I was set a task to use accurate proportion in a character sketch. For this I found a very useful resource on Pinterest which demonstrated the idea of accurate character height perfectly. Visually it tells how high a character drawing should be based on the height of the head used. For male character, they should stand eight heads tall and for female characters it stands at seven and a half.
Once I understood this idea, I used sketch daily to find a reference I could recreate. I found a nice image by Ranum,M (2013). Which I felt demonstrated the idea perfectly. I recreated the character pose and added interests with touches such as the armour and the more intricate spear. I have annotated my drawing to show how the head of the character lines up with the seven and a half guidelines.
I would have like to take this design into Illustrator for refinement however feel like it does a good job at showing character proportions just as well as if done digitally. One thing I didn’t implement from the reference image was the crossed legs of the character. This I feel would have added interest in the design and if I were to redo the sketch, I would include this. Otherwise I am happy that the sketch shows character proportions well.
I thought it would be a good idea to show a male character with this 7-segment method for proportion. So I found another reference image from sketch daily, taken by the same artist as the female image and recreated this character in the same style I did the previous.
I started by marking out the seven different sections. Marking where they fall in relation to the body as shown in the image reference. I recreated the character pose, while not adding in the clothing, as like with my recreation of the female character I will make this character wear thick armour also.
Here you can see how after I have a design, I am happy with I go over the linework with a ink pen to make the image pop. Also here you can see the design I chose for the armour of the character.
This is my final design for this character. I think the design works well with the previous one I produced and results in two characters you could see sharing the same video game or film universe. I have marked out the seven section guide so that you can see how using this method results in realistically proportioned characters.
References:
Ranum,M (2013a). SketchDaily [Website]. Available online: http://reference.sketchdaily.net/en/view/FullBodies?Gender=Female&Clothing=true&ViewAngle=Front&Time=class [Accessed 23/11/2020]
Ranum,M (2013b). SketchDaily [Website]. Available online:http://reference.sketchdaily.net/en/view/FullBodies?Gender=Male&Clothing=true&PoseType=Stationary&ViewAngle=Front&Time=class [Accessed 23/11/2020]
Unknown Artist. Pinterest.co.uk. [online]. Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/458241330806967401/ [Accessed 23/11/2020]