Saturday, March 13, 2010

What The *#%@ Do YOU Want?

Out of all the characters I've created, Jocelyn Stafford has to be one of my favorites. She's evolved a bit over the years, too - she started off as a rather one-dimensional bully, but that disappeared when I hit upon the idea to make her a bit more political, pulling for the Democratic party despite being raised in a staunchly Republican household. It helps to explain her rebellious attitude a bit better, I think.

Jocelyn's always been a rocker chick, though - her design was very heavily inspired by a girl I saw at the mall one day, whose bleach-blonde hair and fishnet stockings under black boots immediately screamed "cartoon character". Long-time fans of my work might notice that I've augmented her character design slightly; she now sports a scorpion tattoo on her left arm, to contrast the butterfly on her right. They represent the angry and sensitive sides of her personality, respectively, but she keeps the scorpion on the side closest to her heart because she's definitely more deeply rooted in the aggressive side. (But when she's alone with her boyfriend Steve, she's a pure romantic.)

8 comments:

  1. This, IMO, is a very good example of proper character development. And hey, punk girls also manage to gain my vote, in their own rebellious way 8-)

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  2. This character is more defined than another character she reminded me of...

    Hayley Smith?

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  3. I agree with Mr. Semaj, as soon as you mentioned that she's a Democrat in a Republican household, I thought of the same character. Jocelyn has already proven to be a more developed and interesting character than Hayley.

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  4. I actually came up with the Democratic side of Jocelyn before I became an "American Dad" fan, and when I discovered Hayley, I realized "Oh crap, now it looks like I ripped her off!" But if you guys say she's the better character, I guess I've got nothing to worry about!

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  5. This is a good example of decent character development. Nicely done.

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  6. There are many differences between those characters, and I believe Jocelyn has bad better character development than Hayley, or indeed most of Seth McFarlane's work. Heck with a fourth animated show on the way - which the voice of Lois comfirms that it's "a lot like Family Guy" - it make you wonder why he's doing it. Then I thought of money, and stopped wondering.

    Where was I? Oh yeah, basically JB pours more thought into his work than I've ever seen SM do with his, basically. SM has his mind on the moolah while JB's got his mind on the work itself.

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  7. Awesome character, Jesse- I wouldn't mind drawing her for ya sometime ;)

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