Character Design

I wanted my main character to be simplistic in design but stand out in the environment she lived in. At first I started looking at Japanese fashion because of it's wacky nature and how cartoony it could be, while still being fashionable. I wanted her to be a teenager, but after rethinking the story, it was apparent that having her younger would explain her curiousity with the paper aeroplane. I could do more with her playfulness. This brought about my first sketch (pictured below) that was inspired by Andy's sister in 'Toy Story 3'. However, I didnt feel her design was working and wasn't appealing enough.

 

After sketching a lot and experimenting with a variety of shapes, I came up with the next design ) pictured below. This design was inspired by the toddlers from the playschool in 'Toy Story 3'. Looking through the artbook for the film, I decided wanted Bea (what I decided to call my character) to have the same proportions, life and appeal that they did. I did some experimenting with the colour to make her playful and appear as if she would fit into this oriental/ghibli world, and I settled on the final design below. 

This was my final design for a large chunk of the production, but I still wasn't completely happy with it. She lacked personality and the design needed to be tighter.I took the time to research different art styles and improve my own drawing skills to make the final design. I also experimented with line weight and adding curved lines next to straights. This brought me to my final design which is what I will be modelling my character from.