Serafine's model

This is the reference sheet I made of all the images of Serafine I could gather:

General note - Click any image to view it full size

all concept art drawings are copyright of Tracy Butler, http://www.lackadaisycats.com/

And this is what the model I'm making currently looks like:

At this point I thought it looks kinda like something that could one day look like Serafine in 3D.
But it still has a way to go, especially the face seems off, and the palm needs better definition. (Not to mention clothes – we'll get to that later)

So, I made the following side by side comparison, to help me define the problems:
(Under each image I wrote the notes I gave myself. Whatever you think I missed please share with me)

• the eyes are too big and angle up too high
• the lips are too round
• the eyelashes need to surround the whole eye and have a point in the inner-lower eye corner
• the ears are in the wrong place – need to be lower
• the hairline needs to be lower
• the cheeks’ outer part needs to be more prominent forward
• the top of the head needs to be narrower
• the eyebrows more angular and thick
• the curls need to be more angular
• the eyes need to be sunk in more and the part between the eyelid and the eye brow should be resting over the eyelid
  

• The nice line on the (far) side of the face needs to be created by pushing the eye in, making it smaller and removing all the round lumpiness. Try to build the face out of the strong “swoopy” lines, keep those sharp corners.
• The area under the nose is strange, the skin shouldn’t tuck in like that
  

• eyes, lips, and hair need to be more angular, less round
• the lower eyelashes are thicker
• the top eyelids are much smaller
• the eyebrows are shorter
• the shape of the head is different
• the curls are more frontal
• the nose bridge is less prominent between the eyes
• the shape of the “finger wave curls” is more pointy and less repetitive in shape
• the eyes are smaller and their shape is contained within the skull line
• the ears should be thinner and made with simple swoops and end with a point. They’re also closer and up the skull.

• Here the eye is pulled back. I wonder if that contradicts the more frontal drawings, where the eye was sunk in. I’ll need to find a way to have it sunk in but still seen nicely from profile.
  In fact, the entire front of the face is pulled back, including the eyebrow, the cheek and the curl.
• The curl is much tighter
• The hairline is more diagonal, about 45 degrees
• The nose bridge is angular and slants down.
• The lips are under the nose & back a bit, and they don’t stick out of the silhouette so much.
• The shape of the head is wider
• The chin is more defined
  
  

  


• This is a sketch Tracy made to help me with the orthographic profile. The notes are similar to the previous image, but its nice to see some construction lines under the drawing.
• The chin is more round here and less defined, but I think usually it is defined in most drawings so I’ll go for some definition.
• Other problems that I have are the head’s connection to the neck, and that rolled up bit of hair in the back. But let’s leave something for next time… (this is post getting longer than I thought)

• The grid makes it easy to see the size of the eyes and eyelids needs to be smaller.
• The hairline should be lower and wrap around

I planned to write about the issues I have with Serafine’s clothes but this post turned out long enough. (We’ll get to it another time...)

Thank you for reading this far, I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions, via comments or email: talia@taliatsur.com

Have a peacful week :)

Talia

Lackadaisy Cats project - Introduction

Here's a little introduction to my current (personal) project:

all images below copyright of Tracy Butler, http://www.lackadaisycats.com/

These gorgeouse drawings are taken from http://www.lackadaisycats.com/ - a webcomic about a gang of rumrunners set in the 1920's, in St. Louis, and created by the very talented Tracy Butler.

I had always wanted to create some really appealing, expressive characters, but unfortunately I suck at character design and have only basic skills at other aspects of 3D that are not character animation.

When I came across this webcomic it struck me that its time to stop avoiding this (enormous) task and start working on something, because these characters are so full of personality that I have to try and make them move, and think and be who they are.
In other words - I am truly inspired.

And so, with Tracy’s kind permission to use her comic as concept art, I set out on this difficult task of creating a Lackadaisy Cat.

I chose Serafine, (above in the red dress) mainly because she (kicks ass!) fits this sound clip from a movie that I want to animate to.

I can only hope the final result will be as appealing and expressive, and in any case, I mean to learn a lot.


I’d love to have lots of comments and feedback to learn from – so don’t hold back!


Next post – Serafine’s model

Welcome!

Hey! Thank you for visiting.

I’m starting this blog to share some of my personal work with the world and hopefully make it easy for me to get feedback.

Yeah, I could really use some feedback.

I'm a character animator during the day but I'm trying to expand and learn other aspects of 3D (modeling, rigging, texturing, lighting etc) and visual art in general.

So any thoughts, advice and feedback welcome.

Oh, and check my website here: http://www.taliatsur.com/ to see my animation work.

Thanks and have a creative day :)
Talia