Mabel Lawson
Mabel Lawson is an introverted, but sweet, young lady. She is polite, proper, and feminine.When drawing Mabel, one needs to think of the stereotype for the fragile female role, Think of life drawing poses you have done or seen where the woman is particularly feminine seeming. What attributes cause this to be so?
A hint I have come across to make something appear more stereotypically female is to have the elbows in the pose point inward when possible (obviously, there are going to be poses where this doesn’t need to be applied, use your best judgment). Women’s elbows naturally bend inward while males bend outward. Also, especially for Mabel since it is in her character, it doesn’t hurt to add “limp wrists” at the end of the bent-inward arms, as it completes the beautiful curve the arm is making and gives a sense of docility and submissiveness. A hand raised upwards, acting opposite the arm flow, seems more active, aggressive, or otherwise too assertive.
Also think of how women act in opposition to men. Generally, even in today’s society, women tend to try to take up less space than men. That is so say, when a woman sits down, more often than not she will cross her legs and/or her hands in her lap. Even if her legs are uncrossed, they are not likely to be spread too far apart (especially if girl is in a dress or skirt, obviously, but this translates to women in pants and shorts, too- it’s an ingrained habit), and neither are her hands likely to stray too far from her body.
For Mabel, she is very prim and proper. When she sits, she sits with her legs crossed and her hands clasped together in her lap. When she walks, her hands are still usually clasped together in front of her. She should be graceful and sad. Her animation should be subtle and slow with beautiful arcs.
In the film, Mabel does not know if her husband loves her any more despite still loving him. Trying to be proper and out of the way, she does not want to express these feelings to him. Mabel, as such, is in a constant internal struggle throughout the film to deal with her feelings of neglect without making a scene. That is, until she finally starts crying in the climax of the film.
Jonathon Lawson
Jonathon Lawson is an eccentric inventor who sometimes lets his work blind
him to all other aspect of his life. He is extroverted, assertive, excitable, and not
incredibly self-aware.
Jonathon is ALL face, just look at him. Unlike Mabel, whose tall, lanky body
provides the animator with a way of showing slow, subtle expression and grace,
Jonathon’s body is small and a little clunky. Therefore, his actions will be
quicker, quirkier, and a little clumsier (remember: he’s pretty top heavy! Don’t
be afraid to play with that).
Whereas Mabel can get a lot of body language, Jonathon’s strength lies in his
face, especially with such large eyebrows and mouth.
While Jonathon is not particularly the stereotype of the masculine, being
so small and a little quirky, he shouldn’t be seen doing the same gestures as
Mabel, which are catered to the feminine. Instead, Jonathon usually has his
arms out, legs apart. Once in a while he put his hands behind his back, but this
only lasts a moment or two.
Jonathon is especially excited in this film because he is testing out his beloved
invention for the first time and has high expectations and hopes. He has always
wanted to create this invention and his dream is coming true through his own
hard work. Therefore, throughout the film is is imperative to make him super
happy in the beginning. I imagine he bounces up and down even when sitting,
rocks his head back and forth, and generally fidgets quite a bit while wearing
a big grin on his face. Generally, a great deal more squash and stretch and
exaggeration can be used on Jonathon than Mabel.
Also, his design has changed slightly recently. To make him look older and more manly, he now has darker eyebrows and what is known as a "Franz Josef" (at least that is what I think it is called). Since I don't have a clean sketch yet of him with one of these wonderful facial enhancers, here's a picture of a guy with one instead:
SO BEAUTIFUL
