As I’ve decided to create anthropomorphic creatures for this project I decided to look at various references that can help with the initial design of the character. Before I look at those I needed to focus on what the Tanuki looked like in real life as they’re real animals.
Here are some of the reference images I used:-
I also watched videos to study their movements and natural behaviour :-
The video reveals the different information about the animal but I mainly used it to study the various characteristics of the animals rather than the animal itself. Because I am creating a stylised character the movement and behaviour of the animal doesn’t actually matter.
Initial Character Sketches
Based on my research I pictured the character to be big and friendly. I used the traditional statue which depicts the animal with a long tail and large belly which it uses to drum with. This immediately made me think of the character Po in Kung Fu Panda (2008) and the design of that character.
The silhouette of the panda is very similar to the Tanuki character I want to create. I watched the movie to see the movement of the character and see how I can translate that within my own character. While watching the film I began to sketch various poses that the tanuki could do based on the movement of the panda character within the film. I also looked at the proportions of the character and mimicked it within my sketches. I want to use this body proportion as it displays a humorous characteristic within the character.
Another animation I watched that aided in my initial sketches was Jungle book (1967), I focused on the character Baloo in particular. Similar to Po in KFP he is big and round which is what I want to adopt for my Tanuki character. However, Baloo’s character silhouette is much more triangular and longer verses Po’s which makes the character look less friendly.
Research from the University of Warwick clarifies that specific geometric shapes that mirror negative emotions make individuals associate it with evil. Co-creator of the study, Dr.Elisbeth Blagrove clarifies that: If we look at the characters, the classic baddie will regularly be drawn with the evil eyebrows that go to a descending point in the centre. This could clarify why we connect the descending pointing triangle with negative appearances. These shapes relate with our own facial highlights and we unknowingly make that connection. (2011)
This study suggests that pointed triangles make the character look ‘evil’ so the use of rounded shapes will do the opposite, which can easily be depicted through the two reference characters Po and Baloo. I want the Tanuki to look ‘friendly’ through the silhouette of the character. However, this goes against the researched personality of the creature. Tanuki’s are supposed to be mischevious creatures, I want to show that through the design of the character within the features of the design. As you can see below the character has circle areas on its face, similar to the real-life tanuki. I want to angle the fur so it is triangular pointing down the middle, this will help show that although the character may look friendly it still has aspects of mischievousness.
Creature Characteristics
Through the tanuki research, I found that in order to create this character I would need to include various characteristics within the design of it in order for it to be a ‘personal’ version of the creature, or else the creature would just be the real animal rather than the yokai itself. I found that 8 different characteristics are usually included in the yokai which I drew below.
Within my concept art, I drew versions of real objects which would be included in the final concept art of the character. As you can see I included the sake bottle typically associated with the character’s drunken demeanour which is explained within the character research. On the bottle, it should have the number 8, for the 8 virtues the tanuki represents but I decided to change it to “たぬき酒” and “タッチしない” which directly translates to “Tanuki’s Sake” and “Don’t Touch”. I decided to change it because I want to interpret the character to be friendly but hostile. This feature would show that he doesn’t like to share his belongings which contrasts to the friendly personality I want the character to have.
I also changed the promissory note from a notebook to a scroll. Scrolls are the original form of the book, a symbol of sacred writing. I wanted the promissory note on a scroll which is almost a juxtapose of the two. The promissory note exempts them from paying for things within the human world as they don’t have money. Before the promissory note they would turn leaves and stones into fake money, therefore the note is a told to show people they have the ability to trick and steal. Whereas the scroll is seen as sacred which is a contrast to the meaning of the note. It is also a way to show that the creature doesn’t consider themselves as tricksters and think more highly of themselves compared to how the kitsune is automatically seen as sacred creatures. By carrying a scroll it is an unknowing object that makes the character seem of a higher status than it really is.
Finally, as I wrote in my research the one characteristic most people know of the tanuki is the 8th virtue which is its balls. As I want the project to be more professional I will use the knowledge of the balls shaping into objects and turning it into a bag which will contain all the object that I drew. When I model the character in Zbrush I am hoping that you would be able to see this characteristic when looking at the underside of the character, which shows that I still have this feature in my interpretation of the character.
Clothing Design
For the design of the clothing I looked at various kinds of clothing within the Edo period of Japan a few that I found that I found was interesting was:
Montsui Hakama
Monstuki haori hakama 紋付羽織袴 is the most formal men’s wafuku ensemble and had been semi-formal wear for samurai in the Edo Period and became the most formal dress for commoners. (Immortal Geisha, n.d.) The clothing usually consists of 5 parts and all is usually black similar to the image.
Haori
Haori (羽織) is a light, hip- or thigh-length jacket worn, They’re worn for warmth as well as to add formality to the outfit (Montsui Hakama usally included one). Haori resembles the upper portion of a kimono, but the collar is worn folded at the back, and the front portions do not cross but are held together with a haori-himo (ties which hold the kimono together). (Immortal Geisha, n.d.)
Suikan Sugata
The Suikan Sugata was usually worn by retailers of cour officials. Boys would wear it when serving as attendants messengers to the royalty. In the Edo period, the clothing items in this outfit would have been made of silk or hemp fabric. Most likely, the suikan would have been a loose-woven hemp, the kosode silk, and the sashinuki a specially dyed silk. (Ishiyama Gen’tarou Tori’ie, n.d.)
Based on the brief clothing research I constructed various clothing choices with grey and black elements to block out the various features of the clothing. I decided to with the second version because it is an almost accurate depiction of the Monstuki haori hakama outfit. As I pointed out earlier this piece of clothing is seen as formal to commoners. I want the Tanuki to wear this as it would show that the character sees itself quite highly and wants others to think it’s of a standard similar to the Kitsune. I then went on to chose different colours based on various pallets. Clothing within this period was usually of duller colours and colours such as red and cobalt blue were usually seen on higher status people.
“In the medieval times colour was a symbol of rank as it was in some other Asian cultures: with yellow worn by people of no rank; black by servants; red by people associated with Chinese families; and green by those with ties with Korean families. Colours ranging from purple to dark green were worn by people associated with royalty.” (Facts and Details, n.d.)
I believe that clothing dye was quite difficult to obtain and would be quite expensive. Which would explain why people of higher status would usually wear colours like red. In addition to this, as the Tanuki is from the forest the creature would usually see the unwealthy people who would be near the forest such as farmers etc. This would mean they have no idea about the concept of colour segregating status, therefore, I stuck to an earthly toned pallet as these are the colour they would be familiar with. I wanted to choose the third version but within Edo Japan, black was usually worn by servants which the Tanuki isn’t. Therefore, I decided to choose the last colour pallet as it works nicely with the character itself.
Here is the final design of the character which features all the concepts I created. I decided to add bamboo within the bag because the bag to add depth and use to the bag.
Animation Project 