2d character art

There’s nothing like the simplicity and charm of 2D character art. Just think back to all of your favorite animated features, cartoons, comic books, and video games. It all comes flooding back, doesn’t it? Something about the immediacy and evocative quality of two-dimensional drawings goes straight to the heart and turns us into children again. If you want to know a bit more about this art form, this is the article for you. As a bonus, you’ll learn where the best 2D artists live and how to hire ’em for your projects!

I mean, sure, you may be one of those 3D purists who always sing the praises of 3D modeling. I get, I really do. But trust me, 2D isn’t going anywhere just because technology is moving full-steam ahead. In fact, 2D character art remains popular, engaging, and fun as ever. Therefore, even as we get swarmed with Pixar clones and newfangled graphical marvels, we discount 2D at our own peril.

what is 2d character art

As you might expect, it's been around for a while. We may say that the seeds were planted when we began painting on cave walls. Of course, we can't truly argue that style and the ones that followed in art history classify as 2D character art, which is a modern technique.

So, what has changed? What is the distinction between simple illustration, sketching, and two-dimensional character design? In a nutshell, it's intentionality. Purpose is everything in life, as it is in most things. As a result, even superficial similarities can be misleading. The same thing occurs in the field of design, which is rife with subgroups and classifications. We humans are an odd bunch.

The first 2D character art dates from the early 1900s. Winsor McCay, an American cartoonist and animator, was the first to develop a 2D character, Gertie the Dinosaur, who featured in an eponymous picture. McCay's pioneering spirit, however, had previously produced two short animated pictures, Little Nemo and How a Mosquito Operates.

What distinguishes these two from Gertie? As I already stated, intentionality. Gertie the Dinosaur is largely considered as the inspiration for the subsequent animation boom. In some ways, it's the first time someone set out to build a character with a personality and an identity in a genre that's still in its infancy.

Of course, as time passed, 2D character art grew increasingly popular in cartoons. As we all know, the dam burst when Walt Disney released Steamboat Willie. Then all bets were off, and it was time to shine the spotlight.

2d character art in polydin

2D character art is essential in many creative undertakings, such as video games, animation, comic books, and advertising. 2D characters that are well-designed may attract the audience's attention, convey a variety of emotions and expressions, and give depth and personality to the project. Polydin Studio is a professional game art studio specializing in 2D character art for a variety of projects. Polydin studio has the expertise to develop characters that are adapted to the project's objectives and aims thanks to a team of skilled artists. Our artists create every character in your projects a memorable experience for your audience by focusing on quality, attention to detail, and meeting deadlines.

6 common tools that 2D character artists use

There are a variety of tools, both digital and analogue, that character designers can use in their work, depending on the nature of their project. Skilled, successful artists take the time to study, train and become proficient across a wide range of technologies and programs. Some common tools these professionals use include:

Adobe Creative Cloud

Character designers use a number of popular Adobe products. Adobe Photoshop, for instance, is a widely used image editing software for touching up and refining digital images. Adobe Animate, a successor to Adobe Flash, is a simple tool for creating interactive animations and animated website elements. Adobe Character Animator allows you to animate still images and can create real-time animations that mimic your real-life movements and voice using your webcam and audio.

Toon Boom

Toon Boom has a number of software packages that are popular with professional 2D animators. Harmony 21 is a comprehensive solution that many animators of well-known TV shows use to create high-quality characters throughout a project's production cycle. It allows you to create artwork and add animation elements, audio and special effects all within the same software without requiring you to export your work to different tools. You can even scan and manipulate hand-drawn animations. The software functions on all major computer operating systems and has robust support options, including community forums.

TVPaint

TVPaint is a hand-drawn animation software tool that several animated feature film productions have used, allowing artists to create animations that look like paper-drawn characters more quickly and efficiently than traditional animation techniques. This software launched in 1991 and has become an industry-standard tool, receiving support and updates with new, improved features for users. This software is also available for all major operating systems and requires a one-off licence purchase.

Pencil 2D

Pencil 2D is a free, open-source 2D animation software that's available on all large operating systems. It's ideal for traditional pen and ink type animations and has a more minimalistic, easy-to-use interface. Artists who use Pencil 2D benefit from its pre-set animations and effects and can sketch ink and paint simultaneously and export their work in a number of formats. Because the software is open source, the user community can access the source code to continually support and update it.

CelAction2D

CelAction2D is a relatively simple-to-use software that has many features and tools that are popular with TV, film and commercial animators. You can import designs from other software applications and even scan hand-drawn characters to animate. The software splits design and animation functionality, and animators can create skeletons and manipulate them to simulate a number of moves. You can rig character designs to these skeletons and create high-quality animations quickly and effectively.