Char Blarg

Gotye- Bronte

2012-01-20T00:36:00.001-08:00

Robert Ball

2011-12-09T15:32:00.001-08:00

Robert Ball has pretty great caricature/character illustrations.

Alberto Cerriteño

2011-12-09T11:28:00.001-08:00

Alberto Cerriteño is a Designer and Illustrator from Mexico City who likes to animate as well and enjoy whatever looks good with the right colors. He has developed his own very personal technique and style, having always present a delicate hints of traditional Mexican artistic influences in his management of rich textures and decorative patterns.

The Gruffalo

2011-11-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, hasn't it char-lovers? I'm back with something all kinds of adorable.

I was on Hulu browsing for some bg noise while I work, and ended up having a 20 minute diversion from everything when I came across The Gruffalo. I can't seem to embed the whole thing, so I'm gonna show off this li'l trailer from youtube, and you can go watch it here.

It was released about a year ago, but that doesn't make it any less awesome.

I've taken these screenshots from the full-length version, so stop here if you'd rather watch it first.

If you have already watched it, you might have realized that this is a film adapted from Julia Donaldson (The Snail and the Whale, What the Ladybird Heard, The Troll) and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

The first look has a bit of a Maurice Sendak/Where the Wild Things Are feeling to it. The story in its simplicity has a playful tone, and the animation is quirky. It's rare to come across design that strikes the exact same cords as the rest of the cues, especially on TV.

The character designers listed in the credits include Max Lang (he has a lot of storyboards from the short), Jacob Schwinn, Harald Siepermann (Tarzan, Mulan, Enchanted), and no other than the awesome Uwe Heidchötter. It's kinda hard to tell who designed what, but very clear that they definitely made a wonderful team together.

Emily Carroll

2011-10-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

I likes whats I sees, you will too, go to Emily Carroll's site, emcarroll.blogspot.com

Andy J. Miller - Character A Day Blog

2011-10-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

Andy J. Miller creates a cute effing character a day here innod.tumblr.com. What did YOU do today? Oh...really?, thats pretty impressive, never-mind.

Aurélie Neyret Updates

2011-10-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

Aurélie Neyret Updates

Natasha Allegri

2011-10-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

Natasha Allegri runs a hilarious blog named PANCAKE PANCAKE PANCAKE (named after her beloved cat). She sometimes works at Cartoon Network and can draw like a MF. I especially enjoy the cat comics.

Secret Mountain Fort Awesome

2011-10-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

Cartoon Network's new show Secret Mountain Fort Awesome looks like its going to be insane. Check out more character sketches by Robert Ryan Cory here

Hellen Jo

2011-09-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

Hellen Jo, she's rad. - http://helllllen.org/

AJ FOSIK

2011-09-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

AJ Fosik - http://ajfosik.com/

Anna Bron

2011-09-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Gobelins grad, Disney animation trainee. Hard to not shine with that combo, but once you start looking at her work, you will realize this lady possesses more than just luck or good info. She has this super cool way of drawing things that make em seem as if they're in motion- as if they've never been "just a drawing". I enjoy the roughness of her sketches since it helps keep things alive. Visit her blog here.

Andrew Schick

2011-08-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

The Daily Claw The Monsters and Beasts of Andrew Schick, full of awesome weird chicken scratch characters. Of course they are not chicken stratches I just wanted to use the word chicken because his creatures look like they are inspired by bird like creatures.

Mitchloidolt

2011-06-23T12:33:00.001-07:00

Mitchloidolt interpretation of classic NES characters are just too fun. Make a side scroller with this art and I will play it for about a week, but it'll be an intense awesome week.

Natalie Hall

2011-06-05T23:45:00.000-07:00

Recent Ringling grad, Natalie Hall. She's got some pretty fantastic shapes happening, as well as charming hands and faces. I look forward to seeing what she does in the future...

Victor Dubrovsky

2011-05-20T17:44:00.001-07:00

I came across one of these lil guys as I was researching on a project a few months ago. It instantly stole the heart of my art director and producer, so I made a mental note to see what else Victor had on the web- and I'm glad I didn't forget to go back.
Obviously this isn't your typical feature animation character designer work. I don't even know how people make felt needle things. Still I consider them to be appropriate for CharBlarg, since they have a specific shape language and poses that create independent personalities while still belonging to the same design family. And they're crazy-cute! Here's the entire selection, if you'd like to further investigate...

Jacob Weinstein

2011-05-10T18:44:00.001-07:00

Do you like basketball? Well, too bad I do. And I also like Jacob Weinstein's illustrations of NBA greats. His caricature of Blake Griffin is so amazingly dead on. A few prints are available for purchase here

Mike Lee

2011-04-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Mike Lee fellow Otis class of 2006 Alumni was amazing then and is even more amazing now. From crazy beautiful matte paintings to cute adorable characters that live and breathe, Mike Lee can do it all. I love black and white graphite looking illustration. They are so soft and delicate yet bold and grounded. Not only is he a fantastic creative artist but he is a positive and helpful person.

Designer Interview: Ovi Nedelcu

2011-04-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

Seeing his designs for the Planters spot, I used our little “Planters Case Study” as an excuse to pick the super talented Ovi Nedelcu’s brain. He was incredibly kind and generous with his time and artwork, and a true gentleman.
Here’s what we learned from him…

CharBlarg: Let’s talk about Planters. Did you work with the other character designers on this job? If so, what was your experience like with them, and how do you like working with others versus working alone?

Ovi Nedelcu: Yes, I did work with other designers but not directly. We were all basically given the same assignment, but most of us were doing it freelance and just tuning it in. so I cant really answer the second half of the question because I was working alone pretty much.

CB: Were the characters split between you, or did you all design a version of the entire cast on your own?

ON: We were asked to design specific characters. Or at least I was. It was more of a development phase to see what we would come up with before they settled on a style or look.

CB: What is it like to redesign such an iconic character, and how does it differ from designing other characters?

ON: It was fun trying to come up with fresh new designs. I personally didn’t do a design take on Mr. Peanut. I did the supporting cast.

CB: Were you given specific notes or restrictions? What were they like?

ON: Yeah we had a few guidelines to follow but they didn’t want to hold us back too much. We were to come up with a new look for the characters so not too many restrictions were given. Its development, so they wanted to be open to new ideas.

CB: Did you start designing knowing it was going to be a stop motion project? How did this affect your designs?

ON: Yeah I knew it was stop motion and it helps to know as well because if its stop motion or CG it allows for complex designs/details. If its 2d or hand-drawn you want to come up with an appealing design but make it simple enough so that animators aren’t bogged down redrawing unnecessary details. With a puppet (CG or hand made) you can design it the way you like because you only have to build it once and not redraw it thousands of times. But as far as approach, that doesn’t change. I still start with story, and try and use clear, appealing shapes and design principles. The details are just “icing”.

CB: We’re taken by Planters, but we’re also super taken by the rest of your work. What are some of your favorite drawing/painting tools?

ON: I like using black warrior pencils, prisma color pencils, acrylic, gouache, and ball point pens for analog art and photoshop for digital art.

CB: What is your set-up like and what do you do in the morning to get you in your design groove?

ON: I either doodle in my sketchbook or in photoshop. I create a “warmup” document and just add a new layer everyday. Once I fill up the page or layer I’m ready to get to work. That’s my warm-up for the day. I also try and do this just before bed as well. But I only draw in my sketchbook before bed. Never digital.

CB: Where is the most surprising place you found inspiration?

ON: Um, not sure. Inspiration comes from all places. I’m surprised all the time. Just doing this interview for example has got me thinking of drawing. Sometimes I can look at a coffee cup or a rug and get inspired to interpret that into a drawing. Inspiration can come at any time and anywhere. At least for me it does.

CB: When you're designing characters what kind of resources do you rely on the most -real life, personal experiences, blogs, books etc.?

ON: Reference and life experience, and observation are at the top. Then I have artists I admire and study. But I try my best to look at life and try and interpret what I see because that’s what develops MY STYLE. If I were to only look at other artists I would start to look like them only. If I get artist block Ill go through books and try and spark an idea or push my thinking in a one direction or another. All depends.

CB: How do you compare designing for stop motion versus flatter designs like 2D or other works? Can you compare the experiences/needs of different kinds of jobs, and do you have a favorite among them?

ON: I kinda answered this in another question, but yes when I design for 3d (CG or stop mo) I get to add details I probably wouldn’t bother with if it was 2d. With 2d you can get away with a lot of “cheats”. But with 3d or stop motion you have to remember someone will have to model and build that puppet and you try and think of how that design will look in 3d. but the approach and process starts the same. Story, character, and appealing shapes. I don’t really have a favorite, I like both.

CB: What is/was your biggest challenge in designing characters?

ON: Coming up with unique and appealing designs and making sure they serve the story/character properly. It’s easy to resort to cliché designs but coming up with a unique take on rehashed material (if its rehashed) is always a challenge. I mean seriously, how more ways can one create the witty teen hipster? I think this character has been done to death! The smart computer wiz side-kick? Good grief, not another one!! Sometimes you just can’t avoid the clichés because the material/show/film/producer/director calls for it so you are stuck with just creating an interesting design without the character. You do your best with what you have. The better the material/story, the better the character designs will be. It’s that simple. Good story=good characters and hopefully designs. Bad story=bad characters, but possibly interesting designs. You want both if possible.

CB: Do you still draw for fun?

ON: Always. I draw in my sketchbook everyday and I really enjoy it. I don’t try and make the perfect drawing I just draw however and whatever I like. I’m not worried about people seeing my messy drawings anymore. I’ve grown out of that and its really liberating. I draw my family a lot.

CB: Do you sketch from life often? If so, what kind of places seem to be the most rewarding?

ON: Yeah, I draw my family at home all the time. Its by far the most rewarding.

CB: Do you draw top hats on characters for fun like we do?

ON: I have no idea what you are talking about. But sounds fun.

CB: Which character of yours are you the most proud of?

ON: Eh, not sure. I always felt my BIG WHEEL characters were fun to do.   

CB: Which character designs/designers do you admire the most?

ON: Man, too many. But if I were to just pick a few I suppose, Tom Oreb, Chuck Jones, Provensens, Searle, Bill Peet, Milt Kahl, Nico, Fucile, Mary Blair, Craig Kellman, Joe Moshier, Shannon Tindle, and so, so many others.

CB: What do you think is lacking the most in character design you see around you?

ON: Fresh unique characters/designs/ideas and draftsmanship. Draftsmanship comes second to a good character design, but its still important. I get the feeling a lot of the blogs/designers are starting to look alike and im also guilty of it too. I try and do my own thing but too many times other artists are or have been influenced by the same classics and so we start to look alike. This is why life reference is so important, because then you are creating your own style by interpreting life and not another artist.
Cliché is another problem I see. Its important to try and create charACTOR designs (as I like to put it) and not just designs. For example don’t just draw a doctor, but a specific doctor. How does he/she act/think and why? Is he old and grumpy? Young and hip? Old and hip? Greedy and crazy? If he is crazy, how so? Is it because of a bad relationship? Money? Power? What drove him to be crazy? These are the kind of questions a good character designer should be able to answer and communicate visually in the design. It doesn’t always have to be over the top and on the nose, but a good designer should be able to tell a story with his/her characters and not just draw an interesting design/shape. The design/shape should reflect the story. Story informs what your design should be so that you can create believable characters. Story, story, story.

CB: If you could go back in time and give your brand new character designer self advice, what would you say?

ON: Befriend as many directors and producers as you possibly can. Its not what you know, its who you know sadly to say. Not always, but most of the time.
As far as art advice I would tell myself to focus more on story than style. Styles come and go, but a good story or character will always be there. Observe life more and focus on interpreting life in interesting shapes.

CB: Thank you and if there’s anything you’d like to add, please feel free to do so!

ON: I think that about wraps it up, thank you for taking the time to interview me. I appreciate it and had a good time doing it.

And here are some of Ovi’s amazing characters!! 

Planters!

2011-04-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of this year, we all got to enjoy LAIKA's new Planters commercials featuring the new Mr. Peanut.

Being the curious character/animation/design/radness lovers that we are, we immediately wanted to know where all the "awesome" was coming from. So we started looking it up, and we found a few things but it wasn’t enough! All signs were leading towards a thorough investigation, so we found some of the character designers and got you some insider information regarding the work done for this commercial, as well as being a bad ass character designer.

We know that you most definitely have seen this commercial, and the making of videos, but juust in case…

AJ Fosik

2011-01-30T23:10:00.000-08:00

AJ Fosik Artist Profile from Kwality Media on Vimeo.

AJ Fosik is considered a sculptor by most, but the with his amount care he puts into colors and shapes makes me consider him a character designer who chooses to builds his characters. He doesn't have a website/blog up, so here's an interview.

James Walsh

2011-01-26T11:46:00.000-08:00

James Walsh reminds me of Ward's Adventure Time making babies with Hewlit's Gorillaz, am I crazy for thinking so? Maybe, but James' characters are very fun, I mean look at the dog!

Warwick Johnson Cadwell

2011-01-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

Warwick Johnson Cadwell has too many great illustrations to choose from, do yourself a grandiose favor and check out his entire repertoire.

Jonatan Cantero

2011-01-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

You know who is awesome? Whoa, how'd you know? Yea that's right Jonatan Cantero. His characters are just so imaginative and fun it makes me want to leave this boring world and enter and live in his brain.

Louis Thomas

2011-01-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

Louis Thomas doesn't only possess a keen sense of shape, but also of rhythm, which is rare to come by. It's a killer combo, like a guy who can draw and tap dance. He gets an extra brownie point for it, and another for making a full Gene Kelly "hero" page.