Sometimes when I am begrudgingly yet dutifully working on drawings, a new character comes to mind. I get so eager to hold on to it that I sketch it down, and then I flesh it out more. Soon enough, I wind up with a vague plot with dramatic plot points and intense sequence for this character to engage in. “It’s going to be an epic! Yay!” I tell myself.
Then it hits me: This is a highly detailed, highly rendered character with elaborate happenings, and it’s going to take a lot of time to produce on my own. I remember that other great epic I wanted to make with that ambiguous character doing intense things for vague reasons. I better make this an epic short, or slowly chip away at it over time. “But wouldn’t it be great if it was some lengthy epic in which you connect with this character?” I press myself. Yes…but if it’s not tightly developed soon, it should be a short to avoid a potential headache. Alternatively, this hits me: Maybe if I make it a less detailed, less rendered character, I can make this epic work. Sure, it’s not as serious-looking as the original design, but it’s efficient. But now why would I try to make a clever epic when it can be a punchy short? Not that simplified styles must be put into shorts and highly detailed styles must be long productions, but I get a quick, series-formatted feel for anything that doesn’t have a serious-toned style. Eventually, I have to come to terms with why I drew this character in the first place. Maybe the patchy plot points could lead to a simple physics-based animation exercise. Or it could lead to a storyboard that highlights the staging of events. Or it could very well just be a one-off character design sheet. All of these ideas compete for my time and attention, but instead of getting too excited and immediately stressed, I have to put them through an honest vetting process to figure out how much more time I should commit to them, if any at all. And once a project is completed, I can then focus on the next great lengthy epic that will ultimately turn into a 90-second short. |
ArtistDiamond Stewart is interested in animation, comic book art, video games, and music. Categories
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January 2024
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