Escape Character Design!

Yes, I'm still here! I know... five months, no posts, but I had baby in January, which is my third munchkin if anyone is counting. This means 90% of my day is spent kissing hurt fingers, reading Richard Scarry books out loud, making Star Wars shaped lunch items (wookiee tortillas anyone?) and having dance parties in the living room. As for the other 10%, I was, and still am, busy with work-related art projects -- which are fun and exciting, but like most work-related art projects, they aren't something I can share here yet.

However! While I was off sleepless and zombie-like in cute newborn land, this movie came out. I worked on it back in 2007 until I learned I was expecting my daughter and no longer wanted to commute to Vancouver. I'd long ago buried this artwork on an external hard-drive, but now that the film has been released, I thought I'd dig out some of my favorite pieces.

Since little babies and theaters don't mix, I still haven't actually seen the film, but I can't wait to!

The drawing above is of the film's villain. I had no idea at the time that he would eventually be voiced by William Shatner. I probably would have gotten all starry-eyed and too nervous to actually do a good design.

This design never made it out of the art department, as far as I know anyway. But I liked him!

There were several character designers and we all collaborated. I ended up focusing mainly on Shanker -- the villain, and Gary -- the protagonist of the film. Working on Gary meant I was also helping establish what his race looked like. The painting above is an early idea.

This is another take. I still like his curvy legs and space shoes.

This was the painting where we all said "Okay! Yeah! That's him!" But then we needed to figure out what his body looked like and define his face more.

I believe this was my next attempt. I thought it would be neat to have more alien shaped feet and hands, but I think there were concerns that he wouldn't be relatable if he was too unusual looking.

My painting here is a little flat, but you can tell we are narrowing things down.

Here's a lineup of Gary's family with an even more finalized Gary. The Scorch sketch on the left was something I did one afternoon because no one had done any designs for Scorch yet. When I left, he was not a major character, but he seems to be all over the film now. That was probably the coolest surprise for me when I saw the trailer.

This is a version of Io. I think Io is a female now. I based this painting on someone else's design. I think it was either David Krentz's or Fred Gambino's.

And this was another design that didn't make it out of the art department. I liked all his ears, though! Super hearing!

I've mentioned David and Fred, and I should also mention that the talented Michele Graybeal, Gary Glover, Sarah Airiess, Tim Guyer, Daniel Leech and Greg Spalenka, along with our production designer, Barry E. Jackson, also all worked hard on the character designs and look of the film. (Please forgive me if I've forgotten anyone!)

Anyway, since my newest little love is nearly five months old, I'll hopefully be posting more often. Stay tuned. :)