Character Design 2023

Puli Sura

A coward who caught a tiger a humorous character written and drawn from the real people of a Kerala village.

Character turnaround

01The Character

Padayappa 'Puli' Sura

Sura is in his late twenties and loves to boast about his royal bloodline and famous ancestors. But he's actually the biggest coward in the village, always making up stories to seem brave and digging around looking for the ancestral treasure he's sure is buried somewhere.

Then, through a chain of misunderstandings, the village becomes convinced he has caught a tiger and, improbably, he actually has.

02Research

Interviews newspapers comics

I wanted to understand how real rural characters become funny. So I interviewed villagers, read old newspapers and comics, and found the small habits and quirks that make people funny.

KuttanBuilt a fence around a cow to give it some personal space.01

AyyappanA bus conductor who gave every single stop its own nickname.02

The comicsTroublemakers, confusions, and characters defined by one flaw.03

Dozens of these were collected and folded, a trait at a time, into one person Sura.

03Process

Stories one character

01Stories from villagesInterviews, newspapers and comics, gathered as raw material.

02Comical traitsThe single, specific quirk that makes each person funny.

03BenchmarkingMeasuring traits against humour archetypes and references.

04Character writingFolding chosen traits into one consistent person.

05Fitting into scenePlacing the written character into a story situation.

06VisualisationDrawing him turnaround, expressions and poses.

Humour toolkit

SlapstickParodySpoofDeadpanWit & wordplayArchetypesReverse developmentQuirks & habitsConfusion

04Concept Sketches

Faces expressions poses

Face & expression studies

Expression sheet

Dynamic poses

A small study in writing a character before drawing one letting the humour come from people who were already real.