Not a lot of people develop an understanding of how a cartoon is made. Hell, I don't really know, either. Everyone on planet Earth has a different set of DNA, blood types, body types, and hair colors, so naturally, how they begin the creative process is different as well. And many people keep things to themselves, which is understandable. You have to analyze and experiment with how people do things, try them out for yourself, fail, rinse, repeat, etc. I felt chronicling my journey through a blog format would be beneficial to see the humble beginnings of work, so to speak, and I love to see the concept work and how things change as a show/work of art develops.
The protagonist of our cartoon was designed a bit complex at first, which I feel is a great way to start drawing a character. Make it stylistic and hard, and then break it down to a simplified style. Many cartoonists have a silhouette test, you take the shadow of the character, and if you can recognize it immediately, it's a good design.
Well, I can pick Alfae from that horrible piece of shit cartoon "The Problem Solverz" out in a lineup of cartoon characters, but that doesn't make Alfae a good design. Or you get the other response, "Durr, if a kid can draw it, it's a good design, Durr." Well, can a kid draw adult Goku? I mean, he can kind of draw it, but all the musculature and physiology of Goku are rather complex. Yet, Goku still remains one of the most popular cartoon characters of all time, so honestly, that's one of the first lessons you learn when making cartoons:
Who the hell cares?
You draw who you want to draw. You style it how you wanna style it, and if someone gives you crap for it, tell them to go pick up a pen and do it themselves.
I digress; I wanted to make a cute, loveable, introverted bunny character. If you ever notice something about introverts, they love to wear jackets. When I was a kid, I had man titties that would make Hitomi Tanka jealous. I always wore this grey jacket to cover up my moobs because the bullies used to scoop my boobs. Thankfully, Solomon doesn't have any boobies for the bullies to scoop.
His design was based on Max from Sam & Max. I absolutely love this design. It is very simple and having the bunny have such a big vicious grin gave a nice contrast to his fluffy exterior.
He was also loosely inspired by the way Yin Yang Yo did rabbits. The ears hover off the frame which I thought were cool. I don't like this show, but you sometimes get inspiration from crap you don't care too much about.
He does have these eyes that seem to stare into nothing—beady weird eyes with a goofy pensive look on his face. I like how he came out, he's straightforward to draw, which makes him VERY easy to animate, and he looks good on a t-shirt; what more could I have asked for?
Until next time.