WEEK 9 - further development

The above images are my initial sketches for week 9.
I began by taking the design that looks heavy like the Celtics logo and removing the pick to minimize the resemblance. The new design allows the viewer to still see slight hints he is a mountain man such as his hat and furry coat .
I also explored the character holding a pick in a slightly different manner, However, this is not the appropriate way to hold a pick and makes the character look slightly less manly.

The look of the first character on the left in the second row is dominated by his belly. this takes to much away from the face, His skinny legs and arms also do not tie in with his swollen gut, and bellies do not naturally sit in such a way naturally.

The 2nd character on the second row looks far to feminine to be associated with mining.

The 3rd is a small man jumping for joy. however it is hard to distinguish that he is a dwarf rather then say a leprechaun .
The figure is jumping for joy and clapping his heals together with similar enthusiasm to the 1976 Nuggets logo.

the final character of the second row is a small old man with a determined aggressive stance. this connotes determination and stubbornness these ideas may suite the brand, however, a short elderly man doesn't connote strength, and basket balers are not small in stature.  

The final design is of a tall strong man, his height and strength are similar to those who play the sport. We can also see he is a mountain man from his beard and back pack, However who would wear a back pack and a basket ball uniform.?! His uniform also isn't overly convincing.  

Dwarf research

The above image shows my experimentation with the idea of dwarfs. I took inspiration from grumpy off snow white and liquefied his features to exaggerate his nose and make him chubby.  The pose in the image is the pose in the original, However, i decide to draw it as practice as i wish to possibly have a similar pose in my final. The silhouette above Grumpys is taken from Dwellin from the hobbit and inspired by a cartoon I came across in my research. I began by tracing the silhouette of the cartoon to practice using my tablet as i am still very new to it. I then iterated it slightly leading towards the right of the screen,  by trying varying beards and rounding of the shoulders.

The charter is in a staunch pose, with the scale of the pick axe being the only indicator of his true size.

I then tried the liquefied Grumpy face on the above body. The first head is far to large for the body. While this creates an interesting character, It doesn't fit in with the rest of the NBA's style. His face is also much to grumpy to capture the desired persona of the brand. The second head  is smaller and meaner. Although, the angle in which it is placed doesn't suite the body.
Over all the compositions art to similar to their real designs but it served as good practice. 

These  next images were inspired by the chubby bodies of the charters in Snow white and the seven dwarfs. In the top corner I have looked in to the stance I preferred  for the designs by tracing the movement lines of Glion. I then sketched the head of Dwelin from a sourced photograph and traced the head of mr Happy  for practice drawing dwarfish features.
I then drew my desired stance and body and trialed the respective heads. the heads of Dwelin made for quite a serious character, to serious perhaps for the other mascots or logos in the league. The face inspired by Grumpys suited the style well which was expected. I made the character have big broad shoulders to show strength . However, the large gut my not well represent a team for a very athletic, high intensity sport.

i tehn trailed swapping the pick axe for the Nuggets team name, to keep the pose but remove the pick axe as it associates with the Celtics logo. However I soon realized that with out the pick there is no way to tell he is a mining man.  

    

The above images from there will be blood were then used to inspire the designs below along side th Golden Buggets man..

The first image shows a tall character with a slight gut supporting the Golden Nugget mans face. In this design I also trialed the look of the arms crossed. This stance suggest he is relaxed and confidence. I then altered his facial features and changed the stance. The new stance suggests the same connotations. However his clothing is based on the costuming from Snow White and doesn't suite.

Over all the character is bland and shows very little persona.

The lower line begins with an attempt at a sketch of Daniel Day Lewis's face. I then liquefied it and sketched it again also taking both separate sides and reflecting them to make two further faces. These faces look sad and in pain, not ideal for the brand identity. This is a result of the narrow eyes, big cheeks and plump nose.
All Things i need to avoid for the future.

I was struggling to envisage how my characters were to interact with their respective props such as the pick.
Therefore, I researched the many positions and stances the movements of the pick  induce, and drew there movement lines or silhouettes to help guide my understanding.

Render practice, although character looks like a mountain man holding a pick axe rather then a miner. 

Eye rendering practice