Mentor Experiment: Body Proportions

The task for this week is to understand how exaggerating body proportions can emphasize certain physical attributes of a character. Exaggerating body proportions of a character not only adds visual appeal, it also gives the viewer some insight into the character’s physical attributes. For example, a smart character is usually depicted with a large head, compared with the rest of their body. A strong man is usually depicted with a large chest and arms. We can use the flour sack exercises from last week to help us understand proportions.

Your assignment this week is to use line of action, silhouettes, exaggerated proportions, and form to create drawings for each of the following:

1) A brainy, but short mad scientist.

2) A slender, talkative evil queen.

3) A muscle-bound, clumsy pirate.

4) An overweight, but cunning policeman.

5) A tall but unintelligent cowboy.

I’ll add more examples this weekend for further clarification.

-Krishna

Krishna January 19, 2012 character design tips