12 :: Siggs Thinks in Pink Ink.

                 Create the most interesting character, give them a fascinating obstacle 
                                 set in an amazing location; the rest writes itself. 

-Dan Scanlon, Pixar Director              

I found that quote on Twitter yesterday and was inspired to revisit some characters I felt short on in the past. I'm actually going to combine two characters, because I feel one led to the other. The first is "Think Pink Ink" which was just a concept that I really found fascinating, which I quickly created for The Paper Wings Podcast contest. The second was a character I really wanted to create to draw my signature on my demo reel. I realized late in the game that both characters were just created for looks and neither had a well rounded personality...until now.

"There are builders : eagles who rise meet the future. And there are wallowers :: pigs who trudge about in the past."

Interesting Character : Siggs (design on the left), a man who treads the line between builder and wallower. He rose to a small fame as a magician, but his "magic" quickly faded as criticism of all types came into play. He loved entertaining audiences only when they loved him. All his choices are generally self serving. He now lives off of unemployment and sits around practicing magic tricks. His only fulfillment is his athletic pursuits at night. He is strong and fast and extremely agile. And don't be deceived by the design on the right. He does not like to doodle.

Amazing Location : A world drawn by those who came before ... literally DRAWN with large magic pens which have been hidden away for ages. But most believe is folklore and the only trace of belief in the "Myth" are the large pens you'll see propped up in the corners of many homes. These pens are not magic, but came from a time when people were inspired by the stories and wanted to make pens of their own. The world appears normal to most people (who live there ... it is dazzling to us) and it requires special sight to see through the facade to the line drawings which hold their world together.

Facinating Obstacle : Many of the lines drawn at the foundation of this world are fading away ... QUICKLY. Siggs's home dissappears one day and he finds one of the ancient Magic Pens in his quest to get his home back. His redrawing of his home is quite shabby and he soon realizes the world is doomed to dissappear unless he has more help to redraw it. The odds are stacked against him:

1. Most people are accustomed to owning large pens and don't believe the pen is significant. You have to touch the pen to see the lines the world is made of.
2. The Pen writes in Pink Ink - embarassing.
3. People remember Siggs as a magician, illusionist, and untrustworthy.
4. His artistic skills are undeveloped.

So here's my question ... how do you think he convinced the people to redraw the world? I'll give you a hint that it has to do with the world's maker.