MODERN ART LESSONS · STUDENT WORKSHEET
Backpack Penguin: Build a Cartoon Character
Make an original character design page featuring a penguin with an oversized backpack. The character wants to carry one library book, but packs so much that the bag tips backward. One possible ending: it uses the empty bag as a book sled. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer.
Character reference shared across ten skill lessons—not a picture of the completed assignment. Study the example for possibilities, then close or cover it. Your work should make different choices.
Story starter and example
The character wants to carry one library book, but packs so much that the bag tips backward. One possible ending: it uses the empty bag as a book sled. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer. Two different body proportions can suggest the same character. Choose one, retain its identifying prop, and avoid tracing the reference.
What to do
- Your finished project is an original character design page featuring a penguin with an oversized backpack. Read the story seed: The character wants to carry one library book, but packs so much that the bag tips backward. One possible ending: it uses the empty bag as a book sled. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer.
- Start with oval body, short flippers, and a large rectangular bag. These are helpful shapes, not a tracing template.
- Try a rounded version and an angular version of the same character using large simple shapes.
- Choose the shape arrangement that best fits the personality. Add the identifying feature and one useful prop.
- Draw a larger final version; simplify tiny details that disappear when viewed from an arm’s length.
- View the drawing from an arm’s length. Name the first three shapes you see and simplify an unclear detail. Use large, clear shapes and show one understandable change.
My project: an original character design page featuring a penguin with an oversized backpack. My chosen ending is…
Try rounded shapes here. Try angular shapes here.
Circle your choice and explain its personality.
Draw the final design and mark its three identifying features.
Story clue: How will I show that the character packs so much that the bag tips backward?
Before feedback, I wanted the reader to notice… The reader actually noticed…
Revision: I changed… because…
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