Part 3 - Animation Character Tutorial

8/14/2019 Part 3 - Animation Character Tutorial

1/18

1

Corel Painter X Curriculum Part 3Animation Character tutorial by Stephanie Reese

In part three of the Corel Painter X Curriculum, youll build on

the knowledge gained from the Seascape and Portrait tutorials,

get introduced to the body styles of animation characters, explore

some basic principles of shadow and light, ink and paint a

character sketch, and create your own animation characters.

Lesson One

The industry has undergone a sea change since the days when

Disney, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera were the kings ofanimation and Saturday morning cartoons.

The newest trends are realistic animated action, sci-fi, and Asian

martial arts. While the style of action has evolved, so too have the

body styles of characters.

Examining Animation Character Styles

Before creating your own animation characters, lets examine

some typical proportions for different types of characters.

Although realistic, lifelike proportions are often used as a

reference, cartoon proportions are generally more exaggerated

than humans.

To examine animation character styles

1 Open Scale.RIF in Corel Painter X.

This tutorial contains five

lessons, each requiring approximately

45 minutes to complete.

Some of the steps can be finished in a

matter of seconds, others will require

several minutes to complete.


2/18

2

A sample of four typical cartoon character types appears on the

screen.

Characters with Baby Proportions

The first character type on the left has baby proportions.

Baby proportions are typically used for cute characters. The

larger the head in relation to the body, the younger the

appearance of the character.

The baby also has large eyes compared to the head size and the

eyes are slightly below the midline of the face, rather than

halfway between the top of the head and the chin.

The following images for

character body styles are provided

courtesy of Caytlin Reese, also known

as Amber Foxwing.

You can visit her online gallery at:

http://amberfoxwing.deviantart.com/

gallery/


3/18

3

The following are guidelines for creating a cute cartoon

character with baby proportions:

the head is large in proportion to the body

the forehead is large in proportion to the rest of the face

the eyes are large and positioned below the midline of thehead

the cheeks are rounded and chubby

the body has short, stubby limbs with pudgy feet and hands

the torso is rounded and plump

Take some time to research different cartoon characters that have

a similar body type.


4/18

4

Characters with Adolescent Proportions

The second character type in Scale.RIF is an adolescent. This body

type is used for many Manga or Japanese anime characters. Large

eyes are used with this body type to give the appearance of

innocence.

The following are guidelines for creating a cartoon character with

adolescent proportions:

the head is of normal size in proportion to the body

the forehead is large in proportion to the face

the eyes are large and positioned below the midline of thehead

other facial features, such as nose, lips, cheeks, chin, and neck,are svelte

arms, legs, hands, and feet are lean and normally proportioned

the torso is curvaceous


5/18

5

Characters with Adult Female Proportions

The third character type in Scale.RIF is the heroine. This figure is

slightly taller than realistic proportions as you can see on the

layout guide. The character is slender and curvy.

The following are guidelines for creating a heroine cartooncharacter with adult female proportions:

the head is slightly larger than realistic

the facial features are normally proportioned

legs, arms, feet, and hands are long and lean

the body is slightly elongated and voluptuous

the character may combine animal and human features, such asa tail, ears, whiskers, or other

These character types are

introduced as guidelines for discussion

and evaluation purposes. There are no

hard and fast rules for creating

animation characters. Remember to

use your imagination when creating

your own characters.


6/18

6

Characters with Adult Male Proportions

The last character type in Scale.RIF is a super hero. Predominantly,

the super hero is muscular with a prominent, square jaw, such as

Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles.

The following are guidelines for creating a super hero cartoon

character with adult male proportions:

the head is large in proportion to the body

the forehead is normally proportioned to the face

the chin is large and square

other facial features are normally proportioned

the body is muscular


7/18

7

Characters with Villian Proportions

The last body type to examine is the villain.

Typically, villain characters are very angular. They feature

45-degree angles for the chin, brow, eyes, and mouth. The bodies

for villian characters can also be thin with sharp features. Jafar in

DisneysAladdin is a good example.

The following are guidelines for creating a villian cartoon

character, which may combine animal and human features:

the head is angular, with elongated facial features

the forehead is large

the ears, nose, mouth, and chin are V-shaped to appearmenacing

hair or facial hair is often jagged

the torso and limbs may also be angular or elongated


8/18

8

Creating Your Own Characters

Now, using the body types discussed, take some time to create

your own characters.

To create your own characters

1 On the Layers palette, add a new layer.

2 On the Brush Selector bar, choose a variant of the Pencils brushcategory.

3 Sketch your own characters by using the five discussed bodytypes as a reference.

Lesson Two

During the first lesson, you looked at different body types typically

used in character animation. Next, youll explore some of the tools

and features provided by Corel Painter X that will help you ink and

color a character sketch.

For lesson two, students will

darken a faint character sketch by using the Equalize effect

use Liquid Ink brushes to ink a character sketch

add color to a character sketch

Working with the Equalize effect

The Equalize effect improves contrast, adjusting black and white

points, and distributing the brightness levels throughout the

entire range of available levels. Corel Painter lets you equalize animage by creating a histogram showing the number of pixels for

each brightness level value and then allowing you to adjust those

values.


9/18

9

To darken a faint character sketch

1 Open Bride.RIF.

2 On the Layers palette, click Layer 1.

3 Click Effects menu Tonal ControlEqualize.

4 In the Equalize dialog box, click OK to accept the default

settings.

The image should appear darker and more even.

5 On the Layers palette, adjust the Opacity slider to 50%.


10/18

10

The sketch now appears more gray but still even.

Working with Liquid Inks

Next, youll trace the sketch with Liquid Ink brushes to prepare the

character for coloring. Liquid Ink brushes in Corel Painter create

liquid paint effects that simulate traditional ink-based media.

To trace the drawing with Liquid Inks

1 Click Layers menu New Liquid Ink Layer.2 On the Layers palette, double-click Liquid Ink Layer 1.

3 In the Liquid Ink Layer Attributes dialog box, type Outline inthe Name box and click OK.

4 On the Brush Selector bar, choose Liquid Ink from the BrushCategory selector and Fine Point from the Brush Variant

selector.

5 On the Colors palette, choose black and trace with smooth

continuous lines over the entire sketch, except for the hair.

Make sure there are no breaks in your lines so that later it will

be easier to select areas for painting.When inking a character, its

always a good idea to zoom in on your

image.

Using the Layers palette, you can

periodically toggle the sketch layer on

and off to view your progress.


11/18

11

6 On the Layers palette, add a new layer for the hair outline andrename it Hair.

Adding Color to the Bride Character

Now, youll start to add color to the character. Youll use several

layers, painting a flat base color for each character part on each

layer.

To add color to the bride character

1 On the Layers palette, add a new layer and rename it Skin.

On this layer you will start to add the base skin color of the

character.

2 On the Colors palette, choose a light skin tone.

3 On the Layers palette, click the new Skin layer.

4 In the toolbox, click the Brush tool and paint a flat layer ofskin color on the character.

5 Repeat this technique until all of the bride characters skin is

painted with a flat base color.


12/18

12

Continue to add layers and paint flat colors over each part ofthe sketch. For example, you should have a layer for hair, color,

dress, skin, etc.

6 When you are finished coloring the character, save your work as

Bridecolor.rif.

Lesson Three

During lesson two, you used the Equalize effect to darken a faint

character sketch, used Liquid Ink brushes to ink the character, and

added several layers of color.

For lesson three, students will

explore the principles of shadow and light

create objects with different shadows and light sources

Shadows

To create realistic shadows, you first need to visualize your

character as a three-dimensional object. Here are some basic

principles to remember:

There are no flat surfaces on the body; everything is rounded orcurved.


13/18

13

Shadows are produced when an object blocks or partially blocksa light source, such as the sun, or a bright lamp.

Despite striking and illuminating curved surfaces, light travelsin straight lines. Therefore, light strikes the objects plane, notindividual lines.

A shadow will move if either the light source or the objectmoves.

More often than not, shadows appear in large blobs not tinyslivers.

To create shadows, you should always start by choosing thedirection of your light source. The lighter areas are closer to thelight, darker areas farther away from the light.

Light Sources

Look at the space around you. Find an object thats illuminated by

a bright light.

Shine a flashlight from a single direction and note what happens

to the lights and shadow. Try moving the flashlight and study the

resultant shadow.

Take a look at yourself in a mirror while standing in a direct source

of light.

Now, consider the following questions:

Do all things have shadows? Why would they not?

Does a transparent object have a shadow? How is it differentthan a solid object?

Are all shadows the same color? What makes a shadow disappear?

Do objects have shadows at night?

Practice with Everyday Objects

Next, grab a few objects from around the room. Anything will

work; balls, erasers, pencils, backpacks, or even classmates. One by

one, place the objects in the path of a light source. Sunlight

coming through the window is ideal.

Try drawing the object, including highlights and shadows.

Now, try placing the object on the ground. Move the same object

closer to and further from the ground. How does the shadow

change?


14/18

14

If you have access to a projector in your classroom, try making

shadow puppets on the wall in front of the light.

How does the shadow change as you get closer to the light source?

How about closer to the wall?

Spend the rest of this lesson drawing objects with shadows that

use different light sources.

Lesson Four

During the third lesson, you explored some basic principles of light

and shadow, and created some objects with different shadows and

light sources.

For lesson four, students will

add shadows/shade by working with light/shade principles

add highlights

work with the Blenders brush category

use Erasers to clean up the finished character

Creating Shadow

Now we will use what youve learned about light and shadow to

shade your character.

To add shade to your character

1 Open Bridecolor.RIF.

2 On the Layers palette, add a new layer and rename it Shadow.3 On the Colors palette, choose a darker skin tone to create the

shadows.

4 Remember to choose the direction the light is coming from and

how it will lay on the surface of your character.

In the example on the next page, the light is coming from the

front left.


15/18

15

Adding Highlights

The next step is to add highlights to the image.

To add highlights to your character

1 On the Layers palette, select the Dress layer.

2 On the Brush Selector bar, choose Eraser from the Brush

Category selector and Gentle Bleach from the Brush Variantselector.

3 Paint white highlights where the strongest light strikes thecharacter.

4 Repeat this technique for the hair and skin.

5 On the Layers palette, select the Hair outline layer and delete it.


16/18

16

Working with Blenders

You can make the lines between highlight, shadow, and base color

blend together by using the Blender brush category. Blenders

affect underlying pixels by moving and mixing them. The variants

can reproduce the effects of blending paint by applying water or

oil. You can also smooth drawing lines and create shading just as

you would on a pencil sketch or charcoal drawing.

However, you must first drop all your color layers to one. If you

dont drop all layers, white areas in the individual layer will blend

with the color instead of the other colors of the image.

To use Blenders

1 Press Shift and on the Layers palette, select all color layers.

2 Click Layers menu Collapse.

All selected layers collapse into one layer.

3 On the Brush Selector bar, choose Blenders from the Brush

Category selector and Soft Blender Stump 10 from the Brush

Variant selector.

4 Blend edges of light and shadow to smudge the edges so adistinct line does not appear on your character. The only time

you want a sharp edge is when your character is lit by a singlebright light causing harsh shadows.


17/18

17

Working with Erasers

If you color outside the characters outline while blending, you can

erase the overflow.

To erase overflow color

1 In the toolbox, click the Magic Wand tool.

2 On the Layers palette, click the Outline layer and select theaffected area of the character.

3 Click Select menu Invert.

Now all areas except the one selected are active.

4 On the Layers palette, select the collapsed color layer.

5 On the Brush Selector bar, choose Erasers from the BrushCategory selector and Eraser from the Brush Variant selector.

6 Erase any color that flows outside the characters sketch lines.

Lesson Five

During the past four days, you have looked at some types ofcharacters, explored some basic principles of light and shadow,

and inked and colored a character sketch.

For lesson five, students will use what theyve learned to sketch,

ink, and color their own animation characters.


18/18

Part 3 - Animation Character Tutorial

Documents

Transcript of Part 3 - Animation Character Tutorial