character   design   +   model   sheet

Character design involves developing the appearance and features of characters in an animation. Often an actual model (often referred to as a maquette) will be produced using modelling clay in order to get a better idea of the appearance of the character. Character Model Sheets and Expression Sheets are produced to help animators be consistent with the appearance of characters.  Character Line-up Sheets are also produced to compare the scale of the characters against one another.

They provide the construction, structure, proportion, design, etc. for each character. Usually, several models sheets are needed for each character to show the physical and design nuances. Each animator, artist has their own style of drawing. The model sheet guides the 300 or so artists working on the production toward making all the characters look “ON MODEL”. “ON MODEL” means the model sheets have been followed to perfection as if one artist (instead of over 300 ) has drawn the character.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE:
is to create your own ORIGINAL character design (no tracing or copying).  Sketch out possible designs for your character (minimum of 8 variations) in your sketch book.  When you have finalized your character, create a CHARACTER MODEL SHEET with the 8 poses for it.

A CHARACTER ROTATION should include a front view, back view, 3/4 front (left & right), 3/4 back (left & right), and profile view (side) of the character. These views help the animator (s) understand the character's construction and proportion. The ability to turn a character is an element of animation which increases the character's believability.

The easiest and best way to draw out a rotation is to break down the character into its simplest forms. .. then you just rotate the forms.
Here's a design tip - make the ball of the head and the body different sizes (big head with small body or small head with a big body).

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