I don't want Xingtao to look like Djehkäujaa. Recently many of my sketches would kinda turn out looking a bit too much like her, and I was not happy about that.

I just need a lot more practice.


I will hopefully get my credits audit soon, because my University orientation in on June 7th, and then I can most likely (hopefully) start my federal Work Study program (job/salary). 

They've screwed up my application many many times since February. So, I can't even sign up for classes I want yet, and most everything is full. 

I'm also finally back to going to the gym, but my lungs are still damaged very badly, and I sometimes I must take codeine. I hope I can improve my lungs capacity/strength by the end of the summer.  My asthma is really bad right now.

Other than that, not much else to write about... most of it is inside my head/heart/dreams/feelings/muse... It probably doesn't look like a lot, but actually it really was.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Character Development: Ao Xingtao 敖兴涛

My mind is all over the place, and it's as though it has tides and streams...

I was searching today for a lot of references, for aerial drone video cinematography footage, and photography. There's so much to pick through on just Youtube alone, and Flickr.

But, ever since I'd decided to create multiple male characters that would be of interest to Lively, I actually felt so much better. It was like a major weight off my chest! You have NO IDEA.

I felt I couldn't ever deiced or get it right...

I always felt some kind of terrible guilt or shame over it that I cannot even explain.

But, once I did that, I felt I noticed Xingtao develop more.





I also think I've decided on a surname for him: "Ao".

There's a reason for it. I know its a bit of major rule breaking, but I'm gonna break 'em anyway.

If you've ever read ancient Chinese books, novels, etc. the old stuff is rather weird, but it has all sorts of meaningful things that often tend to have been thought out incredibly in depth. The thought process doesn't translate well at all to Western languages nor ways of thinking...

But, if you've ever heard of Feng Shen Ban or Feng Shen Yan Yi it's pretty much a list of every and any "god", deity, magical being, or whatever from ancient times. It's also written in an ancient way which may seem silly or ridiculous to a modern person... That text is even older than the Hebrew Bible.

Anyway, in the text it talks about the Dragon king gods, and their surname is always: 敖

These are The Dragon Kings of the 4 Seas:
敖廣 Ao Guang
敖欽 Ao Qin
敖閏 Ao Run (Western Sea)
敖順 Ao Shun

and there's other ones also...

I believe in the Xi You Ji (The Journey To The West) the White Dragon prince (also a Horse and eventually a Buddha) is related to Ao Run, but I don't actually recall him being named at all... except for his Buddhist name which was 白龍馬 "Bai Long Ma" (White Dragon Horse). At the end of the story, the Bai Long Ma gets to India to The Western Heaven to see the Tathāgata and becomes a Buddha dragon 八部天龍廣力普薩 or 八部天龍馬, and changed from white to (in my translation) white and gold in a special pool for washing dragons. Anyways, he got some fancy titles... it's normal in ancient Chinese stories and ancient cultures that special individuals got more than 1 title. My translated version had him with a title different than the ones online in English. 

Ironically, the Dragon became the white horse as a kind of punishment, or penance , but his crime in our eyes would seem silly. He broke something, and was sentenced to death for it. Kinda extreme, right? But, of all the other characters in the story of the Xi You Ji it was Bai Long Ma that was the BEST and MOST behaved and MOST loyal to his shifu, Tang Sansang AKA The Golden Cicada. 

Anyways, I decided that since I have a Dragon theme going on, it only made sense to pick an appropriate Dragon's surname: 

It sort of adds to the mystique of the character... because it's lost in meaning unless you were well read and cultured...

Also, I am having my setting of my story as an alternate version of our world. I also plan on having extra moons or visible planets in the sky.... 

I want to show, or portray, a vision of a world culture heading in a new and positive direction, environmentally, and show it panning out, only to have my villain/antagonist character to be the destructive antithesis of that vision... I'm NOT sure if I could include "space elevators" like Arthur C. Clark wrote, because that's his work... and not mine... but, I could portray the world as it was intended to head towards starting back in the late 1990s of which I was a part of... SO, I hope to incorporate permaculture, and really GIVE people a positive vision of the future, because lets face it, THERE IS NO STAR TREK on TV anymore... just the old dated reruns... (I so love them tho'.) 

I have so many ideas that I couldn't even begin to start.... 

So, his name will be: 兴涛 Ao Xingtao 






Also the word 敖 can sort of mean to "flirt". 

There are also variations of the word 敖 "Ao" also still called "ao" that can have all kinds of meanings like to saunter, to stroll around, to flow around, fly around, to travel the world... I guess it depends on how you use it...

Some variations can also mean pride, arrogance, snobby, or haughty... which I think adds very nicely to the complexity of the character, and his personality.....

I also think I will change his hair a few times...








I also want to create some other male characters that will be of interest to Lively... I have a few vague ideas, but they won't be quite as in depth or dynamic as Xingtao. Xingtao's major vice is mystique... only, he doesn't know that it is... he's mostly oblivious to it, unless his mood changes... He's like 2 mane personalities that he lives out; 1 is an introvert, and the other is an extrovert... and, neither are quite exactly who he actually is... and even he doesn't know.... he seems to know what he's doing, but is lost, but when he seems lost, he actually knows what he's doing...

He can be very calculated and well thought out, or suddenly impulsive. he wants order and balance in his life, structure, order... but, when things are too strict, he hates it, and he will break away from it, and even self sabotage. He wants order because he's been too foolish many times, and screwed several things up, but he also wants freedom... so he settles into 2 mane modes of being, the introvert and the extrovert.

He wants to have, or find, or cultivate JUST the right balance where things won't go to hell, and but he can be free, fun, expressive, but he also wants the status that comes with responsibilities, he wants wisdom, maturity. In some ways he's incredibly bold, and in others he's incredibly timid, quiet, strict.

To those whom he works with he has the persona of being happy-go-lucky, friendly, fun, and even verges into cocky, and a show-off... But, he also can compulsively thrust himself into his work, tasks, etc. and often way too much.

But, in his personal life away from that, he's strict, quiet, stoic, and even statuesque, or appears cold, stern, or boring. He hides away in his home with music, movies, creative things he never really shows to anyone, stacks of poetry notebooks, photo albums, electronic components, tinkering projects, and inventions, or spends time hiding away from people in nature, the trees, yard work, or spending time with animals, or doing his creative endeavors alone while sight seeing all over the place... like landscape painting, calligraphy, photography, videography, or improv' playing an instrument.

He has a love of beauty, beautiful things, and beautiful women. He also see beauty where others cannot.

As the story goes on, I will have him more interested in meditative things, but not so much in the beginning... In the beginning he will be a lot more expressive, and robust. But, as it goes on, he will become more cultivated... almost like a Vulcan in Star Trek... only not...

He will also not always be in the story... he sort of goes to different places for various reasons.... and, he's always wanting to learn something, know something, or find out something... but, he doesn't want everyone to know everything about himself... so much so, there are things about himself even he doesn't know... Like he's trying to figure out who he really is. There's also a reason for this aspect.

Well... it's all in his name right there: 兴涛




Anyways, altho' my Chinese isn't the greatest at all.... and after deliberating over choosing his name, I consulted a picky person about it... and we always have long conversations... I actually didn't really want to tell this person the name of my character, nor that I was creating one... because he might want to butt-in, and throw off my groove! ARG! But, since I kept asking him for feedback, he got nosy, and found out what I was doing... 

That was a LOOOONG conversation.... 

But, after constantly learning and asking, and contemplating, and discussing, he walked passed me much later on and said: I like that name you picked. That was very good. 

I was deathly afraid I was possibly breaking some rules, which I might be, but he actually sounded IMPRESSED. WHAT??? 

Great! None of those long lectures of: Don't do this! And DON'T DO THAT... and being totally nonplussed as to why, and culture differences that don't translate... so frustrating. .... but, luckily it went WELL! ^_^

Credit Notes: 

Chinese calligraphy program used to generate these Chinese ming-zi 名字 (names) is programed and created free of charge at: ChineseTools.edu specifically found HERE.

I LOVE this site so much! I've been using it since the GW Bush era and it's just getting better & better! THANK YOU Chinese tools!

They also NOW do other language scripts such as Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Tibetan, and Thai! Many many others also!