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Force: Character Design from Life Drawing [Paperback]

Mike Mattesi (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
RRP: £17.99
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Book Description

Publication Date: 13 May 2008 | ISBN-10: 0240809939 | ISBN-13: 978-0240809939
Design creative characters inspired by real people. Let Mike Mattesi show you how to use life drawing to discover the poses, features and personalities which form the basis of character and then build, develop and 'PUSH' your drawings to new heights of dramatic and visual impact for believable characters audiences can relate to.

Packed with color illustrations and photographs of the models who inspired them. With step-by-step explanation of how the characters were developed and exercises for you to sharpen your skills this is everything you need to bring your characters to life.

Frequently Bought Together

Force: Character Design from Life Drawing + Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators + Force: Animal Drawing: Animal locomotion and design concepts for animators
Price For All Three: £55.23

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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Focal Press (13 May 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0240809939
  • ISBN-13: 978-0240809939
  • Product Dimensions: 21.9 x 1.5 x 27.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 200,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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  • See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

About the Author

Director of the Entertainment Art Academy based in Southern California. He has been a professional production artist and instructor for almost 20 years with clients including Disney, Marvel Comics, Hasbro Toys, ABC, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Dreamworks and Nickelodeon.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars It's good 24 July 2009
By R. Burrows
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Really great book for giving us an insight into designing quirky characters while drawing from life. If you're new to character design and are not sure where to start, this is the book for you!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of great examples from guest artists 16 July 2009
By Parka HALL OF FAME TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Length: 0:20 Mins
Force: Character Design from Life Drawing is the second book that deals with life drawing by Mike Mattesi, the first being Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators. This book also talks about character design.

The first part builds on the concepts he has taught in the previous book, which are the handling of force, space and shapes of characters. It's presented in the similar style, sketches with tips. For those who like the first book, you would probably like this one too.

The second part on character design. In addition to the sketches provided by Mike Mattesi, he has invited other character designers to contribute their work and thoughts. Photos of models are provided to them who then create their own style of work. Each artist then describes their characters in terms of acting and emotions, showing how they try to get ideas across to readers.

The guest artists are Rik Maki, Stephen Silver, Dean Yeagle, Jake Kazdal, Griselda Sastrawinata, Patrick Morgan, Ragnar, Erin Leong, Marc Perry, Teddy Newton, Steph Laberis, John Nenarez, Mike Daley, Phil Rynda and Deanna Marsigliese. They provide plenty of insights into their personal style, be it the cutout collages of Pixar artist Teddy Newton or the simple cartoon caricatures of Marc Perry.

At the end, there are also sections that talk about giving characters to architecture and animals. They are rather brief, but interesting nevertheless. For animal character designs, you can check out The Art of Animal Character Design for even more tips.

There's no one way to how character designs are done. The approach of this book is to give plenty of ideas to get you started. This book is for anyone who's looking to put more edge and style into their own characters.

There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 4.8 out of 5 stars  6 reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A strong foundation for creating characters 26 May 2008
By Grant Beaudette - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
There's only a couple character design books out there. Most notably Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels. This new volume of Force takes on design from a more exploratory standpoint. One that can also lead to a foundation of more informed choices when working with Bancroft's methods later on.

The text starts off with a review of the drawing techniques Mattesi laid out in the original Force. Not only the concepts of drawing with forceful lines and shapes, but also ensuring every aspect of your drawing make a statement about the subject. It's that thought process that leads to interesting designs.

This book has no shortage of examples of experimental designs based off of posed models. Not only from the author, but also from several noted artists including Stephen Silver, Dean Yeagle & Ragnar. Each example includes explainations for the artistic choices made.

Flipping through the pages of this book you, you won't find many of the tight, nailed down drawings you might expect from a character design book, but the principles Mattesi teaches build a strong foundation to create better, more interesting designs.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of great examples from guest artists 16 July 2009
By Parka - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Force: Character Design from Life Drawing is the second book that deals with life drawing by Mike Mattesi, the first being Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators. This book also talks about character design.

The first part builds on the concepts he has taught in the previous book, which are the handling of force, space and shapes of characters. It's presented in the similar style, sketches with tips. For those who like the first book, you would probably like this one too.

The second part on character design. In addition to the sketches provided by Mike Mattesi, he has invited other character designers to contribute their work and thoughts. Photos of models are provided to them who then create their own style of work. Each artist then describes their characters in terms of acting and emotions, showing how they try to get ideas across to readers.

The guest artists are Rik Maki, Stephen Silver, Dean Yeagle, Jake Kazdal, Griselda Sastrawinata, Patrick Morgan, Ragnar, Erin Leong, Marc Perry, Teddy Newton, Steph Laberis, John Nenarez, Mike Daley, Phil Rynda and Deanna Marsigliese. They provide plenty of insights into their personal style, be it the cutout collages of Pixar artist Teddy Newton or the simple cartoon caricatures of Marc Perry.

At the end, there are also sections that talk about giving characters to architecture and animals. They are rather brief, but interesting nevertheless. For animal character designs, you can check out The Art of Animal Character Design for even more tips.

There's no one way to how character designs are done. The approach of this book is to give plenty of ideas to get you started. This book is for anyone who's looking to put more edge and style into their own characters.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome! 10 Jan 2009
By ThreeEightFour - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I'd like to express my admiration for Mr. Matessi's "Force: Character Design from Life Drawing" book. I've read Mike's initial Force book many times over. I actually never intended to purchase this new book. When I saw the cover originally, I got the impression that it'd be equivalent to the other character design book by a different author (since I think there is only one other available at this time). I figured it'd be other artists' drawings with a tidbit of info from the author. As time passed and I read other authors' books that bored me to death, I thought why not, I'll give it a go.

What I got... I got more of his first book. This is good because he refreshes your memory on the lessons taught in the first book, and then enhances it with new ideas and new procedures. I was blown away. The first 4 chapters refresh and recharge you on the idea of Force.

This book covers everything, and reinFORCES exaggerating and making up your own interpretation of what you see. In later chapters he shows you how to apply the same methods to architecture.

The first 4 chapters alone would have made a great book, and I'll definitely read this more than once. Something about Matessi's books just want you to tattoo the information on your brain. It is refreshing, and gives you a new perspective on art and life.

What I enjoyed the most, is the application of design and abstract art to his life drawing. This book would be a great read for a graphic designer as well. I even started applying shapes prior to illustrating to plan out my drawing, and it has improved my art so much.
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