MODERN ART LESSONS · STUDENT WORKSHEET
Compass Bear: Keep Your Character the Same
Make a character consistency sheet featuring a bear with a broken compass. The character wants to reach a campsite, but the needle keeps spinning. One possible ending: it looks for a familiar trail sign instead. 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 reach a campsite, but the needle keeps spinning. One possible ending: it looks for a familiar trail sign instead. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer. A front view, side view, and small action pose share the same head-to-body proportion and prop shape; not every line needs to be identical.
What to do
- Your finished project is a character consistency sheet featuring a bear with a broken compass. Read the story seed: The character wants to reach a campsite, but the needle keeps spinning. One possible ending: it looks for a familiar trail sign instead. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer.
- Start with broad shoulders, round ears, and a small compass. These are helpful shapes, not a tracing template.
- Choose three features that must stay recognizable, such as ear shape, body proportion, and the prop.
- Draw the character from the front and side using a shared height guide. Add a small action pose.
- Compare feature sizes across views. Adjust differences that were accidental while keeping useful pose changes.
- Ask a partner to identify the same three features across the drawings. Correct a disappearing or changing feature. Plan for an unfamiliar reader; compare alternatives and revise pacing, emphasis, or consistency using feedback.
My project: a character consistency sheet featuring a bear with a broken compass. My chosen ending is…
My three keep-the-same features…
Front view… Side view… Action pose…
One accidental difference… My correction…
Story clue: How will I show that the character the needle keeps spinning?
Before feedback, I wanted the reader to notice… The reader actually noticed…
Revision: I changed… because…
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