Comedy illustrator:
Character Designer/Concept Artist
Hello from a start up in Australia. This Brief is for a principle artist position. There's no website yet because you will be helping to lead this first product launch.
The Brief: Draw 3 funny cat creatures:
Draw a highly unique rare concept for 3 butt-ugly but cute 2D cartoon cats. The number 1 criteria for this role is an artist who can crack up people laughing. This is slapstick comedy.
*****If you are thinking of drawing cats, you've misunderstood this Brief.
Think fantasy mythical beasts, 90% monster/creature, 10% cat-inspired markings. Think cute creatures, maybe monsters, aliens, zombies, dark lords etc that resemble cats - it's blends ugly, scary, gross with cute, funny, heart warming, cheeky and crazy. Make those eyes warm!
Draw one image featuring 3 characters. NAME your 3 different personalities - for example, 1 x Mr crazy/nutty/neurotic cat, 1 x Mr grumpy cat, 1 x Miss shocked cat.
Target audience: young adult males in their 20s.
This is an opportunity to work on a massive long term project.
Please note: I have said no to people who gave me B&W sketches in the past, only to see their work in colour and realise it was outstanding. So it's up to you if you provide me a B&W sketch - I may accidentally dismiss your work.
The YES list:
1. Funny - you make us roll over the floor laughing, for all 3 cats. This is the number one on the list for a reason! Exaggerate the way they look and the facial expressions they make
2. Butt-ugly, creepy or gross factor MEETS cute e.g. a sweet pink 40 year old grumpy cranky male unicorn cat
Lots of personality - think outside the box - think of unique features the cats might have. It can be evil, gross, creepy, crazy but make sure it's funny and cool.
3. Original - completely new
Unique - rare - creative - like nothing else on the market. Come up with a daring new concept. Show us rare creative forms of bodies we haven't seen before. These are beasts and monsters, not sweet or angry cats!
4. Cheeky - nutty, silly, crazy, weird, whacky, cuckoo, dramatic - show us crazy cats with lots of personality
5. Sweet, heart-warming
6. Body language and facial expressions are cat-like - not human ones
Eye expression work is tremendous quality. Each expression has a clear emotion, and distinct for each cat.
7. Gets huge emotional reaction from the audience - show me you can do strong emotions - e.g. evil, mean, angry, grumpy, sweet and warm. Be bold. Draw dark characters or light-hearted silly ones. But make it strong.
8. Colouring job - is high quality and sophisticated. If it's not but your concept is great, I will hire another person to compliment your skill
9. Simple - don't make the drawing too complex. There are 50 characters in the series so it needs to be very simple.
The NO List
1. It's not funny - it doesn't make us laugh
2. It's too cute and too sweet - for babies or for females. We want sweet and cute but not that cute - it needs to have ugly factor
3. You draw 1 or 2 cats, and do not follow the instructions which are to draw 3
4. The 3 cats look the same - they need to look different in form/shape from one another
5. Blank eye/facial/emotional expression. The cats are generic/too general and have no individual personality. We need their eyes to stand out so their individual personality comes out.
6. All 3 cats have the same emotional facial expression - make it different for each cat
7. Your work is a copy of another artist's work - we don't want modified versions of other people's work or a copy of the cats shown here. You need to come up with something unique and original. We will check your work with software.
8. You draw human bodies, hands, feet - ...human body is like bugs bunny or Garfield. No human standing cats with human legs and arms, or human body language. Keep it cute like little toys.
9. No sexual or rude behaviour - keep it family friendly
10. The age of the cats are wrong - keep them adult ages, not kittens
11. Standing on 2 legs - make sure they walk on all 4's
Here's a movie that encapsulates the feeling and style of the characters - think inspirational, sweet, heartwarming, cheeky and funny
The Universe: The Setting
The first story is set among prehistoric caves and mountains. Almost like Indiana Jones & The Lost Arc. There are ugly vile creatures that guard the secret 50 million year old cave. There are exploding chocolate and candy mud holes and sinking mud beds. It is the fantastical delightful rainbow unicorn and smiling suns mixed with awesome towering structures of nature - tall trees and rock cliffs. Central is the river that you must cross to get to the other side to get to the secret cave - the open sesame cave that contains the secret jewels.
Tips
Styles of drawing we like
Small ugly cute creatures, maybe Pokemon-style or Minion-style (Eric Guillon style).
Surprise us with your unique style!
Note: most of the guys below are too basic for this project but have funny expressions:
Cute factor
Keep it small - if you want it to be cute, keep the nose, legs and arms tiny!
Target audience
Young adult males,
15 - 25 year olds
Funny body parts
Examples: Fly eyes, ape fairies, crazy chickens, grumpy old unicorns, shrivelled grandpa face, spider cat, shark teeth
Funny facial expressions
please note these are NOT very good examples of cat forms because they are just traditional cat bodies rather than cat-creatures/monsters - but they nail great facial expressions that make you laugh so you can see an example of what "funny" is
Examples of cats that are NOT acceptable:
No standing on legs
Do not draw every day traditional cats
Do not draw human body language and human gestures
Do not draw cute cats or cats with body shapes we've seen before
No individual personality or personality at all
Do not draw cats with human behaviours and things cats wouldn't do unless they were human
No individual personality. The eye expression is blank and it looks too generic.
Draw for adults. No kittens or cats for babies
The 6 aspects
you need to deliver
1. Funny pose/context eg eating a cactus or ugly fairy
2. Funny facial expression (emotional expression) eg Mr Grumpy, Mr Lost Case, Mr Airhead, Mr Unloved
3. Funny body/face parts eg Mr Fly Eyes or tiny arms (tip: think disproportional body and head parts)
4. High quality colouring finish - looks modern
5. Rare form (body) - rare body part/shapes (tip: make it 80% imaginative creature, 20% cat touches)
6. Sweet eyes - Individual personality shows - make sure those eyes bring out its personality. Make sure we see the eyes properly and they are warm (have depth of feeling), not impersonal or blank - the eyes are the heart and soul of the character. We need to connect with them. We need to feel moved by the character - the character needs to move the audience to tears with their story. We need to feel empathy for the character and their journey, even if they are one of the bad characters, like a coward - we need to feel sorry for them; as in, they evoke our empathy. If they are old and grumpy, they still need sweet eyes that we can feel their story
Examples of the right sense of humour (personality of the characters)
All Videos
All Videos
Storks Official Trailer 3 (2016) - Andy Samberg Movie
Minions Official Trailer #1 (2015) - Despicable Me Prequel HD
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - Trailer
Examples of funny characters
(I will start uploading more - so keep checking back)
ABOUT THIS JOB
Please note this job is being advertised across a number of websites
If you are from FREELANCER, here is the link:
https://www.freelancer.com.au/contest/Draw-funny-creatures-on-first-set-of-tasks-1441514
If you are from ZERPLY, please send me relevant work showing me some concepts you have made in the past and explain what aspects you personally did, so we can have a discussion and I can pay you for a sample.
If you are from UPWORK or any other website I have advertised on, please submit ONE piece of past work from your portfolio that shows me you have the talent to do this job at a professional level, not an amateur level. Based on your ONE example, I will hire you to draw 3 cats. Otherwise, if your sample is not good enough, I will not invite you to apply for this job and therefore not pay you for a sample. ALL SAMPLES WILL BE PAID.
If you get this job, you will be the concept artist/character designer in this team and be offered more characters to draw.
Please note that only for freelancers on Freelancer.com it is a contest. As I am advertising on other websites, it is not a contest and you will be paid accordingly, according to the terms and conditions of that website.
Condition:
If we think you have potential to do this job because you have 3 excellent cats, we will test your ability to draw accurate emotional expressions by asking you to sketch an additional 1 x funny grumpy cat and 1 x funny shocked cat.
Why? We want someone who can draw a wide range of funny facial expressions and emotions across social media ACCURATELY.
THE DEAL:
Background illustration
If I like your 3 cats and I have decided you are the ONE, I will ask you to finish your 3 cats by giving it a background illustration (featuring a volcano for the time era of the prehistoric dinosaur age/Stone Age). I need to see you can draw backgrounds and put the cats in funny contexts.
Resize
You will be asked to resize their image of the 3 cats for a few different purposes (such as social media banner, a mock up app icon, packaging cover etc).
This position will close once we find someone who has the whole package. You will receive initial money as well as an offer on your first job. Full payment details will be discussed with the person who takes on this job only.
Conditions
Our agreement will be in writing. This will take a few weeks. We will agree on the terms and conditions of my offer and allow me time to seek legal advice in your country and draft up a written agreement.
This will cover:
1. NDA - non disclosure agreement - you agree to keep everything confidential, including not posting up the work anywhere on your portfolio or to the internet. Absolutely everything remains confidential.
2. Ownership of all intellectual property of all characters created during our time together
3. Agreement to non-competiton including not working on other cat projects or selling the work created in this project to others
And of course, you will need to provide:
- 2 x referees who can vouch for your character - these are clients you have worked for who can say that you are trustworthy to work with and know how to protect the project's IP.
- Proper legal ID to verify your identity
Hence, this will take a few weeks to finalise.
cats
These
are:
warm
funnySweet
Some of the characters in the story that you can draw as part of your 3 cats or else come up with your own 3:
Monsters & all sorts of weird creatures
Zombies
Evil lords
Monsters
Ape fairies
Evil proud cat gods
Villains
Crooks
Aliens
Dopey
Who we are
searching for:
and of course, don't forget the good characters!
unique & original
You are extremely creative and come up with work that is one of a kind and like nothing on the market
weird & whacky: creative
You an draw funny silly crazy cuckoo stuff that is super cool
versatile
You can draw a wide range of expressions, from dark, evil and mean to light hearted, sweet and cute
emotional expert
You can nail emotional expressions in the eyes - angry? sad? jealous? it's very clear and hilarious
Someone who is:
Want more work after first job?
Here's what's in store:
character designer
You will create 40 - 50 new characters
"posters"
You will design illustrations. Details disclosed to the contractor only.
packaging & book
covers
You will design dynamic packaging covers each featuring 1 kitty.
social media
You will come up with social media posts with the team and draw the storyboard for youtube clips