#shape theory

[alevolpe]

I shared this on twt, I figured ppl on here would like to see it just as much. it’s just an old character design sheet for me to use as ref for future redesigns with a healthy sprinkle of gushing about sm character designs in the mix ;)

[shizuchansmilk]

18.09.2023

[kottonkandykiller]

guys I just figured something out about Vaggie’s design and this may already have been noticed but whatever. it needs a bit of background though

so I’m practicing just making character’s faces into shapes so I can draw them from memory better and it was Vaggie’s turn (I’ve already done Charlie and Alastor and I don’t really need to do it for Angel). so I started off with the basic facial structure layer and I traced over several pictures of her to figure out where the main circle is and whatnot and I realized “huh. this is really similar to how I would draw a typical human face but whatever.”

then I moved on to the facial features layer and I was like “wait hang on this doesn’t look like her at all, what—“ the problem was that everything was soft. there is not a single hard angle on her face. not one. even her nose is fairly curved.

then I did the last layer (her hair). her hair is entirely triangles, rectangles, and diamonds— no circles or ovals at all. even Alastor has at least one oval in his bangs. and I sat back and I looked at what I’d done and i was like “this definitely looks like her, but what if i—”

so I turned the hair layer visibility off and it didn’t look like her again. turned it back on and there she was. and it took a minute but it finally hit me.

her sharpness is what makes her her.

without her anger and her angles and her hard exterior, she is not Vaggie. she is someone else— someone that she left behind a long time ago.

[dragonling348]

misc concept art

[mordenandmerry]

Hi

To all character designers who when changing a character outfit for a later part in the story use the clothing and hair to make the silhouette’s shapes different, showing how the character evolves, can you marry me because it doesn’t happen nearly as much as it should and I love you all.

[snooziangel]

learning shape theory…. redesign of my old oc kiki…

[bellamby]

Can't let the gang know I fw Shape Theory. What would the bros say?

HII my character & shape design tips PDF is now available! ^_^ hope you enjoy !!

BUY HERE or HERE

[rocketbirdie]

lowkey funniest part of rebirth is when cloud dissociates BIG time while the costa del amor girls are making their pitch

[poppyknitt]

Hey! I need feedback and ideas on how to design poc characters, namely black characters! As a white person I obviously don’t know shit about it and my friends who know more (and are black) have recommended that I reach out to more than just them for help, and so I figured the internet would be a good place to start since I feel weird talking to someone with only the intention of asking them about character design.

First, how do i incorporate character design rules such as shape language and color theory into designing black people and other pocs?

Second, how do I avoid making characters based on stereotypes? Is there a way to do that while also following the standard rules of character design?

How does shape theory and color theory apply to black people versus white people? I know that golds and silvers look better on certain skin tones than others, but beyond that how do i know when I’m making a character with darker skin tones look good versus making them look like a mess?

[alienssstufff]

You’re gay? For what?

[genderqueerpond]

We don't talk enough about the fact that Amelia Pond, s5 Amelia Pond, before the timeline is reset, isn't just a normal orphan. Her parents didn't die, didn't abandon her, and didn't send her away. They never existed in the first place.

And if her parents never existed, then Amelia cannot exist. She is a causal impossibility.

"People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces." A photograph. A face carved into an apple. Yes. Sure.

A child.

Now that's too big, surely.

But that's what she is. She is exactly the same as these things. A trace. An echo of something that could never be, never was, never could have been.

And the universe should never allow it. A whole person, that's just too much. She could not have continued to exist indefinitely, in normal circumstances, after her parents never existed.

In normal circumstances.

Because the Doctor didn't just save her from things coming out of the crack in her wall. He saved her from going into it. And he didn't just save her from the threat of going into it simply because of its vicinity.

No, by arriving when he did, he interrupted a process that was probably already in motion. And then by arriving again only moments later on a cosmic relative timestream (too quickly for the process to complete) and yet in the local relative timestream, years later --- years of a potential future caught midway through the process of rewriting -- he solidified that existence. Amy is a creature from another timeline, caught in amber. The Doctor prevented her from never existing, but only after she could already never exist.

And so, no one around Amelia thinks about it. Neither does she. There's some kind of consciousness block, because if you thought about it, really thought about it, for two seconds you'd realize she cannot exist. And the human mind can't deal with that. So, to protect itself, everyone's brain simply slides off it before ever noticing. They just assume that her existence makes sense, and don't question it, and don't notice what they don't question, that is staring them in the face.

But of course, to some extent they do notice. They can't think it, but they notice subconsciously that there's something they can't think. They notice there's something wrong with her, something uncanny. And they don't like it, and they alienate her even more because of it.

"Does it ever bother you Pond that your life existence doesn't make any sense?"

[malamilkbeats]

Noncanon Corrupted Iris design

We know it hasn't happened yet and don't know if Iris is really gonna get corrupted (red herring? who knows) but I couldn't resist anyway!

I felt like I had to add the pink wig option because most have sprouted hair so far/silly

I'm betting he'd still gonna be our bald grape dude 🍇💜

[s0fter-sin]

one of my favourite aspects of supernatural that you very rarely see in paranormal shows is that sam and dean are already versed in the world they live in. there’s no sudden discovery of ghosts and demons and now they have to learn about them along with the audience; they are born into it and already know all about it. it allows the audience to follow their personal story instead of also trying to figure out this new world and its rules

the first season is full of knowledge we never see them learn; “w*ndigoes are in the minnesota woods or- or northern michigan. i’ve never even heard of one this far west.” […] “great. well then this [his gun] is useless.” (1x02), “you don’t break a curse. you get the hell out of its way.” (1x08), d: “it’s a god. a pagan god, anyway.” […] “the annual cycle of its killings? and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. like some kind of fertility right.” […] s: “the last meal. given to sacrificial victims. d: “yeah, i’m thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan god.” (1x11)

almost every episode in the first season is a monster they’ve faced before that they then explain to the audience in a way that should feel patronising; like it’s the same speech given over and over again but instead, the audience almost feels included in the knowledge. it’s stated with such an innate confidence and comfort in said knowledge that it feels like we already knew it too; “spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. if they want inside, they just go through the walls.” […] “the claws, the speed that it moves; could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog.” (1x02), “it's biblical numerology. you know noah's ark, it rained for forty days. the number means death.” (1x04), “no no no, not the reaper, a reaper. there's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by 100 different names.” […] “you said it yourself that the clock stopped, right? reapers stop time. and you can only see 'em when they're coming at you which is why i could see it and you couldn't.” (1x12)

they already know and, at least in the first season, already have what they need to kill whatever they’re hunting; already know to salt and burn bones for spirits, fire for a w*ndigo, exorcisms for demons, a silver bullet to the heart for shapeshifters. there’s only three times in the entire first season that they run into something new to them; 1x14 when sam gets his first vision that leads him to another psychic, 1x16 when dean calls caleb for help on the sigil he put together and he tells him about daevas, and 1x20 when they find out vampires are real- and they only don’t know that bc john thought they were hunted to extinction and not worth mentioning

(there’s also technically two half instances if you count one of them knowing something the other doesn’t - sam figuring out the tulpa in 1x17 and dean already knowing about the shtriga in 1x18 - but those still rely on sam and dean having prior knowledge)

even when they’re uncertain about facing something, it’s not bc they don’t know what it is; it’s precisely bc they know what it is and acknowledge that it’ll be a difficult hunt (“i don't know, man. this isn't our normal gig. i mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. this is big. and i wish dad was here.” 1x04)

so much of the tension in paranormal shows typically comes from the main character(s) not knowing what is happening to them/the people around them and having to find out how to resolve it. supernatural is unique in that it operates more like a police procedural. the tension comes from solving the clues and identifying patterns to figure out who (what) the killer is and intercepting before they can take another victim

it’s such a different tone to go for when compared to other shows that came both before, during, and after its run. it sets sam and dean on even footing with each other since they both have the same knowledge going in, and it puts them in a place of authority usually reserved for an outside character

the shows i compare spn to most is charmed, buffy and teen wolf; every main character in those shows are brought into the paranormal world knowing nothing, putting them on the same level as the audience, and they have their mc interact with others already knowledgeable about that world in order to overcome their problem/monster of the week. the audience organically learns about this new world as the characters learn about it. it’s a sound writing strategy that prevents “as we already know”-style exposition but something that complicates it is if your world building isn’t unique or intriguing enough, this slow introduction can become boring

we’ve seen shows like these before; sitting through the same tropes of characters learning to use their powers, struggling with no longer feeling normal/relating to the regular world around them, and not knowing how much they can trust the people already involved in this new world gets repetitive. all three shows eventually reach the same level of comfort with their new world that spn starts with but if the characters aren’t enough to draw you in, you can end up dropping it before they reach that point (and often, before the overarching plot can really kick in and evolve the show beyond the villain of the week format)

it’s the superhero origin movie in tv format; dragged out and overplayed. dropping the audience into an established world of course comes with its own problems but you also have the benefit of pre-existing established character dynamics that let the audience slot in like they’ve always been there instead of just getting to know all the characters while the characters also get to know each other

sam and dean already knowing about the supernatural lets the audience immediately get to the core of the story; the conflict between sam and dean, the search for their father, and the mystery of what killed their mother

[veveisveryuncool]

i must draw Her more

[more-mathematics-mor-lam]

Speak for yourself, many of my friends are perfectly spherical