Character Mentor: Learn by Example to Use Expressions, Poses, and Staging to Bring Your Characters to Life [Paperback]

Tom Bancroft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2012 | ISBN-10: 0240820711 | ISBN-13: 978-0240820712 | Edition: 1

You've researched your character extensively, tailored her to your audience, sketched hundreds of versions, and now you lean back content as you gaze at your final character model sheet. But now what? Whether you want to use her in an animated film, television show, video game, web comic, or children's book, you're going to have to make her perform. How a character looks and is costumed starts to tell her story, but her body language reveals even more. Character Mentor shows you how to pose your character, create emotion through facial expressions, and stage your character to create drama. Author Tom Bancroft addresses each topic with clear, concise prose, and then shows you what he really means through commenting on and redrawing artwork from a variety of student "apprentices." His assignments allow you to join in and bring your drawing to the next level with concrete techniques, as well as more theoretical analysis. Character Mentor is an apprenticeship in a book.

Professional artists from a variety of media offer their experience through additional commentary. These include Marcus Hamilton (Dennis the Menace), Terry Dodson (X-Men), Bobby Rubio (Pixar), Sean "Cheeks" Galloway (Spiderman animated), and more. With a foreword by comicbook artist Adam Hughes, who has produced work for DC, Marvel Comics, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros. Pictures, and other companies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"You've researched your character extensively, tailored her to your audience, sketched hundreds of versions, and now you lean back content as you gaze at your final character model sheet. But now what? Whether you want to use her in an animated film, television show, video game, web comic, or children's book, you're going to have to make her perform. How a character looks and is costumed starts to tell her story, but her body language reveals even more. Character Mentor shows you how to pose your character, create emotion through facial expressions, and stage your character to create drama. Author Tom Bancroft addresses each topic with clear, concise prose, and then shows you what he really means through commenting on and redrawing artwork from a variety of student 'apprentices.' His assignments allow you to join in and bring your drawing to the next level with concrete techniques, as well as more theoretical analysis. Character Mentor is an apprenticeship in a book."--CartoonBrew.com

About the Author

Tom Bancroft is a 30 year veteran of the animation industry. In his artistic career he has specialized in children's character designs, animation, video game development, and comic books. Formerly, he worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation for twelve years, animating on new Disney classics, including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, Brother Bear, and more. He is the author of the popular character design book Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (April 24, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240820711
• ISBN-13: 978-0240820712
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 0.6 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Media Management > Video Production
  • #15 in Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Animation
  • #30 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Cartooning

More About the Author

Tom Bancroft is a veteran Disney and Big Idea director. At Disney, he helped create the animation for many memorable characters including: Roger Rabbit, Young Simba, Jafar and Iago, Pocahontas, Rutt and Tuke and for the film MULAN he designed the character "Mushu", the dragon. While with Big Idea, he designed and directed the LarryBoy 2D series of videos. Tom still keeps his hands in animation, but he also enjoys creating comics, children's books, and characters for all forms of media.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent work by Tom Bancroft! May 3, 2012

By wandrlust

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Since I was 3 years old I wanted to be a Disney animator. I've practiced and practiced and gotten pretty far studying the masters of animation. But there was always just a little something missing. This book has already given me the boost I need. It has tons of helpful advice for anyone from novice to advanced users. Most books on character design really only scratch the surface. Tom Bancroft takes a chisel and turns that surface into a carefully sculpted work of craftsmanship. He allows us on the "outside" of the industry to finally get at all the juicy tips he learned in his time at Disney. Outstanding work, Tom. I'm forever a huge fan.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST HOW-TO BOOK ON CARTOONING EVER? May 7, 2012

By Eric C. Martin

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I don't know where to begin praising this book. Sure, there's TONS of how-to books on cartooning out there
but FINALLY here's a book that is hyper-specific on the little nuances of creating characters. "Twinning", using depth,
specifics on how wrinkles work on clothing, etc. In addition, there's contributions by other artists like Terry Dodson,
Stephen Silver, etc. Also, there's some assignments for the reader to do. Tom's Disney-esque drawing style is just bursting with
life and energy. (Obviously a graduate of CAL-ARTS.)

Please note that this may not be a book for beginners. The book focuses more on bringing life and energy to your
characters.

I highly recommend purchasing Tom's previous book "Creating Characters with Personality" too by the way.

A MUST for any aspiring cartoonist!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Deal May 7, 2012

By B. Wong

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

In the fields of animation and illustration, the craft of character design is often completely overlooked by the casual observer. Instead, the human eye perceives the most well-crafted characters as living things, whether we're looking at a sequence of frames or simply one static image, because the finest character designers have learned what exactly tricks the brain into seeing life in lines.

There have been a handful of books over the last thirty years or so that have touched on this topic to one degree or another. However, these are very often oversimplified, starting with volumetric shapes and hurrying through the details to arrive at the quickest complete character possible. Such methods are certainly valid and universally applicable -- for first-year animation students, perhaps, or fledgling comic book artists. Up until now, the question of what makes a character truly unique and lively has been left as something the novice must explore him/herself.

Tom Bancroft's book is probably the first one of its kind that goes past this basic level. Right off the bat, Tom assumes the reader is not only intelligent but avidly interested in the details. He explores perceptual cues, the various methods of conveying emotion and personality (which are far more numerous than simply drawing a smile or a frown), and the tiny little decisions that can completely alter the way an audience will see a character, for better or for worse.

Tom's experience as a veteran of Disney's traditional animation era really shines through here. And in an age where technology provides an ever-increasing range of shortcuts, it's ultimately all the more important that these techniques be detailed and passed on to the next generation of artists. Check this out -- you won't regret it.