daninapsanimation - Character Design

'7 Busy Beavers', Presented by Sesame St.

I had the pleasure of working with Pipsqueak Animation on commission for Sesame Workshop as animator and lead character designer. The short features on Sesame St. s52, e18 'Fort Rudy', and can be seen now on MAX.

Clip from final deliverable

eye blinks and mouth packs

Rough turnaround after moving closer to the final look

looping chomp animation test

Solar Opposites: Dune

Study of the art style of Hulu's 'Solar Opposites', using the cast of Dune: Part 2

Lineup of Dune cast with 'Solar Opposites' and Rick and Morty' mains as reference.
Left to Right: Paul Muad'Dib Atreides, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, and Reverend Mother Lady Jessica

Paul turnaround and expression sheet.

Wardrobe iteration; Paul in various Fremen garb.

Wardrobe study; Jessica from Lady to Reverend Mother.

Lineup of additional members of the Harkonnen Clan

Feyd-Rautha poses and

Feyd-Ratha expressions, with reference; playing a bit with color in reference to one of the more memorable, striking sequences from the film.

Creature concept, the God-Emperor of Dune

Guild Navigator concepts

Dragon Ball, GO!

A study of popular TVA styles, such a 'Teen Titans, GO!', using the Dragon Ball: Super lineup as my subjects.

Dragon Ball Super lineup featuring latest forms, plus a Gogeta design that borrows from GT's Super Saiyan 4 concept..

The Baker's Dozen

A mystical, magical, medieval-fantasy society of knights

Captain Belinda

The undisputed Leader of the Baker's Dozen. Stoic, dutiful, and highly intelligent, though she can also be stubborn and inscrutable for her soft-spoken nature.

Captain Belinda, turnaround

Expression sheet.
Belinda rarely smiles, but she never back down!

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Exploration; starting with a heavily armored concept, moving from there into what I would like to come across as lithe and wiry in spite of the bulky exterior shell.

Refining through iteration...

Material callout; Belinda's blade iterations.

Emuna the Artificer

A nomadic desert dwelling loner, she can rarely be found without an array of tools at her disposal. She crafts amazing mechanical constructs using magic and an unrivaled knowledge of specialty weapons and armor.

Emuna turaround

Emuna crouched low in deep concentration while tinkering over a mysterious small device

Emuna bonding with her wizard friend Marvin (more an him later) over one of her magical metallic trinkets.

Goblin Trio

Left to Right:
Gren; demolitions expert and bare-knuckle brawler | Ej; master swordsman | Siv; sharpshooter toxophilite

Drizzt Do'Urden

Character design concept of Drizzt Do’Urden of DnD lore, inspired by the art style of ‘Mark of the Ninja’, by Klei Entertainment
Party lineup coming soon!

Wardrobe Breakdown

Daylight and Night palettes

Fantasy RPG Trio

Inspired by the western anime art style of Lab Zero Games, makers of 'Skull Girls' and 'Indivisible', the later of which famously boasts a large, diverse cast of characters.

The Rogue: Mysterious, mercurial, and mute; his bifurcated fox mask and fine yet ragged attire betrays a contradictory nature that make this one hard to trust, in spite of a reliable set of stealth skills.

The Fighter: The Dragon Knight dons his armor and Defender Shield once more, but adheres to a staunch vow of no weapons. He doesn't like to talk about his past...

The Sorcerer: A dessert-dwelling prodigal student of magic who has earned an apprenticeship in the Sultan's palace. She channels her powers through over-sized specialty gauntlets.

Janus
Fighting Game Character Concept

Inspired by 'Killer Instinct', and named after the primordial Roman god of transitions and doorways, which is apt given the character's role of Summoner. Janus is a fighter past his prime, who turns to dark magic and a Faustian pact with a daemon to recoup his vitality, effectively sacrificing his humanity for power. Janus falls into the archetype of 'puppet-fighter', two characters as one.

Beast concept

Elemental concept

Wraith Concept

Exploratory sketch

Daemon variation with paint study

Wardrobe iterations

Head design iterations

Left: Final concept
Right, Upper: Initial exploratory concept iterations. Threw out the 'Elemental' early on
Right, Middle: Exploring the 'Beast' and 'Wraith' concepts. Ultimately settled on a hybrid of the two.
Right, Lower: Janus wardrobe and head design iterations. Committed to tattoos early on to tie him visually to the daemon.