Visual Language - Study Task 2 - Facial Construction

In this segment of Eric Goldberg's book, he brings to light how the starting point to constructing a head is basic shapes to allow room to build upon. For example, the most commonly used shape to build up on is again, the circle. This shape allows the animator to access and create various expressions through the movement of the fleshy parts of the face.

Basing a head around a circle, or simple shapes, easily allows you to visualize the head from different angles.

Here, Eric mentions how generic shapes make for generic characters, and how certain shapes can set the tone for a character. Designing an angular character still can use circular shapes as the base, to make them less difficult to animate. Basing a character around circular shapes allow for a more comfortable looking character, and historically makes them appealing.

Because my character is based around a circle, I decided to test the advice given in this book. 

Here, I drew circles and built upon them in order to create my character. I was already doing this initially when drawing my character, but I always drew the basic shape of the head instead of a straight, clear circle.

Here, I clearly presented how I built on top of the circle. I extending his jowls further to create a sense of flesh sagging. On the right, I sketched him bowing his head to capture the shape of his head. I keep the shape of his cranium spherical in order to show how gravity weighs down certain features like his cheeks and nose.

Here I attempted to draw my characters face in motion in order to demonstrate how soft his skin is on his face. I feel like I could develop this further by squashing and stretching certain areas to depict a sense of motion. I feel as though I tried to play it safe with this drawing by staying true to his original face shape, however I think this hardened my characters features.

Because my character eats a lot, I decided to attempt to drawing him at different stages of eating. I feel like I applied the squash and stretch rule successfully because it exaggerates the motion. I also took into account the fact that movement of soft features require a sense of drag. I have the nose squished and a little stretched out horizontally in the first image, and then have the nose elongated and thin in the last image to create a sense of drag against gravity. If I was to animate and develop my characters eating motion, I would have the jaw move in a circular motion, and have his nose move with the chewing, squashing and stretching along with the face.

I feel as though my character's face is comfortable to look at due to his simple and rounded features. However, I feel as though I have successfully portrayed his back story and personality through his features also. By using the facial construction rules that Eric Goldberg highlights, I have created more of an understanding of how to build up on a characters face with ease.