Objective:

• I can brainstorm and sketch a character that I can draw in Illustrator.

Video Link:

• None.

Topics Discussed:

• For a complete list of Topics Discussed, please see the previous lessons.

Assignment:

Today, we are going to begin preparing for the final animation that we discussed last week. You will develop your own original character that will be drawn in Illustrator, imported into Animate CC and converted to an armature that will be featured in an original short form animation.

Brainstorm! Think of your favorite cartoon characters, and use sites like cartoonnetwork.com for inspiration. Think of cartoon characters you loved when you were little, and try to think of what was so special about them.

• Create a new Web Common size (1366px x 768px) Illustrator document, and use the text tools to answer the following questions about your character:
  • Who is this character?
  • What’s his/her/it’s name?
  • What is he/she/it like? (Nice? Mean? Angry? Happy? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between?)
  • Where does he/she/it live?
  • What goals does this character have?
  • What is unique about this character? Does he/she/it have any quirky character traits? (i.e. talks funny, speaks only in rhyme, etc.)
  • Would you watch a cartoon starring this character? Why?
• Using this brainstorm as a guide, sketch out your character on a piece of paper. Don’t worry if you don’t think you can draw, just do your best to get a visual concept of your character. Repeat: don’t go overboard on the artwork – these should just be concept sketches.
• Later in the week, we will be drawing these characters on another artboard in this Illustrator document, using the shape and color tools, with the intent of eventually taking these illustrations into Animate CC. What this means is that you should use simple shapes to make complex shapes, because these animate better – keep this in mind as you design your character!
• Remember: We will be animating these characters in Animate CC, so your character must have at least two arms and two legs. (No animated blobs, worms or snakes!)
• Your brainstorm document and concept art is due at end of class on Friday (04/22/22).

Assigned: April 20th, 2022
Due Date: April 22th, 2022