In the last and final session with Ryan, we had been tasked with designing a character based upon a book description – one that did not already have a current adaption for the big or small screen. This was extremely challenging as this meant we would have to extensive research and possibly discover new books we hadn’t come across before, or possibly use an old favourite that slipped under the radar when it came to being adapted into an illustrative form. I had decided to be nostalgic and followed suit by using The Enchanted Glass by Diane Wynne Jones, who also wrote the Howl’s moving castle series.
I had taken it upon myself originally to draw a design for Andrew Hope, or known as Professor Hope by many of the characters in the wonderful children’s novel, but I had changed my mind and focused on two secondary characters; the caretaker and gardener – Mr and Mrs Stock (not related or married, simply a coincidence!) But judging the amount of time I could allow myself in between numerous workshops and deadlines, I made the decision to choose Mrs. Stock.
Concept Art of Mrs. Stock, the caretaker
Basing the majority of her appearance on how she was described through her actions, such as “Great was her indignation when she arrived at the house next day to find that Andrew had moved all the furniture around in the living room, so that he could see to play the piano and get the best armchair beside the fire. It took Mrs Stock a whole morning of grunting, heaving and pushing to put it all back where it had been before.” Seeing as how she was very hands-on and dedicated to her work, I wanted to use circles and squares to represent her strength.
More concept art and final design
In addition to her strength, she was a very emotive character throughout the book, that appeared to be passionately aggressive at times, especially when it came to the house or the climax of the book. I wanted to incorporate this through her stance and facial expressions.
Overall, Characters Between the Sheets was an exciting, fun and very challenging workshop that pushed me out of my comfort zone surrounding time limits and how I am used to designing. It has allowed me to experiment and have fun with the exploration of designing and creating characters on a whim or simply based on a description.