Cartoon characters - head shapes

During the meeting with my tutor we discussed the fact that I tend to draw my characters in a very similar manner. I completely agree with that and it is something I am trying to work on and become more flexible when it comes to character design. In this blog post I decided to look at already existing character who are human-like but their heads are not necessarily the basic head shape. I want to explore to get some inspiration for character design which I planned to do next week. I want to see how far can a character designer go and make the character still look like a human. 

For the start I decided to look at Phineas from 'Phineas and Ferb'.

Phineas

Phineas is a very well known character with a very odd-looking head. Its shape is very far from a human head shape; however, somehow everyone knows he is a human child. There is this particular feature about his head that I like - his body with this head creates the first letter of his name. I think that it is a very thought through detail and I think attention to detail is important. What everyone knows about Phineas is that his head is always presented from a side - never from a front view. It can be very tricky for the animator because he cannot be presented from the front due to his awkward head shape. There actually are a very few scenes where Phineas is facing the front, however he looks very out of place because his head is rhombus from that view. Personally I think it is a good idea for a head shape and it is memorable which is good, however the odd front view causes limitations for the animators which I don't quite like. 

Another head I wanted to look at is also a character from 'Phineas and Ferb', but this time it is Ferb. 

Ferb

Ferb is a very quiet human who is more on the technical side of all the Phineas' ideas for inventions. His head is very tall and he has a big nose but no nostrils. His lips are almost nonexistent and similarly to Phineas, he has only very little hair - only on top of his head. His head also represents the first letter of his name which as I mentioned before is a really cool detail. I also noticed that neither of the boys have eyebrows or chin which tells me that my characters do not have to have all of the body parts that a human should have. Some changes are allowed and the characters are still human. 

The next character I am going to look at is Nigel Uno from 'Codename: Kids Next Door'. 

Nigel Uno

This character has a circular head and very big ears. His head in disproportionately big compared to his neck or his arms and legs. Also his ares are noticeably big and usually characters have very small ears. His eyebrows are very thin and they are literally sticking out from his head. Generally his proportions are changed and there are no hair on his head. I think because of those disproportions this character is memorized by many. Also he has an attribute which are the glasses. What is confusing to me is that I always thought that I need to make sure my bone structure is interesting so the character's face is intriguing but Nigel has almost no bone structure. There are no cheekbones or wrinkles on his face. There is not much color in the face either, but somehow the face is interesting. It carries mystery and makes me think. I think this is a very successful character, even though it has a simple head. 

The next character that comes to mind is Ed from 'Ed, Edd and Eddy'.

Ed

All of the characters from this cartoon are very odd looking, but I decided to choose just one to direct my focus only one way, so I don't confuse myself. There are a few things about Ed that are completely confusing to me. Firstly Ed is very flat, means that his head is generally just a surface not a volume. His ears are very visible and his head has a random shape. There is no line between the head and the neck so it is hard to tell whether he has a long face or a long neck. His smile is tilted so it looks extremely unnatural and his eyebrow looks as if it was not even attached to its face. His hair are just a few hair strokes coming out of the head. All of those things I have mentioned are generally negative things, however when I look at the character, I like it. It could be because of the nostalgia towards the show, but it also could be caused by the fact that the character is goofy looking but adorable at the same time. Also its skin color is unnatural but once again it just works in this design. I feel like breaking all rules can possibly bring a desired effect. Anyway, Ed also was supposed to look messy and neglected because that was his role in the cartoon. It would not fit very well with the concept if he looked very clean and polished. It is also an important thing to think about: does the character fit the idea of the cartoon.  

The next cartoon character I am going to look at is Uncle Grandpa from a show of the same name. 

Uncle Grandpa

I have not watched 'Uncle Grandpa' growing up, however the character got me very intrigued. It generally looks funny. The proportions are all changed and there is absolutely no neck. This is probably the first character I have seen with such a huge and visible chin. I tend to draw characters with very big eyes because in the back of my mind, I think that big eyes will make my character look more admirable. This character however may not be 'cute' but it is appealing. It does not have very big eyes or or interesting hairstyle but it generally looks fun. I think little children can find this character amusing and I am assuming this was the goal of the creator. I also find the toned legs look odd and hilarious compared to the wobbly arms with no bone structure. Once again there is a lot of rules just broken but it works for this particular character. Assuming that the goal was to make a funny looking old man for children, breaking some basic rules to make him look as random as possible was a way to achieve it. I think it is a successful character. 

Another character I am going to be looking at is Eustace from 'Courage the cowardly dog'.

Eustace

Eustace is a grumpy old man and he has a very well-known design. There is a lot of detail in this character that I particularly like, one for example being that his bottom lip is pushed not only to give him the 'old' look but also to show his attitude. His face really looks like a scull that was taken to the extreme. The jaw is very big and the back of his head is circular as if there was the place for the brain. I think with both - animation and character design exaggeration is a good thing and I need to learn how to exaggerate in my drawings and motions. Eustace is a perfect example of too think arms and too big feet and too long legs but somehow then combined all together, they make sense. I think it goes with most of the characters I looked at today, doing too much or too little can be a good thing in some cases - it all depends what is the purpose of the character. 

I think looking at those examples gave me some ideas on how I should push myself and push my boundaries as an artist to achieve something completely new and interesting. Analyzing character's personality and trying to visualize their traits will definitely be helpful. Also one thing I definitely need to work on is exaggeration and this is something I will focus on this term. I would really want to gain that skill to improve.