I then began to mess around with some colours for Gonzo. Although creating Gonzo with the use of bright greens, blues and oranges, I felt that keeping Gonzo as a brown or grey shade is important.
I also had in my head that I will possibly be developing the character of Clancy cat in a grey shade, so I decided that brown would be the better option.
A prominent part of my visual-style is giving my characters and backgrounds a sense of hand-drawn outline elements. Experimenting with different strokes and outlines was important for me. I achieved these looks mostly through the use of my graphic pen, which is really assistive.
The next step was to introduce my sketched angles of Gonzo into Adobe Illustrator and roughly give myself a better idea on how the character would look. This was exciting to do as I felt as though the character was brought to life in a sense from a digital approach.
The next thing for me to do, once I decided on Gonzos shape, was to capture this shape from different angles that he is bound to appear in throughout the book. I sketched these angles out roughly first and then traced them again onto a fresh page with smooth edges. I then continued to add some shading to his character.
Sometimes getting creative helps me to visualise a character better. With the use of some black and white felt paper, a black pastel and a4 page, I created a silhouette style design of the type of shape I want Gonzo to be.
I combined two of my favourite head shapes with my favourite body shape. I ended up deciding to use most of the original body shape I chose, with changes made to the legs and ears of Gonzo. I did really like the idea of a square head on Gonzo, but I thought there was too much contrast between that and a roundish body, which turned me off the idea.
The ears I decided to go for was one normal sized ear and one much longer one. It adds to the odd shape of Gonzo and I think it also creates a more friendly and goofy feel to the dog.
The changes I made to the legs meant he would look better in drawings from side angles. It also gave him a slightly more realistic look and feel.
I sketched several different types of ears for Gonzo with the words goofy, floppy, playful and friendly in mind. Some I liked more than others. Jotting all my ideas down, helped me to narrow down the selection process. I circled some of my favourites as I was going along.
I then put my sketches into Adobe Illustrator and continued to illustrate over them and again had some fun with different strokes. I really enjoyed this process as it helped me to gain a clearer vision.
The body shape I wanted to achieve for Gonzo is what I have described from the outset as big, ginormous, round and curvy. Throughout the story I have described Gonzo as a dog who people fear as the ‘the biggest dog you ever will see’, while also describing him as a fearful dog. I want the reader to like Gonzo and relate to him.
I sketched several different body shapes that came to mind that relate to that big friendly dog look. Again, I didn’t pay attention to the other details that I want to develop separately.
I tool pencil to paper and drew various different shapes that came to mind for a possible head shape for Gonzo. I liked the idea of a more more rounded shaped head or a square, to portray Gonzo as friendly and goofy. I tried to not take the ears into consideration as I plan to develop the ear shapes on the own, separately.
I then took my sketches into illustrator and outlined them, while also messing around with some pen strokes to give myself a better idea of what type of shape would look best illustrated. This helped me to visualise Gonzo more.
I know that I need to experiment more with my characters a lot before making my final decision. I broke down the attributes that make up Gonzo and decided to focus individually on these features and then pick on my favourite ones at the end of my experimentation.
Amy O' Reilly 