Freeday | Cindy N Jay #2

What's up guys!

Its been a while since my last post, I know. Hopefully, at some point, I can get around to filling in the details of the last 6 months because there is actually a lot to share! For now I want to update you on work I provided to some friends over at Twitch over a year ago now. Since this is a continuation of an ongoing client partnership, be sure to read the previous entry here.

Ok, so Jay got back to me about some additional artwork they'd like done for their channel. In the time since our last interaction they'd grown exponentially and were looking to reward their subscribers with some new gifs. As I am the original creator of the emotes, it made the most sense to return to me for the full body character design and animation.

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Old

New

I had the foresight to also switch the rendering for animated situations so I drastically simplified the coloring from a pastel/crayon look to flat/opaque colors months prior. Ithink the new looks are more polished and clean looking, but I do appreciate some the "hand drawn" qualities of the original series.

However, this time around, I'd be utilizing some long lost 2D animation skills. I don't think I've animated much of anything since college but my drawings always carry a sense of movement throughout the design, so animation is something I am still keenly aware of when drawing other subjects. I was tasked with making Cindy rock out on a guitar that would be small  and short enough to play as an animation when the channel receives new followers. 

Since the turnaround for the commission was pretty short, I got started working on designing the rest of Cindy's body, referencing different art styles that either worked with or against the original emotes.

After a short discussion on the desired direction, we decided to choose B and add longer hair from A so that I could really animate the whiplash effect as Cindy headbangs. 

Typically, an artist would use animation/tracing paper to make sure the character stays on model. I didn't have those resources at the time of drawing, so I drew the sprites to scale as best I could freehand. Afterward, I wrote various notes for each sketch that required scaling or transformation adjustments. Upon importing, inking, coloring and compiling each cell, we reach success.

What do you all think? Should I make more of these little gifs? What would you like to see animated? Maybe I could make some NFTs, haha. Leave your thoughts in the comments below and don't forget to like and share this post!

Until next time,
​Peace