Character Development

As i went through character development i wanted to keep his innocence and childlike features but they were difficult to incorporate within key expressions such as glaring, fierce anger, sorrow, confusion, hurt, dispair, helplessness, zoned out and dazed etc.

i worked off Seamus Heaney photos and the one photo displayed at the Homeplace museum (Seamus Heaney Museum in Bellaghy) his features surprisingly didn't change between 12 and old age, same cheek bones and eyes and nose, most grow into a nose or gain or lose weight and are almost unrecognisable as the same person with 50 plus years in between however Heaney stayed very alike.
I wanted to focus on key features and allow the character to obviously be Heaney and not just a child going through the same motions Heaney is talking about in his memories.

 

The young photo is extremely convenient for me because it was taken mere months before the tragic incident. It also gives me an insight into the style of clothing he'd have been accustomed to, although i did much research into the decades fashions and clothing, they do vary base don your economic status,Heaney came from a relatively well off hard working family, so was tidy but dressed conservatively.
I found Heaney dressed rather comfortably even when he became famous and was photographed on a regular basis, a reoccurring colour and item i find is the dark green, i dont know if this is a coincidence or if it was his favourite colour or if it is more popular photos because of his irish roots, but i found it made its way into my character design and development.
Both the green and the knitted comfortable looking sweaters seemed to fit the young Heaney character.

 

 

Above are a few examples from my sketchbooks, A4, pen and water pencils, i find roughly sketching the character out in different poses and expressions helps define him before drawing him properly.

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In the end i settled on a gangly tween, 12 year old, down trodden but not in pieces because i am portraying shock and confusion long before heartbreak and despair, which will be saved for closer to the last scene.
tussled and wild boyish hair was a must for this character, keeping Heaneys nose and eyes was essential but i embelished  few details, like his size shape and freckles.
I obviously wanted to make the character as Heaney like as possible while still allowing the audience to feel empathy towards him and his loss, an everyday child as well as a memory of a famous man.

Im quite pleased with how the sketched main character turned out on paper and i will now take him digital !