This is where I started off. i wanted to base my character of something important, something of relevance to our society. I went onto the BBC news website and looked for an interesting story, nothing seemed to catch my interest or creativity.
BBC World News
I remembered an article I read a while back which Conann linked on Facebook, I found it an interesting read. The idea is that the artist of the bull ‘Arturo Di Modica’ was not pleased by the marketing stunt of the fearless girl. The girl was intended to be positive, a symbol of female empowerment, the Latina girl placed in wall street, showed that no matter of gender or race women can face down any task, people recognised this and were angered at those who opposed it. The Mayor of NYC eve tweeted ‘Men who don’t like women taking up space are exactly why we need the Fearless Girl.’ It’s not the point though, it’s not why it was opposed my Di Modica at least, it’s because understanding the history behind Charging bull. ‘The idea for the bull was never to represent the possible trampling death of a small child, his lawyers explained. The idea was to project optimism and strength amid adversity, which at the time of the sculpture’s creation included a market crash that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down a terrifying 22%.’ The fearless girl was placed by a company, it uses Di Modicas art to paint another picture, it has changes when his art meant, a sign of hope and strength or the American People, this isn’t fair. The Fearless girl is important, it is great that it exists, just under the circumstances I don’t think it’s fair how it does and maybe it should be moved.
‘Charging Bull’ and ‘Fearless Girl’
Sculpture: Kristen Visbal – Photo: Federica Valabrega
So aside from all of this controversy I wanted to shine a light on the topic. The bull is a sign of strength and the girl fearlessness, sounds like a good team to me. I decided to design two characters, a pair who face the world together, not one that have a showdown.
Here’s some exploration of ideas and inspiration, as you can see blow I liked Spot from Pixar’s ‘The Good Dinosaur.’
I had some more character exploration but I must have forgot to scan it, you can see it in my sketchbook.
Character Rotation: Mia
Character Rotation: Axel
Double Trouble
Mia
Mia is bold, fearless and an adventurer. Lived in a scrapyard in her younger years, took to welding and made herself a Metal Chest Plate and accessories. Mia is an Orphan, Her mum died when she was 10, her dad had left, she fended for herself and Axel. Mia has a scar on her face from when she saved Axel, she carries a satchel with some tools and essentials. Mia is Spanish.
Character silhouette and skeleton to show how well she reads and also who she is built.
Axel
Born with twisted horns and had them removed, Axel was due for slaughter as his expense was too great for his usefulness as he was no longer a viable bull fighter. Axel was given his horned hat by Mia, it helps him scare off unwanted attention. Axel has a flat friendly face but is very strong and would die for Mia if they came into harms way.
Character silhouette and skeleton to show how well he reads and also who he is built.
Staging
I decided to look at staging for my characters, I thought it was important I capture their relationship, an animal with a human could easily be construed as a pet but I wanted Mia and Axel to have a friendship. I’ve painted them with their armour off to show that they can be comfortable around one another, they don’t need to be tough when it’s just the two of them. I’ve painted them in a cave as I imagine they sleep wherever they can as Mia is an orphan.
Squash and Stretch
I’ve decided to show squash and stretch because I feel the characters might look a bit stiff but I think that they should be able to squash and stretch to an extent to exaggerate emotions like surprise of anger
Straight ahead animation
In this video clip I really roughly drew Axel running and sliding to a stop his volumes are definitely compromised, i was on a bit of a time crunch, I think his slide captures some of his innocence in personality.
Follow Through
I wanted to show his hat follow through when he stopped so as he stops abruptly his hate follows moments after.
References
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/14/fearless-girl-statue-women-new-york-bull
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