Joel Duggan

This is another older design that I really like and thought I’d try messing around with. She, yes SHE, works well in the old design and I’ve found tweaking her to be challenging. I wanted to give her more mobility through the neck so she can look side to side more without twisting her body. I also wanted to give her more structure, with shoulders and more form to her arms. I like the way things are going so far. It’s getting there. I don’t like the tail. I thought I would, thinking about her lumbering by with a thick tail balancing behind her like a dinosaur. Instead I think it takes away from the appeal of a tower of pink fur and teeth. I was hanging out with Adam earlier this evening and he suggested seeing what she looks with eyes. I think that’s next just to see what may come out of it.

I was hoping to have something more finished to post this time but all I seem to have time for these days is sketching. Not that I’m complaining! I’m still working on Kraken, but I’ve also been having some fun messing with some old designs. This is just one of a cast of five sci-fi characters I started developing a couple years ago. The painted pics are the old design. You can see the other characters on Animafax.com.

Kraken is supposed to be a part of the same cast, the villain, but at the moment he’s drawn in a slightly more complicated style. At this point I’m not sure if the end result will be to dumb down Kraken or to rework the other designs. For the time being I’m having fun re-working and messing with my old characters. Working new thoughts and more experience into the designs… You never know where they’re going to end up!

I’m still messing with Kraken. He’s a little longer and leaner through the body here and his arms are a bigger. I like the way the hands turned out in this one. Although I drew it on at the last minute, the more I draw him without the mask, the more I like him without it. I find he looks more menacing. I’m still debating over what he should be wearing. He has the feel of a character that would have a cape, despite how unoriginal they are.

I’m itching to draw larger. I’m sketching in a black DeSerres, hard cover, 8.5×11 book right now. I had been using 9×12 pads for a while but I don’t find they’re hit or miss with regards to standing up to the torture I put them through. The last one I bought was a cheap piece of monkey crap! It had an orange cover with “Biggie” scrawled across it in black. It’s now abandoned, with a bull clip holding the loose pages held together. I have the same problem with books that have perforated pages. They don’t take my abuse very well. Does any one have a particular kind of sketchbook they like? Know of a book that stands up to the wrath of an animator? … While I’m at it, what about pens, pencils and markers? Favorites? I’m curious now! I went to Loomis the other day and picked up a couple of blue Promarkers. They’re not bad. They bled a lot in this sketchbook, but the paper isn’t really meant for markers.

I finally found some time over the holiday weekend to work on this character a bit more. The more I draw him the more complex he seems to get. I’m still messing with proportions. The development is kind of taking it’s own course right now. I may have to dumb him down a bit in the end. I think I’ve stumbled upon a name I like… Kraken. It came up on Dictionary.com when I was looking up words like octopus and squid to see if there was anything that jumped out at me. Kraken refers to a giant, many-armed sea monster “more horrifying than any other sea creature”. Jake posted a comment suggesting the name “The Leviathan” which is essentially the same thing only historically, it has more dragon like qualities. Leviathan was also used relatively recently in Disney’s Atlantis. I had completely forgotten about Kraken until tonight. The first time I heard the word was when I was a kid and I rented Clash of the Titans. I usually have no trouble naming my characters. The names always seem to jump out at me. If they don’t at first and I have to dig a little for inspiration, when I do finally come accross a name I like, it sticks. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Jake!