22.4.2025 - 18.5.2025 (Week 01 - Week 04)
Lee Xiang Ling / 0384095
Illustration and Visual Narrative / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in
Creative Media / Taylors University
Task 01 / Character Design
EXERCISE
Week 02
This week, the professor gave a brief introduction to the functions and tools
of Adobe Illustrator and assigned an exercise and homework. We were instructed
to use the Pen Tool to create a line drawing based on an image.
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Fig. 1.1 - Example Image
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Fig. 1.2 - Practice |
During the drawing process, I spent a lot of time on the first character due to unfamiliarity with the Pen Tool. The professor guided us in using various shortcut keys to make the drawing process easier. We also learned how to adjust line thickness using the tools, which made the image appear more dynamic.
Week 03
This week, our professor taught us how to use real-time coloring tools to apply color and lighting effects to our characters, making them more vivid and expressive.
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Fig. 1.3 - Character coloring work from class
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TASK 01
PROCESS
At the same time, the professor assigned the first Adobe Illustrator
exercise. This exercise requires us to generate a character using ChatGPT
and create its line drawing.
This is my generate command:
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| Fig. 2.1 - Screenshot in ChatGPT |
A set of three cute cartoon animal characters for a children's coloring book. Each character is standing, smiling, and waving.
1. The first character is a friendly wolf wearing a T-shirt, shorts, sneakers, and a cap, saluting with one hand.
2. The second character is a baby dragon with small horns and a spiky tail, wearing a sweater and pants, waving happily.
3. The third character is a cheerful cat wearing a T-shirt, rolled-up jeans, and sneakers, also waving.
Clean black-and-white line art, simple and bold outlines, no background, coloring book style.
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| Fig. 2.2 - The Character generated using ChatGPT |
The character above was created based on an animated series I watched when
I was younger. Since it has been so long, my memories of it are a bit fuzzy,
but I still have a vague recollection of the characters. These characters also incorporate my own personal ideas, with the animated
series serving as a reference.
The characters are as follows:
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Adolf -- the lively and brave werewolf who loves
adventure but is a bit careless.
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Oscar-- the meticulous and sincere dragon who is
also quite timid.
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Davis -- the smart, clever, and calm cat who has a bit of a
perfectionist streak.
I started by carefulling outlining my sketches using the Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator. This step took quite a bit of time patience, as I wanted the lines to be clean and precise.
Then, I took some extra time to adjust the thickness of the lines. If all the lines are the same weight, the drawing can look flat and lifeless. So, I played around with varying the weight -- making some areas thicker, especially around curves or focal points, and keeping others thinner. This gives the artwork a better sense of flow and rhythm. Even though this step was a bit tedious, I think it was totally worth it. It made the final result feel much more dynamic and expressive -- just the way I imagined it.
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| Fig. 2.3 - Character line art process |
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| Fig. 2.4 - Final Line Art |
After spending some time practicing, I finally mastered the use of real-time
coloring tools and applied a basic color scheme to the character I designed,
ensuring that both the outfit and overall look reflect the character’s
personality.
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| Fig. 2.5 - Character design with basic coloring |
I spent a great deal of effort adjusting the lighting and shading. Figuring
out when to add highlights and when to apply shadows had me quite confused at
times, but in the end, I managed to finish the piece successfully and was
satisfied with the result.
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| Fig. 2.6 - Character design with added lighting and shading |
I found that after adding lighting and shading, the character not only
became more vivid but also significantly enhanced both the character's
presence and the overall visual impact.
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| Fig. 2.7 - My Final Characters |
RATIONALE
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| Fig. 3.1- Rationale |
MOODBOARD
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| Fig. 3.2 - Adolf's Moodboard |
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| Fig. 3.3 - Oscar's Moodboard |
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| Fig. 3.4 - Davis's Moodboard |
TECHNIQUES APPLIED
I used Adobe Illustrator to create the character design and applied the following techniques:
- Pen Tool Line Art: Clean and precise outlines were created using the Pen Tool.
- Line Weight Variation: Adjusted line thickness to add depth and movement to the drawing.
- Basic Coloring: Applied flat colors to reflect each character’s personality using real-time coloring tools.
- Lighting and Shading: Added highlights and shadows to enhance the character’s form and visual impact.
These techniques helped bring the characters to life and improved my skills in digital illustration.
INSTRUCTIONS
<iframe allow="autoplay" height="480"
src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jwBMvlzvQSplmszHOc3g90F0PuRCn_c5/preview"
width="640"></iframe>
REFLECTIONS
Through this assignment, I gained a better understanding of the basic drawing and coloring functions in Adobe Illustrator, as well as a deeper insight into the overall process of character design.
I found that the most challenging part of designing a character was handling the outlines and lighting, which required a great deal of patience and careful refinement. Although the process was time-consuming and detailed, the sense of accomplishment when the final piece was completed made it all worthwhile.
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