My Current Process in Designing a Character! - Part One:

My Current Process in Designing a Character! - Part One:

In Tip of the Week 2 I said design a new Character! I myself struggle making a character and also look for that perfect instruction guide in teaching me the magic zen of the perfect Character, and although I haven't found THE ONE! I have found some commonly said tips and thought I'd share with you some of those tips along with what I've come up with so far in my own method.

My Method:

Step 1: Brainstorm! If you don't already have a character in mind (from a story in your mind or such) you can do and exercise that Children's Comicbook Writer and artist Dave McDonald does and draw a random shape then give yourself 15-30seconds and draw a character. It's not to be a perfect character, just to give you an idea. If you're in to more detailed styled art and 30 seconds isn't enough for a full character just start with the face. You don't have to like everything you do, it's just to give you some ideas where to start!


Step 2 and 3: I put these together because depending on who you are you might want to interchange these steps.

• 2: Name your character. -Some people wish to give their characters names based off of their personality or life story. Like,you might have a Character that has to heal from a tramaic event and name them "Raphael" Which means " (the)God who heals". Or Maybe a a girl with a bitter past you might name her "Mara" which means bitter sea. 

• 3: Give your character a personality, what do they like? what do they not like? Are they a he or she? Do they have an agenda? Many other questions you can ask, depending on the reasoning for the Character you might want to write an actual chart that looks something like this:

__________________________________________________________________
Name: Kole Shimska
Age: 28
Likes: Ice-cream, sleeping, books, sleeping with books, cats, and her pet hamster Dimitri Jose.
Dislikes: People who tease her glasses, singing in public, being active, being late.

Life Story: Kole is from  Moscow Russia but lives in Columbia, she grew up without glasses but had an accident that makes her need glasses when she was 15. Kole Graduated from University when she was 20 and has an above average IQ and often annoys her one and only friend with saying random facts. She's often sad and lonely books and her hamster acting as her friends, since her only real friend lives far away and she can't always see him.
__________________________________________________________________

This isn't an actual character of mine, just an example of what you can do!

You could even add her hair, skin and eye color in the profile just to keep organized if you like!
Or if you want to get super super specific, write down the color codes/names to your colored pencils or markers (or other media) so you can exactly recolor your character over and over again. If you use digital you might want to make a color swatch and put the code number in it for double security (although the color select tool in your preferred program should find the color for you. )

 

Step 4: Play with expressions, even if you have an always happy or always sad character, we all know life isn't always in one state mind forever. And you get to know your characters better when you see how they look sad or happy or a bit tiffed about something! I'd say do the main 4 Expressions to start but surly do as many as you want!

The Main 4 would be:

• Happy
• Sad
• Angry
• Shocked

Each of these have level of emotion, one can be sad because they lost a game but won't cry about it, and another can be sad because their cat was stolen and cry their eyes out! Or one can be a bit irritated they lost the game but super angry when they cat was stolen! And so on it goes...I think you get the point! - If you want to add a 5th I'd say "shy" would fit, but it depends on your view of life and stuff so, just have fun making different expressions!

Once you've done that, keep a polished chart of your character's expressions so you can duplicate it a bit easier!

Also remember That the human body also has a lot of expression; A couple in love as they look at each-other's eyes appear soft, vulnerable, happy and relaxed, an angry person is quite tense and holds stuff down or is exploding in much action, a sad person is a bit saggy in bodily expression and etc etc etc!

Step 5: That oh so painful reality, I have an epic character, perfect name and personality...But, oh no! I can't draw the same character two times! What do I do?

Get a System:

Well, I myself haven't mastered the perfect method for this but in my "research" over the past few weeks, I came across a tip from an up and coming artist that said to make a system of in what order do you draw the character; Do you draw the eyes, nose, then mouth? Or...Head shape then face? Or, do you draw whole body and leave the details of the head and face for last? Get a system! It's a bit hard for me since I go where I want as I draw but if you got the discipline this could be pretty helpful! And even if you don't, spite yourself and try it anyway, do you wanna be comfortably not as could as you could be or work and be better?! Go moving solider! We got work to do!

Create a Chart:

One thing I have done is create a chart of the sketch, this could be done best on the computer in my opinion so you don't scuff up the original sketch. Say what makes this character unique, what stands out about him/her/it, and keep the chart as a reference!

Here's an Example:

Bigger Version

 See how it explains the ins and outs of this character's face! It even has a few notes on the bottom to remind me of things that explain why he's this way. - A chart might help you too! And do it with the body as well, note the shape, how tall using the head as a measurement, maybe even measure with a ruler and say how big each thing is to  make it perfectly exact!

Step 6: Color! Color! Color! 
Even if you don't color well or have "good" materials, that's fine! The Majority of my art supplies are children's pencils and markers. Coloring a character adds a new dimension! There is much color symbolism in the world, and you can create your own symbolism! For example: Red can mean evil or energetic, blue can mean calm and collected or sad or loneliness, yellow can mean cheerful and on and on it goes! How you look at color might and probably is a bit different than mine, just have fun with it! Play with patterns, play with designs, it doesn't have to look like a pro it just has to be fun! If you're not having fun with it and you're not being payed/have to do it you shouldn't do it! Have fun!
Aim to be the best but don't give up just because you're not there yet! You think Micheal Angelo got there over night? If he did I want his coffee cause that boy got it right!  Even the best were bad at one point it's fine, just keep going, aiming, having fun!

Even if you want to work in black and white, I think having 1 solid either very best you can do image, or a chart could help you immensely.


Step 7: Keep Figures looking flexible and alive!
Maybe you want to draw cartoons that are simple, or very extravagant figures but still, to make them look lively a good figure structure is essential! I don't suggest to go buy books, find a model to pose w/o clothes on or anything of the sort, there are pleanty of charts on the internet that are "clean" and have lots of tips.
 

 This one being an example: Majnouna's Tutorials
From what I've seen these are perfectly clean but teach a lot, if there is something "questionable" let me know I'll take the link down.

My main tip is keep the figures fun and "friendly" that doesn't mean never draw a villain but make them look "human"!  Of course the imagination does stop at people or animals, once you get in to your own space Anatomy is up for grabs and making something/someone "anatomically" correct isn't needed at that point.

That's the End of Part One, Part Two will deal with my Character that I designed a bit and show you some of how I've applied these things to my own drawings. - Can be found here.

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