Initial Character Creation

Here a drawings of characters at their first conception. Many of them I did not take any further but some I developed. All in the process of deciding on the final character to take to the final stages of conception and development including colouring, personal touches and animation intent.

Penguin Shapes for 2D platform style

Sketches of underwater creatures

Owl character, could have taken this idea further

Power saving idea. There are many characters here that I developed around the idea of power.

Underwater characters. An arrangement of generic underwater creatures.

Spaceman idea. Could have played with the personality of this character to create a more dynamic character.

My favorite character concept was in fact a little rhino I drew after doing some research on animal conservation in Africa. The Rhino is one of the most endangered species on all of Africa. It is often poached for its valuable horns. The are hundreds of baby Rhinos that get separated from their parents. Poachers leave the babies because they have not matured enough to grow proper horns. This leaves baby Rhinos to fend for themselves in the wild without the care or support of a fully armored mother.

This act of animal cruelty struck a chord with me, I decided to make the baby Rhino my character.

Here are some initial ideas for the baby Rhino:

Shapes and sizes

More realistic approach, used as a reference for vector shapes.

Getting more into proportional balance for the baby Rhino.

Early ideas of Rhino styles, shapes and styles that were all combined in the character development. The shape and proportion of the baby Rhino is the most important aspect of creating this character because in a single glance at the character it is obvious that it is a baby.

Drawing of preferred Rhino design. 

Defined drawing

Proportional manipulation

Colour piece one

Colour piece two