Happy Friday!
Thank you for visiting! I hope you enjoyed this month’s CREATE A CHARACTER Activity.
I’d like to kick the post off with fun sketches I received via email! They were created by a mom & son duo!
Introducing CREATE A CHARACTER #130 designs by…
Evan (age 6) and his fabulous mom, Barb!
Aren’t these so spectacular? I love how they used color paper to make their characters pop. Thank you for participating Evan (and Barb)! You both did an outstanding job and I hope you had fun doodling together!
If you and your child/student would like to share your characters next month, please send them my way at amy[at]amynielander.com. Be sure to include your name, age and character’s name. All designs received by March 24th will be included in my next post!
This month’s shapes were inspired by a Sunday afternoon visit to the Detroit Institute of Arts. We were grateful to learn that the DIA is scheduling appointments for families to stop by. It felt good to gaze at paintings, sculptures and artifacts again!
It was tough narrowing down the pieces that caught my eye! What do you enjoy looking at when you visit a museum? My favorite pieces are the sculptures. I never get tired of admiring the drapery and all the soft folds carved in stone. Every detail is remarkable!
Shapes in this month’s #130 Activity sheet were inspired by the below masterpieces.
This is a 1903 sculpture titled Penelope, by Franklin Simmons. The intricate heart-like details around the trim of her dress caught my attention.
This Half-Armor is made out of steel, gold and leather and dates back to 1550. The artist is unknown but the origin is Lombardy, Italy.
Lajos Mack created this Hungarian Art Nouveau vase in 1900.
And below is my favorite painting by John Singer Sargent, Madame Paul Poirson (1885). I think it is striking! What do you think of this portrait?
Below are the details I used to build my Activity sheet…
What shapes would you have picked?
Next, I started making characters! Here is a Before and After look at my #130 Activity sheet and pencil sketches…
A few days later, I filmed a time-lapse of my pen sketches. They eventually turned into Instagram reels.
Now, for a character breakdown!
I always like to think of a theme before character designing. It helps me come up with ideas! Since my fourth shape came from the way Madame Paul Poirson’s hair framed her face, I decided my theme would be…hair! Every character (or animal) I designed is dealing with a hair-related situation.
For example, my first character is LITTLE GIRL WITH LITTLE BANGS. I imagined her having an unfortunate haircut that left her with super short bangs. Has this ever happened to you? Keep scrolling to watch her transformation…
My second character is ready for CRAZY HAIR DAY at school…
Crazy Hair Day is not for everyone though! I recommend reading this delightful picture book by Norene Paulson (illustrated by Camila Carrossine) titled WHAT’S SILLY HAIR DAY WITH NO HAIR if your child/student has alopecia.
I had a hard time turning my third character into a human. So, I turned it into a dog with an odd, mischievous human hair…
Last up, is my fourth shape. Do you remember how I pulled inspiration from Madame Paul Poirson’s face? The wiggly lines were formed by her bangs. I decided to invert this outline into a block of hair for my fourth character! It now belongs to a beautiful, beaming ballerina…
That is it for my character designs! Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed reading my creative process. Maybe it inspired you to visit your local museum! Thanks again to Evan and his mom for participating!
Are you interested in making characters? Check back on Monday, March 1st, to download a new Activity sheet.
I hope you’ll join me!