A popular animation that has recently been produced from the original books came to mind yesterday when thinking about how I show motion in still sketches of objects, people or animals. When I was as young as maybe 4 or 5, I would endlessly read Roger Hargreaves' "Mr Men" and "Little Miss" books. Although the story for me - despite being approximately 5 years of age - was rather simple and not as complex as I wished for, I couldn't help but fall for a certain appealing charm of his illustrations.
Hargreaves' illustrations were simple yet full of charisma and energy albeit being still characters on a small, poky page. I often went back to the same images over and over and again and some of his techniques often featured in my own childish doodles! I realised yesterday that even to this day, a part of Roger's work has stayed with me since childhood...
Hargreaves creates the illusion of movement through his use of "speed lines" as I like to call them. To some they may seem childish and overly exaggerated at times, but after creating my flipbooks and experimenting with ways to show movement I felt that speed lines made my work look fun, energetic and appealing to the eye. I can only thank Mr Hargreaves for that skill! Below is a small example found on Google of Hargreaves' way of depicting movement and energy in his characters...
No comments:
Post a Comment