One of the earlier posts actually has a super early version of India's mom (here):
Early on, the story was going to be about how boring India thought her life was (school, parents, neighborhood, etc.). I had (clumsily) designed the character to fit the original story. As the story changed, so too did Elizabeth:
This version is a little more realistic, but still very stylized. I can't remember why it was so important for her to be drinking iced tea all the time. I think it had something to do with the fact that she was always outside gardening. I don't like this concept at all, but it was part of the process so it had its purpose. Now let us never speak of it again.
Eventually, I decided I wanted some of the characters and story elements to have a 1950s feel, mostly because I'm a big fan of 1950s illustration. This sketch is the first design of Liz that I felt was getting pretty close to the mark:
And this is how Elizabeth looks later in the book:
It was a long time before I started to recognize just how much a character's expressions make that character who they are. There are tons of scenes in "Saturday" where we actually get to see what the characters are thinking. But in the moments where we don't physically see what's going on inside their heads, I wanted their expressions to suggest some of that complexity.
If you're a mom, happy (early) Mother's Day.
Cheers.
No comments:
Post a Comment