LIA Quest 5: Not THAT Guy!
Friday, March 15, 2013 at 12:23PM When we start out drawing we usually ape the work of another whom we admire. It’s natural. As Ira Glass suggested, we start out with a sense of taste that we have to work up to, and the artists we emulate hit the mark for our taste.
But sometimes it’s just as good an exercise to investigate designs to which we don’t respond readily. We’ve all been to a movie based on a book and responded negatively to the actor selected for a certain character.
“They shouldn’t have gotten him to play that character.”
“Who would you have play him?”
“I don’t know, but not THAT guy!”
In truth, you do have a sense of who the right person was, but you don’t have a clear mental image. By examining at a character design that feels wrong, you are beginning a journey to identify what you feel is right.
Beginning the Quest
Watch the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode The Wizard of Stone Mountain. It’s on YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix.
YouTube links: Part 1 | Part 2 Keep an eye out for three characters with designs that can be improved upon.
Regular Quest
Write a paragraph about what you would have done differently with one of the characters. This can be the physical design, the character’s voice, their internal truth, or their thematic truth (see last episode of LIA for more on those).
Heroic Quest
Draw a redesign of one of the characters, along with a paragraph explaining why you made these new design choices. An example can be found in my He-Man reimagining series.
Deadline to have your quest materials mentioned on the next LIA Cast: March 27!
