Female Capoeira pose

 I also saw a lot of capoeira poses in the Bananeira (handstand) pose, or macaco (backflip), as can be seen below.

Video demonstrating bananeira:

Video demonstrating macaco:

So I thought I'd try a pose (above), however, it was based on an acrobat, but I wanted to be able to see the face more. I did not take this any further because I wanted a more relaxed, less stressed pose and I also wanted the face to be more visible and facing the viewer.

I came across this image below whilst looking for anatomy reference, and I really like the twist and thought it was something I could use to make a more dynamic pose, especially since I came across some books which talked about curves in drawings to direct the eye and create more interest in the pose.

Below I sketched a pose I thought reflected the capoeira movement as well as trying to capture a sense of movement and dance.

Comparing Japanese game characters to Western games

I decided to try to research character design in the East compared to the West to see if there are any noticeable differences in the character designs, be it costume or memorability. I noticed that when looking at lists of greatest characters, many lists featured a lot of Japanese characters, such as those from Nintendo games. This made me want to further look into game titles from both regions and pick out characters that are popular.

Characters that are frequently listed as iconic or memorable characters are: 

Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. The image below shows the character development over different games, but it also shows that the fundamentals of her character design did not change much, for example the brown plaited hair/ ponytail and brown shorts with shoulder and thigh holsters. Despite slight variation, you can see this is the same character as the core design did not change much.

Commander Shepard from Mass Effect. The logo on their suits is memorable and easily recognisable, despite their outward appearances not being hugely unique. I have never played the Mass Effect games so do not know a lot about the character, however from what I can see the script is what really made the character shine and become something iconic. 

Big Daddy from BioShock. Another game I have not played, however I can understand why, visually, this character may be iconic or memorable. He appears to be quite large and has a huge helmet and a drill on one of his arms, these are eye-catching and interesting in terms of design. Again, this character is easily recognisable.

 Gordon Freeman from Half-Life. I have never played Half-Life however am familiar with the character name. Through my research I came across a quote from Empire stating that ""the character is the quintessential geek fantasy" who "has become a gaming icon, synonymous with the apotheosis of first-person action."" GamesRadar have said "it's how the characters of the Half-Life universe treat Gordon Freeman, not the way he treats them, that shapes such a compelling character." So ultimately his banality aids in him being a successful character.

 Link from The Legend of Zelda. Link is one of the big Nintendo characters that is easily recognisable due to his green attire and elfish looks, as well as his sword and shield. Whilst people do not always think his name is Link, rather thinking his name is Zelda, due to the title of the game, he is a recognised symbol of the game. He is the game, in a sense. I have not played a Zelda game properly since I was young but I recognise him as the protagonist and the design sticks in my mind.

Another Nintendo character that is a symbol of the brand and games in general is Mario. Part of his appeal is that he does not speak much either, all we really know is that he is an Italian plumber. Visually, the design is simple and bold, the colours are bright and he's just wearing a hat and dungarees along with having a moustache. These elements of his design are what make him though and they are easily recognisable elements.

 Master Chief from Halo. He is iconic due to his unique suit and helmet, on top of that he is almost never seen without his helmet, adding to the mystery of the character. Adding to the sense of mystery, he is referred to by his rank not his birth name. This design was also quite new to the West if I am not mistaken, I see some Japanese elements to the armour as can be seen in mecha design, however it definitely does not look Japanese.

Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Despite being one of the two main ninjas in the MK series, Scorpion is most popular due to his signature "get over here" and chain. He has a hell motif about him, the flames, the revenge, the skull face. He is a badass in comparison to Sub-Zero or the others. He has a well-fleshed out backstory which makes him more interesting. On top of that he is featured in the NetherRealm logo, which lends emphasis to how important, or rather, iconic his character is. He is synonymous with Mortal Kombat.

Similarly, Street Fighter is another big fighting game, and the two leads, Ken and Ruy are the most iconic of the series despite their designs being rather simple. I suppose that makes them easy to read. Their characters are fleshed out and they have somewhat more of an interesting backstory that some of the other characters. They appear to be the leads.

 Cloud and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. These two are foils to each other, yet they are both iconic. Cloud is iconic and memorable due to his crazy big hair, yet he does not have much of a personality, and is not what I would consider a likable character. Sephiroth on the other hand is another badass character, he is evil, he brings destruction and death, he is the dark angel. Again their visual designs are quite simple, but two key elements make their design memorable, and that is the hair and the swords. However, these two were aided by the gameplay in making them iconic characters.

Similarly to Mario, Sonic is iconic due to his bright blue colour and his cartoon style. He is a blue hedgehog, which is unusual.

 Snake from Metal Gear Solid is an iconic character, in my opinion, due to the game, he is badass, he is the one guy that they send in to destroy the metal gears. He becomes a legend in the game, which translates to how players see him, they view him as someone legendary. The design of the character features the iconic headband which instantly is synonymous with Snake. Again it is evident that in these character designs one or two items become synonymous with a character and makes them easily recognisable. I suppose if one were to look at cosplays it would be evident as to what elements of the character they take forward to reproduce.

From these character, I do not see a huge different in design between the East and West. However, I do notice that for me personally, I am able to recognise a lot more characters from Japanese games than British or American games. I feel that the character in Japanese games become iconic either from their simple and early established visual design, or by being carried by the story, which is similar to what happens to Western characters. There is also a greater emphasis here on the story rather than a single character and the visual of the games. Games are moving towards realism more and focusing on keeping the player engaged so characters tend to have a lot more personality these days and there are multiple characters that take the spotlight, as seen in GTA and Until Dawn for example. Games are almost becoming more like films or TV, more focus on narrative. 

League of Legends Retrospective- a brief look at character design

"The thing that really defines League of Legends from a character perspective is the diversity of characters [they] really strive to have a range of unique and thematically differentiated but extremely exciting characters." "They only things [they] try to avoid is cliche, [people] are going to see a bunch of unusual takes on what the mage means, [people] are not going to see the typical bearded wizard running around with a staff..."

Edmundo Sanchez describes the character design as iconic, memorable and easily recognisable.

"Character needs to have a really central theme, you have to... look at a character and almost be able to know just from the splash image what it's abilities are going to be what it's going to do in the game, how its going to function, what role it's going to play."

The elements of character art, such as the look, the backstory, the way they play, really bring the character to life and create something complete.

References from other people's art- Rod Guen

The art of Rod Guen:

I particularly like the last 4 due to the sense of movement conveyed in the lines as well as the way the hair and fabric are drawn. They are also very dynamic positions; the poses themselves look like the character has been captured in motion. 

To aid my art I need to study the human body more to understand fully how it bends and twists. I notice I need to find better reference pictures, rather than the 3D models, or find real life models to help me. 

Capoeira Male Pose tests

Warm up sketches based on the 3d model created by Fuze. There was a proportion problem with the model due to a mistake I made, so I tried to ammend it as best I could. I noticed I struggled quite a bit with the hands and the hips, and decided to look up some reference photos to practice the hands on their own to help me get used to drawing them. 

I was not sure about this one below, again I used a 3D model for reference and traced over sections for speed purposes to see if the pose could be something that works. The hips to the top of the leg were off in the model so I struggled with that area again. The proportions look a little strange to me, I feel the legs look too thin, but I'm apprehensive to beef them out. They look fine in the model but too thin in this drawing. 

Still using a 3D model I drew the two images below, however I also used a book on drawing anatomy, Dynamic Figure Drawing by Burne Hogarth, which helped inform the second drawing, to make it look more accurate. 

Whilst looking at the Hogarth book, I tried to fix areas that looked out of proportion or just not right, for example, I thought the legs looked too thin compared to the top of the body. On top of that, the hips did not look right, so I tried to fix that using photo reference and the book. In a way, the hip area looks a little feminine to me, due to the curves. Still an area I need to improve on, evidently.

Below, the reference image from Hogarth's book: 

Capoeira female references

Below are hairstyles to consider. I feel that dreads would instantly aid in the suggestion of Brazilian origin for the character. However it is something I will need to play with to confirm. 

Below, model Marina Nery. I think she has an interesting face and she is Brazilian, so I would like to use her as a base for my female's face.

Below is a collection of reference images for costume designs that I will use to create my own character's costumes from.