Saturday Short Tips: Silhouette
Added 2019-05-10 18:40:33 +0000 UTC-The most important aspect of any character design is their Silhouette. The Silhouette of the character is such a staple because a character that’s recognizable without the detail is a character that is easily recognizable from far away or in a crowd setting on screen.
-Clarity is key in a silhouette. If the silhouette doesn't read, then it's likely the design is weak.
-Silhouette relies on the understanding of Shape Language, because in the end the silhouette is more or less a shape. A more complex shape, but a shape nonetheless.
Extra tips:
-When designing a character, always start with the silhouette first. Mix-and-match the shapes that best define the character together in order to get a unique silhouette out of them.
-EXPERIMENT! To find the best silhouette, you must explore your options first. DO NOT settle on the first one you make, always vary your approach on how you utilize the character's shapes and see what you can come up with. I recommend doing at least 6-12 variations.
-When you work with the silhouette I recommend using a completely flat color first (black or dark gray is what I typically use). This forces you into thinking about clarity and the shape language, not the detail. Detail will come later.
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The next page of my Saturday Short Tips! Given the very surprising response I received for the last page, what I'll do is post these up on my Tumblr, DA, and Patreon. However, the pages will always be posted a day early here.
As usual, I hope some of this is at least somewhat helpful and if ya have questions feel free to ask! <:
