Evolution Of Jenny

Jenny, first sketches.

Jenny was a very vague idea to begin with. I knew I wanted a young girl but I wasn't sure how young. In these first drawings she is about 11-12. The original concept was that not only would she give up her scarf, but also her boots. The seal would grow fond of the boots and keep those as a memento. I didn't like this concept as she would have to walk around on pebbled roads with no boots (as pictures on the left). I felt it would just be better if the seal kept the scarf instead. Simpler in many aspects in terms of animation and the poor girl get to keep her feet safe from the harsh pavement.

First Sketchbook concept drawings.

Picture of Jenny and Pup

Eventually when I got a sketchbook she began to develop into a younger and chubbier child. Her hair became messy and her eyes became smaller and rounder. Her shapes became more baby like. Now she was around about 6 years old. I felt more appeal in her smaller eyes are larger head, more innocence was conveyed in her face but she also brimmed with confidence with her large smile.

I liked the look the pens would give to the image. This is something I'd like to transfer over to the animation. It'll add an interesting shimmering movement to the over film with I hope can add appeal.

First draft of Jenny's character sheet.

The first character sheet didn't quite work. Her hair was to symmetrical and her face shape made it seem like she had a marshmallow skull. The overall character needed to become more solid and her hair needed to be simple to animate but not so simple her hair suffered from being to neat. She was a girl who explores the seaside and here it is clear that her hair is just to tidy.

I also found I was drawing her boots in a the wrong perspective. Sometimes her mouth would be to close to her nose. All in all not a great character in terms of animation. She wasn't terrible but needed improvement.

Improved Sketches

In these images Jenny's skull became more defined and more appealing and her over all her structure was more solid. Still her hair wasn't quite right but the strand that was near her eyes gave her hair a bit more of a scruffy look and add a nice asymmetry to her over all design.

Final Character Sheet

The finale sheet has her hair behind one ear and just neatens the overall design. I feel Jenny has come a long way and has become the character I wanted her to be when I first envisioned this idea.