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Step 1
Create the design of your speaking character with simple shapes. Draw the head with a small oval and the neck with a vertical line. Create the body with a raised oval shape.
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Step 2
Simple details are added to the character
Draw the details on the character. Add hair with a wavy line across the top of the head. Draw the eyes of your character with two small ovals and semicircles above each oval.
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Step 3
Add the nose with small semicircle below the eyes. Add the mouth with a curved line below the nose. Create glasses with two large circles over the eyes. Thicken the neck with a parallel line on the left and right side of the neck guideline.
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Step 4
Color helps bring your character to life
Color helps bring your character to life
Ink the lines you wish to keep with a black pen. Let the ink dry and erase the pencil. Color the character using art markers. Use any color scheme you wish. If you are creating a more traditional character design, use beige or brown colors for the skin and yellow, red, brown or black for the hair.
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Step 5
A cut out mouth is a simple way to create speaking animation
Draw and color a mouth that is open. Cut this out using an X-ACTO knife. Pace the open mouth over the character to create the illusion of the mouth moving. Also cut out two skin colored circles just a bit larger than the eyes. These will allow your character to blink or wink while he speaks.
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Step 6
A series of pictures with a mouth open then closed will simulate talking
Animate your character design by taking pictures with a digital camera. Take a picture of the character’s face with the mouth closed. Place the open mouth over the character and take another picture. Place the eyelid pieces on the character and remove the open mouth. This will ensure the character has motion on his face while speaking.
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Step 7
Upload the pictures into a program such as iMovie or Movie Magic. Each picture can act as a frame. Use the open mouth frame followed by the closed mouth frame for each consonant in a word. You can reuse the same pictures multiple times and string them together on the program’s time-line to create a sequence of talking animation.
