Fall 07 – Character Design – The Different Faces of Sphincter

After being satisfied enough with the Mantis hot bodies (Coco ended up being more flat, while Brenny and Charona are more “round-figured”), it is time to move on to the many faces of Sphincter. As many of you know, he’s one of the funniest characters in the pilot, because it is up to him to deliver the most outrageous lines in each scene.

The following is a design exploration on who can he end up being.

This first one I really like. He has that weird mix of Freud meets Mr. Miyagi… which is why I like him a lot. He’s one of those first character I decided to actually go for the “slanted” eyes approach, rather than the dots I had originally thought of.

While the first page has more of a facial variety, the second page explores Sphincter’s possible posture. My first take on him was of a hunched old man… a decrepit monk (similar to Master Splinter)… and even though you might see him here looking more “alive,” this approach is already being rejected as I think it.

The last one, I was just doing a free-style exploration on things that don’t really make sense. I got tired of drawing rats and mutated animals with 3 legs came to be. Personally, this exploration I find to be more hillarious, but really… what am I going to do with a rat’s head on the body of a sea horse snake.

Soon enough, you’ll be seeing a flash version of these drafts. Let me know what ya think.

-Alex