The semester draws to a close, my friends, and the penultimate post is already upon us. I can’t say for sure whether it’s felt like a long time or no time at all. My grasp on relativity is beginning to flag. I still remember being years away from thirteen. Since when am I twenty-two? Did you know that your biological peak is in your mid-twenties? Do you ever think about how 2010 was a decade ago? Do you ever think about the time you let slip between your increasingly wrinkly fingers? Do you ever think about how gnats live for a day?
In case this is your first time, Character Challenges are posts wherein I choose three random objects and one random descriptor and try to design a character around them. Here are our magical words for today!
NOUNS: beef, box, towel
Ew.
DESCRIPTOR: informal
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the universe was gettin’ wise with me. Well, time’s a-ticking!
I start off by jotting down a few ideas. Something about today’s selection gives me a little trouble, maybe because this is the most unappealing combination of random words I could have hoped to stumble upon, but I manage to settle on a cute idea.
Here’s what I get when I put all the nouns in place. It’s some sort of noodle goblin blow-drying her ramen hair, which, on second thought, is probably a no-no in the practice of noodle goblin beauty. Many lazy hack artists like myself will tell you that mirror shots are a pain in the tuchus, since it essentially means drawing two characters, but I’m happy with how it turned out. The strange angle ended up giving the character a little more form. Admittedly, the box is totally separate from the focal point, but I’m liking the composition.
I figure the adjective “informal” is implied somewhat by the fact that we’ve intruded upon this woman during a rather informal moment, but employing some environmental storytelling can’t hurt.
This character’s surroundings are just as much a part of her design as her body is. As it stands, I wouldn’t say we know much more about her than that she’s messy, like most people are, and that she’s a fiend for noodles, which I guess raises some more strange questions regarding the logic of noodle goblin society. Still, I like a cluttered, candid room more than a neat one, because I think it lends that much more believably to the design. If you’re wondering why everything is color-coded, it’s so I can draw on top of existing elements without losing the line in the chaos.
Frankly, this is where I get carried away. I figure I can load the scene with a bunch of bathroom sundries and still have the patience to render it all in a clean, graphic style. A few botched attempts cost me a lot of time, and eventually I have to cut corners and call it quits. Lessons to take away from this challenge are as follows:
– Reevaluate my workflow
– Reevaluate my life choices
– My hubris is my downfall
Anyway, now that I’ve unceremoniously buggered the final Character Challenge of the semester, I can finally name this character. I’ll go with Mimi—a play on the Indonesian word for noodles, mie. I used to love noodles, but I think it’s required that, as a college student, you learn to hate them. Instant noodles, at least; I’ll still demolish a bowl of pho.
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