I like looking at artwork online. Over the years, I’ve noticed a bit of a continuum between “on-style” art and “on-model” art -- combinations of each get rather interesting quickly.
(The Continuum)
Animators are almost always on-style and on-model. They have predefined reference sheets on how to draw a character, and they stick to ‘em like there’s no tomorrow. (Probably because "drawing gud" is directly related to "eating gud.") Every minute detail has to match both the model sheet and the overall style of the production. If either one is off, congrats, somebody gets to draw it over again. Properly done, art of this sort should be indistinguishable from the original sheet (save for the perspective changes.)
(on-style on-model Chri)
Online artists, on the other hand, tend to go completely off the rails and draw things off-style and off-model. Characters get blown wildly out of proportion and have features suddenly appear or disappear at will purely because “it’s my style!” Unfortunately, that’s not the best excuse. And it’s especially irksome for those of us who like to see our characters drawn by other people — we love the style, but we want to see our characters drawn on-model instead of having them turn into unreadable blobs.
(off-style off-model Chri)
Then, somewhere in the middle, is art that’s off-style but on-model. For all intents and purposes, this is what you get when you tell somebody to draw a Disney character. It still looks mostly right, but a few things aren’t quite where they should be because of the artist’s construction habits and unique style.
(off-style on-model Chri)
And then there’s art that’s on-style but off-model… which is just unfortunate.
(Big Chungus)
The point: When you’re sending out reference sheets and other details about a character, it’s helpful for the person on the other end to have a few guidelines on where the final product should land. Do they have permission to deviate from the model, or are there some elements that define your character? (Keep in mind, these aren’t just spots, stripes, and sequins. Body type can also be a model requirement.)
Having a “wireframe” section of your model sheet with construction guidelines is also helpful. Sketch the character, but don’t ink or color anything — just leave the underlying shapes and forms be. I’m guilty of not doing this for the sake of time, but it’s worth doing on sheets for major characters. If nothing else, it gives artists an idea of how each part should be proportioned to maintain the model.
(modelsheet wireframe)
Do you need to have a section in your character reference documentation that says “off-style, off-model drawings are unacceptable?” Probably not. I only decided to write a few restrictions into the documentation on /modelsheets after a few drawings went sideways. Creative freedom is all well and good, but — last I checked — Chri isn’t the world’s chief consumer of Blue Bell, Sherwin-Williams still hasn’t gotten into the jeans market, and most men don’t look like Olympic weightlifters.
Just a thought.
- Echovita
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