Introduction
This animation tells the magic story of the mermaid, a creature of the deep, who meets a tiny octopus. They become friends and eventually set off on a journey together. The story takes place in the deepsea where the light is dim, and creatures have evolved different survival skills. The animation uses “bioluminescence” as a main element of its design, drawing on the characteristics of some deep-sea creatures to beautify and design the main characters and scenes, hoping to present the unique beauty of the deep sea.
Designing the character again:
My character had a new look after three previous designs. Still, it didn’t feel like enough for me, so I decided to make a series of changes to her model, binding bones, exterior design, etc.
- mermaid design
This is the original design. I changed the character’s hair back to long and made some changes to the pattern on her body, which was refined to look like this, but I wasn’t happy with the pattern on her body. I wanted the pattern on her body to act as her “clothes,” so this design obviously didn’t work out how I wanted it to.
So, I re-collected the reference to find more inspiration, and this time, I wanted to present a beautiful underwater world. And after a lot of searching, I found inspiration from the bohemian style.（https://www.zhihu.com/question/22567780）
Bohemian style is very suitable for my idea. The mermaid’s setting is “a deep-sea adventurer who likes to search for treasures,” the bohemian style represents the desire for freedom, the dissolution of the class gap, and the pursuit of art in life. The bohemian style includes all kinds of knots, feathers, beads, and stones, showing natural, simple, complicated, and beautiful patterns. Beautiful and complex patterns, so I wanted to integrate this element into the character’s tattoos.
From the reference I found the second time, you can see the very beautiful bohemian tattoo and the underwater mermaid when it glows. I observed that bohemian-style tattoos mainly comprise simple assembled shapes unfolding like wings or in the shape of a feather, so I applied this tattoo to the character’s body.
Considering the limited time I had, I needed to do my best to keep the character’s rigging simple and to minimize the number of controllers that needed to be controlled. I found the long hair very difficult to maneuver in the last animation, and it didn’t work well.
Here’s the final design. I changed the mermaid’s hair to a braid, changed the fins to translucent, and increased the size of the tail and decreased the size of the fins because I think one of the main features of a mermaid is the tail, and this makes the big tail flap more graceful. I added a white bra to her, which gives the character’s overall color a sense of rhythm.
As you can see, I’ve covered the character’s chest in a large pattern that can be seen as a necklace, and with the addition of the shoulder and upper arm patterns, it looks more like a bohemian neckline. The pattern on the abdomen and hips simulates a skirt and then connects to the pattern on the back to look more like unfurled feathers. These patterns comprise simple geometric shapes, with dots and lines forming the mermaid’s “dress.
Of course, this design is in 2D and will be altered in detail in the 3D model.
My focus this week was to look up the cultural significance and style of Bohemian. I looked through many design websites, artworks, and illustrations. I came up with the idea that the Bohemian style results from complex arrangements of simple geometric shapes. I found out that I made a lot of intricate designs, and they greatly influenced how I changed the character’s creation.
I adjusted the character’s appearance, incorporated the newly found information and ideas, and designed a new set of patterns for the character. This pattern can be regarded as a shawl or a skirt. I combined the smooth lines with complex elements integrated into simple collection shapes, including combinations of feathers, ropes, flowers, etc., trying to make the characters and tattoos reflect some of the spirit and characteristics of the characters I want to express to better enhance the charm of the characters and the story background.
Next week, I will sort out the remaining designs and organize the existing resources to be modified to save more time for my animation production.