Thursday, June 15, 2006

L'il Rosie Designs

As mentioned before, my number one inspiration these days is of course my 20-month old daughter Rosie. I've been thinking about doing some strips of her in a "Peanuts" style for a little while now, and finally got down to working on some different character designs. The following is what I came up.

It was a pretty neat process and much tougher than anticipated. The best part was doing research by reading through the Fantagraphics Peanuts books, but also looking at how other artists draw kids particularly Jordan Crane (one of my favourite cartoonists), and Don Rosa (specifically looking at how he gets across feelings when the facial designs are so simple).

L'il Rosie #1
This is my very first try and isclosest to Schulz's designs. The main difference is that Rosie has really long eyelashes, and I have to incorporate these somehow into the design.
L'il Rosie 1
L'il Rosie #2
Again pretty close to Schulz. Added the bow to the hair, head is more "football shaped", eyes after Little Orphan Annie.
L'il Rosie 2
L'il Rosie #3
This is me trying to add more details into the face, and I think the result is less successful.
L'il Rosie 3
Li'l Rosie #4
Less sylized eyes and nose - not bad. Initially I drew this with a bow in her hair as well, but I photoshopped it out. Rosie's a bit of a tomboy anyway!
L'il Rosie 4
So -- this weekend I think I'll start work on a one to two page L'il Rosie strip.

My aim is to have a new mini-comic out for SPX called "The Rosie Stories" which will feature my story in "Drawing the Line Again", some L'il Rosie stories, and a new longer format story done in my regular style.

5 comments:

Michael Cho said...

Very cool -- I think I like the very first one the best. I can't wait to see these Li'l Rosie comics!

Claudia Davila (Fran) said...

Hey D!

I'm lovin' your Rosie cartoons! I agree with Miguel that the first one is my favourite. Funny how less detail on a face makes it more expressive. Also it would be easier to draw many, many Rosies and have them look consistent with less lines, no? I can't wait to see your Li'l Rosie comics! (wait, that's exactly what m cho said -- I mean it too, though!)

Katie said...

Diana T!!!! Oh my goodness, it's so nice to find you!

Anonymous said...

Hi Diana,
I finally got a chance to check out your blog and what a treat it is!
I'm with the others in choosing Rosie # 1.
Good luck with the project.

Diana said...

Thanks everyone for your votes!

I think it's unanimous! Rosie #1 was my first attempt, and sometimes it's best to go with your first instincts. I've started a strip in this style and am looking to finish it this month (hey it's only a one-pager). Once it's done, I will post here...