This is an example of an instance where there is a bit more involved to a typical character build on Archer. In the boards, he is shooting alternately in slow-motion. To do this, I had to make sure that the drawings looked believable from one step to the other, so the animator has good transitional drawings, and whatever looks odd can be covered up with a muzzle flash.
So I had my reference example of Archer in the trench coat and his suit, and some photo reference as well. I sketched out the body, and took some shooting references. I then did the same with our Colt .45, and what you have is a final complete file, with all pieces for the animator to use.
When building a head file, there is quite a bit more work involved in terms of making sure you have the right layers for all of the pieces to make the head to be able to be animated with a series of expressions within our limited style.
First what I do is to draw the head in completion. Malory is a main character, so she needs all views of her head, including the standard head turn with the established hairstyle, and the "flipped" version of her hair for when she turns towards screen-left, because it is an asymmetrical design.
Once the head turnaround is complete, I then make sure all of the steps of the face are drawn, so that means a blink, glaring eyes, wide eyes, and a few mouth shapes that can morph into the next step. Then I bring this file into After Effects, where I test to make sure that the animated facial steps can transition from one to the next.
Below, you can see the head turn as a gif on the left, and the video test from After Effects on the right.
Below are a couple of arm gestures for Pam from Season 9. I wanted to show the steps from storyboard to photo reference, to vector drawings and animation to make sure the pieces are working properly together before giving to the animation department.
These are vector files made of Archer and Lana to be used to print out cardboard cut-out standees. We had them made for the studio.