REVISITING ACTIVITY #45 RESULTS

Welcome to RESULTS DAY! Thanks for visiting!

Did you create characters this month?

Today, we’ll look at old and new designs, thanks to expert CREATE A CHARACTER designer Evan and his mom, Barb. Thank you for participating and sharing your fun sheets!

This Activity sheet was originally posted in 2015, when my kids were 8 and 9 years old.

Tap on the images below to scroll through each character!

Introducing Shape 1…

Shape 2…

Shape 3…

and Shape 4…

Thank you for joining me today! I hope you enjoyed the character show! We’ll revisit another sheet from the archive on Monday, June 6th! Until then…keep creating!

REVISTING ACTIVITY #45

Happy Monday! Thanks for visiting the CREATE A CHARACTER blog!

We are revisiting favorite posts over the years and this month, we’re highlighting Activity #45. You can read the original post here.

Will you try creating characters this month? Please share if you do! Use #createacharacteractivity on social media or send your completed Activity sheet to amy(at)amynielander.com before May 23th and I’ll include it in my RESULTS post May 27th!

Have fun discovering new characters this month! Download an Activity sheet here. Enjoy!

Revisiting Activity #29 RESULTS

Welcome to Results Day!

If you are new to the CREATE A CHARACTER Activity, I’ve been revisiting archived posts to free up my picture book making time (I just revealed the cover last week. Pre-orders are available too!).

This month we’re checking in on a sheet I posted in February 2015 (you can read the original post here.) Did you create characters this month? If so, please let me know in the comments!

My favorite mom and son duo shared their characters with me last week! Thank you Barb and Evan for participating! Their characters are so lively. But what’s even better is they’re drawing together! That’s what makes me really happy.

So let’s take a look! Since I have more characters to work with, you can view them in the slideshows below (click on the image to advance).

Shape 1…

Shape 2…

Shape 3

and Shape 4…

And that is it! Did you enjoy the slideshow format? I’d love to hear what you think.

If you’re curious about creating characters, join us next month! We’ll revisit a post from the past. You can download an updated sheet on Monday, May 2nd.

Until then…keep creating!

REVISITING ACTIVITY #29

Happy Monday!

Thanks for checking in! This month we are highlighting the CREATE A CHARACTER Activity #29. Download a sheet here. Create characters with your friends or on your own! Enjoy!

REVISITING ACTIVITY #28 RESULTS

Happy Friday!

Thank you for stopping by! Did you create characters this month? I hope you enjoyed bringing new ideas to life.

The results below are from January 2015! My kids were age 7 and 9 (2nd and 4th graders). Do you have a favorite character? I love them all!

Find a new (but really old) Activity sheet on Monday, April 4th. Until then, keep creating!

REVISITING ACTIVITY #28

Hello friends!

Thank you for stopping by this month!

March’s CREATE A CHARACTER blog is revisiting Activity sheet #28. Download here. What characters do you see?

Share your results using #createacharacteractivity by March 25th. If you’d like your characters to be included in my blog post, reach out at: amy(at)amynielander.com

Happy Creating!

REVISITING ACTIVITY #31 RESULTS

Welcome!

Did you create characters this month? I hope you had fun if you did!

We are revisiting Activity sheet #31 today and taking a look at results back when I created characters with my kids. I’ve compiled all of our ideas below. I love how different each character is. Check out the fun titles too!

Thanks for stopping by! We’ll revisit another archived post on Monday, March 7th.

Until then…Happy Creating!

REVISITING ACTIVITY #31

Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by! We are stepping back in time with the CREATE A CHARACTER Activity this winter/spring and revisiting archived posts. Activity sheets #1-50 will be removed from this blog in the upcoming months so now is a great time to try them out!

This month we’re highlighting Activity sheet #31. The date was February 16th, 2015. My shapes were not pulled from inspiration like they are today. Instead, I used my imagination.

What characters do you see?

Please share using #createacharacteractivity! If you’d like me to include your designs in my RESULTS post, send them to amy (at) amynielander.com by February 21st.

Download a sheet here. Enjoy!

REVISITING ACTIVITY #1 RESULTS

Happy Friday friends! Thanks for visiting! Did you create characters this month using shapes from my very first blog post? If so, I hope you had fun!

I did some digging in my archive and back then, I had no system! I was experimenting with the CREATE A CHARACTER Activity and wasn’t sure what I was doing! My original schedule was to post a new sheet every week, which sounds overwhelming to me now! But, it meant my kids and I were drawing together routinely, which I loved!

I could not find my first sketches for Activity sheet #1. But I did find my daughter and son’s drawings. It was June and they were finishing up 1st and 3rd grade. Check them out below!

Left column: Original shape Center column: daughter, age 7 results Right column: son, age 8 results

These are simple characters, but very different!

We’ll take a look at another post from the CREATE A CHARACTER archives on Monday, February 7th. Until then, keep creating! Thanks for stopping by!

PICTURE BOOK MAKING BREAK!

Happy New Year friends! I hope you had a wonderful holiday break!

I’ve been super busy with illustrating my 2022 picture book, My Name Is Not Ed Tug! (coming October by West Margin Press). I’ll return to new blog posts this spring with exciting news! Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I’m going to share my favorite CREATE A CHARACTER posts over the years each month! You are welcome to use accompanying Activity sheets to keep you busy! I’ll include a link at the bottom, so you don’t have to dig through the Archive too!

Today, I’m sharing the very first Activity sheet I made! The year was 2014, and things were much different back then. My kids were in elementary school and I had no idea what I was really doing with my blog. For example, shapes were not generated by inspiration. I just made them up! They were far more complex back then. Shapes were also called “blobs”. What would you call them?

You can read the first post here. And if you’d like to use an Activity sheet to create characters this month, download an updated PDF here.

I’ll still be collecting results if you’d like to share your characters! Send to: amy (at) amynielander.com along with your name, age & character names.

Thanks for checking in friends! Now it’s back to working on my main character! Check out this first sketch I did years ago…

Happy Creating!

December Break

Hello friends. In lieu of recent events, I will not be posting a new CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet this month. If you would like to help the Oxford community during this difficult time, learn more here.

Wishing you all a restful holiday.

Results #139

Thank you for stopping by! If you live in the U.S., I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!

Let’s talk about inspiration for November’s CREATE A CHARACTER Activity #139.

I pulled shapes from a local favorite, Franklin Cider Mill. Did you visit a cider mill this season? We finally squeezed a trip in the other weekend and their delicious doughnuts melted in our mouths. By the end of the day, it looked like we bought a bunch of crumbs instead of doughnuts.

I was on the lookout for interesting shapes as we walk around! I spotted…

Crank, tree stump, mallard (with friend), autumn shrub leaf

I was so excited to receive Activity sheets from Evan and his mom, Barb this month. Thank you for sharing your characters with me! I love them all! I think I see a familiar character too (Charlie Brown?) in Evan’s batch of designs. Great work friends!

Here is a Before and After look at my CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet during the pencil sketch phase...

Do you see a theme? My designs fell into place after a weekend visit with a family we haven’t seen since early 2020 (before the pandemic). We met their new baby! It’s been a while since I spent time with a sweet newborn! She was precious. When Monday rolled along and it was time for me to start pencil sketches, babies were still on my mind. That visit stirred up memories from when my kids were born (they are teenagers now)! A theme naturally took shape. My character would be a…baby. But not just ANY baby. This baby would be especially fearless. Meet BRAVE (and exceptionally bright!) BABY below.

My first design changed during pen sketches. I wasn’t thrilled about the direction I picked so I kept tossing possibilities around one day when I was driving home. The shape was simple enough to flip around in my head! That’s when I came up with the design below. Can you see the difference between the above pencil sketch and the pen sketch? Here is my pen time-lapse drawing.

Keep scrolling for all character transformations…

Shapes 2 & 4 became a play structure for this dare-devil baby…

and shape 3 is…

I hope you enjoyed this month’s CREATE A CHARACTER post! Download a new Activity sheet on Monday, December 6th. Thank you for visiting!

Happy Creating!

SHAPES #139

Happy November 1st! Thanks for stopping by! A new CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet is ready to download here. Feel like sharing? Post your results on social media before Saturday, November 27th. If you’d like to be included in my blog post that day, email your completed sheet along with your name & age to amy(at)amynielander.com.

I hope you enjoy this month’s CREATE A CHARACTER Activity #139!

#138 RESULTS

Happy Friday! Thank you for stopping by today! Did you create characters this month? If so, I’d love to hear how you did! Please share in the comments below.

Let’s start with where my shapes came from for October’s CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet #138. Drumroll please….

A local antique shop! I visited Sinclair’s Antiques for inspiration.

It’s been quite a while since I stepped in an antique store. I was pretty excited to look for new and interesting shapes! I was mostly drawn to Art Deco items, statues and odd furniture/products you would never see today. Kind of like this collar cabinet!

Did you know detachable collars used to exist?

Another charming antique that caught my eye was this Art Deco fish bowl stand…

Can you picture the type of fish that used to live in this bowl? Perhaps a fancy goldfish.

I used the flower detail in the fish bowl stand as one of my Activity sheet shapes! Can you spot it below? Keep scrolling to see all of my inspiration.

Tea pot, chalkware dancer wall plaque, detail from Art Deco fish bowl stand, Lladró Madonna and child (matte finish)

This month I received characters from son + mom team, Evan (age 7) and Barb! Take a look at our completed Activity sheets!

My theme this month was FANCIFUL INSECTS! Each bug is completely made-up!

I had fun coming up with THE THUNDERFLIES! They are a dynamic squad of four flies that enjoy showcasing their flying formations (kind of like the Thunderbirds).

Thank you Barb and Evan for sharing your characters this month! They are fabulous as usual! Evan is always coming up with a bunch of designs on his Activity sheet. I am grateful for their help and participation!

Join me next month for another round of CREATE A CHARACTER sketching! A new Activity sheet will be posted on Monday, November 1st. Thanks for stopping by!

SHAPES #138

Thanks for stopping by!

Are you ready to create new characters this month? I hope you’ll join me!

Download a CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet here. Share your results using #createacharacteractivity! Check in on Friday, October 29th to see my results. If you would like your designs to be included in my post, send your completed sheet along with name, age and character titles to me by October 25th. Happy Creating!

#137 RESULTS

Thank you for stopping by!

Did you create characters this month? I’d love to hear what you came up with! Please share what worked and what didn’t in the comments below.

Let’s kick things off with inspiration! Where did this month’s CREATE A CHARACTER Activity shapes come from?

The local Farmer’s Market! Do you have one in your town?

Check out what caught my eye…

Mad Hatter peppers, Osage orange, succulent, Teddy Bear Sunflower

What object from above, catches your eye? My favorite was the Teddy Bear Sunflower! The texture looks just like fur!

This month I received character designs from the amazing mom + son duo, Barb and Evan (who turned 7 this week!). Find their completed Activity sheets below…

I merged our designs together so you can see our different solutions (because there is no right answer with this activity)!

The first shape…

I love Evan’s penguin and his proud strut!

Second shape…

Third shape…

And fourth shape…

If you’re wondering where Barb’s designs are, she created an imaginative scene with every shape! I couldn’t break these characters up!

Thank you Evan and Barb for participating in this month’s CREATE A CHARACTER Activity! Your characters are charming!

If you would like your designs included in October’s post, send them to amy(at)amynielander.com by October 25th. Share your name, age and a character title. Download a new CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet on Monday, October 4th.

View all of my time lapse videos (including this month’s) on my Vimeo channel.

Thanks for stopping by!

SHAPES #137

Welcome! Thank you for stopping by! A new CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet is ready to download here. I hope you’ll join me this month! Check back on Friday, September 24th for my results. If you’d like your characters included in my blog post, send a jpg along with your name and age to amy (at) amynielander.com by September 20th . Enjoy!

RESULTS SHAPE #136

Welcome! Thank you for stopping by! Did you create characters this month? I’d love to hear if you did! Please share in the comments.

This month I received characters from my favorite mom + son duo, Barb and Evan!

Before I share their results, let’s talk about inspiration…

August has been a busy month for us! With a renovation project picking up speed, I didn’t have time to explore a new and exciting place. Instead, I stepped outside one early Sunday morning and noticed a particular presence around me. Calming raindrops. They were resting on our front porch. They were like little souvenirs left from the shower we had earlier that morning. Drops (and their spots!) found a home on our ivy, flowers and little loveseat. I knew I could build an Activity sheet with these! Can you find the raindrops I collected below?

As I was looking at the raindrops, one splattered onto our loveseat! Can you find it?

Have you ever noticed the shape of raindrops before? If you spot an interesting one the next time it rains, take a picture! You may be able to create your own Activity sheet.

Next up - characters! Take a look at Evan’s (age 6) and his mom’s completed Activity sheets below…

Didn’t they do a great job?! Let’s zoom in closer. I’ve included my characters too.

I combined Shape 1 and Shape 3 to create….GIANT CHICKEN! Can you spot the thunder cloud behind him (rain must have still been on my mind!)?

What do you think of our characters this month? I hope they inspired YOU to join us in September!

Thanks for stopping by! A new CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet will be ready to download on Monday, September 6th.

If you are returning to school soon, I hope you have a fantastic first day with friends and teachers!

SHAPES #136

Thanks for stopping by! Download a new CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet for August here. Check back in on Friday, August 27th for my results! Share your characters on social media using #createacharacteractivity! Enjoy.

RESULTS SHAPE #135

Welcome!

Thank you for stopping by! Did you try creating characters this month? If so, I’d love to hear what you came up with! Please share your experience in the comments!

Let’s begin with some inspiration…

I did not travel far to find my batch of shapes. In fact, last month our household was so busy I decided to just…look around. June is a big birthday month for our family and there were multiple celebrations. One, was extra, extra special. Whenever there is a birthday in our house, we decorate most of the 1st floor the night before (or early morning)! How do you celebrate your family’s birthday?

Instead of traveling outside of the city to collect shapes, I used my festive surroundings. Scroll to see how the CREATE A CHARACTER Activity #135 sheet developed…

Let’s move on to pencil sketches! Below is a BEFORE and AFTER look at my Activity sheet…

Since my inspiration derived from birthday decorations, most of my characters were…celebrating their birthday too!

The pen time-lapse drawing below shows how the initial pencil sketch designs continued to evolve…

Let’s take a closer look at each design…

GILDA THE BABY CROC came from two shapes. Whenever I get stuck on one shape, I zoom out to see if I can combine two shapes together. That’s what happened with GILDA! She is celebrating her birthday and can’t wait to open her first gift. What do you think she received?

Here is my second character…

My ELIZABETHAN CAT changed quite a bit from my pencil sketch. I wanted to push her character so I experimented with her facial features. Maybe it’s her birthday too? How do you think she would like to celebrate?

And the last character is…

…BIRTHDAY BOY WITH GIANT BALLOON DOG!

After I did a pencil sketch of this pair, I experimented with the boy’s reaction. Instead of feeling shocked (like the original sketch shows), I searched for a story nugget. I decided the boy really wanted an animal balloon for his birthday…but after searching and searching he could not find the local animal-making balloonist. His only option? To make one himself! My illustration shows his failed attempts along with the result: the biggest animal balloon yet! I can relate to his failed attempts! It took me many, many years before my first picture book was published!

If you could make an animal balloon, what would it be?

I hope you enjoyed this month’s characters! Thanks for checking in. A new CREATE A CHARACTER Activity sheet will be posted on Monday, August 2nd. Be sure to share your designs on social media using #createacharacteractivity!

Happy Creating!