Character Design for Comics, Part 1

alien character design sketches concepts
Sketches of an alien race, the Uthers (Click to enlarge).

“Character Design” is generally something you hear more in the animation industry than the comics industry. However, the two industries often overlap, especially whether you talk about camera angles, lighting and moods, or, in today’s post, character design.

Character design is especially important in comics. You need characters that…

  • express the full range of human emotions,
  • are visually individual from each other, and
  • embody necessary elements in your story.

On top of all of this, the character design should be simple enough that you can draw it repeatedly and NOT want to stab your eyes out with a mechanical pencil.

So before I show my own character designs and what elements I think work, I’m going to show some things that…don’t.

While there are no hard and steady rules for character design, I have this one personal rule of my own. It’s the only one I need, but it’s no less important.

If it makes a gorgeous illustration, it’s a terrible choice for a comics character design.

This is something mentioned briefly in an Aaron Diaz blog post about costumes in character design, under a section called “Simplicity.” He says…

Above all else, keep it simple.  Comic characters are not pin-ups or other illustrations; you have to draw them over and over again, from various angles.  If you pile on too much detail, you’ll wear yourself out slogging through all the bits every time you have to draw them.

Let’s look at an example…

final fantasy belt dress lulu
THE BELTS.

THAT is a beautiful illustration. It would be a total pain in the ass to draw repeatedly for a comics story.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: A Bride’s Story.

a bride's story manga
A scene from A Bride’s Story (Click to enlarge)

Yes, it is insanely detailed and gorgeous. The artist also has assistants to help her meet her deadlines.

Most comics artists I know don’t have the luxury of an assistant to help them make art. They are, 99% of the time, making everything on their own.

To that end, I still stand by my personal rule.

If it makes a gorgeous illustration, it’s a terrible choice for a comics character design.

Remember that simplicity is key.

So, what else doesn’t work?

Same Face Syndrome.

disney frozen same face syndrome character design
The most notorious example of “Same Face Syndrome” to appear in recent years. (Click to enlarge)

Same Face Syndrome is when you use the same face in your character design. The most cancerous of Same Face Syndrome symptoms spread into the physique, when you draw all of your characters with the same general body shape.

I used to suffer from this HARD when I started out. It’s a common mistake because Same Face Syndrome is so formulaic, and formulas help make new work faster…even if it’s not necessarily better.

The thing about character design is it should not be formulaic. Your characters should not fit a mold.

They should be individuals, with their own physiques and faces and personalities.

Each character you draw is their own person. They should serve a unique but specific purpose in your story. That’s why you draw them into your comics, after all.

Have you noticed any Same Face Syndrome elsewhere? Have any tips for character designs? Leave them in the comments!

Thank you for reading and I’ll see you tomorrow, when I show some of my own character designs and the creative decisions behind their looks.

Lessons Learned from a KickStarter Project

seeing him webcomic logo work in progress
Click to enlarge.

My sister Kia and I were running a KickStarter to help fund the beginning of our new webcomic, Seeing Him.

AND…

It did not meet the goal.

To be honest, Kia and I weren’t really sure whether this project would get funded or not. We were hoping for the best, whatever the best may be.

Now that the KickStarter is over, I think, for now, it DID turned out for the best.

I am sad our comic cannot be made right away.

However, we did learn the following things from this KickStarter:

  • People WANT to support indie comic creators (we did, after all, raise a little over $500. We didn’t get any of that money because KickStarter is an all-or-nothing fundraising system, but people were still willing to contribute money towards our project!)
  • People WANT to see more positive trans representation, especially for trans men.
  • People are more altruistic than we are lead to believe.
  • And digital rewards are way more popular than I thought they would be.

Kia and I are going to take these lessons in and plan our next move.

We are hoping to fund raise for the project again sometime after New Years, and perhaps…

  • Lower the asking goal.
  • Offer more/only digital rewards (so we don’t spend our funds on making rewards for the backers, therefore justifying our lower goal amount and getting the comic made faster and sooner)
  • Offer more ways backers can be included into the comic, because MY GOODNESS during the campaign the $100 reward to be drawn as a recurring character got sold out FAST.

As soon as Kia and I have a plan, I will let you fabulous readers know so we can try again and, hopefully, succeed.

Thank you to everyone who shared Seeing Him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and elsewhere on the internet.

Thank you to Pink Dollar Comics and Women Write About Comics who wrote about the KickStarter project as it was going.

Thank you to all of the backers who contributed (sorry we didn’t make the goal).

And a very special thank you to my friends and family who were eager and supportive for our project. You know who you are.

Again, stay tuned for further developments for Seeing Him!

Thank you for reading (and for all of your support), and I will see you tomorrow.

Step-by-Step Roxie Portrait

This post is the first in a week-long blog post update extravaganza! (It’s when I update my blog everyday, Monday through Friday, just for this week).

I just finished a new illustration in colored pencil! So to celebrate, I wanted to show the progression of how I made it and the tools I used. And at the end of the blog post, you can see the finished piece.

To start, I grabbed my Prismacolor 72 piece colored pencil set (which I had left over from my first ever art class in college. Hold on to your supplies, students!) and an 9 wide inch by 12 inch pad of Strathmore Toned Tan paper.

strathmore toned tan paper and prismacolor 72 piece set colored pencils

 

Once I got those, I drew the black and white version of what I wanted to color. I sketched in (lightly) where the shadows would lie with my trusty F hardness sketch pencil. I use that pencil for all of my drawing and sketching.

Then I go over those lines with my mechanical pencil, which I believe is a B hardness in lead, so it’s darker than the F.

Next, I color over the whole sketch with a white colored pencil. I do this so that…

  • I don’t lose my shadows
  • I have a layer of colored pencil between my pencil lines and my actual colors, thus
  • making my art much cleaner and less muddy.

Once the white is laid down, I lay down the brightest colors I’m going to use, and color from light to dark.

The first layer of colors end up looking a little like this:

colored pencil portrait of validation roxie in progress
Click to enlarge.

It’s not the prettiest…yet.

Also, I did not use light peach straightaway for the skin tone. I laid down the highlight color, which is a mix of Cream and Beige.

Alright, so I drew the light colors first. What next?

The shadows!

colored pencil portrait of validation roxie in progress 2
Click to enlarge.

I really wanted to try and find colors that would compliment Roxie’s hair, which is why I went with fuchsia industrial piercings, dark blue gauges, a purple camisole, and an orange-yellow tank top.

Also, use the color wheel. It is your friend.

color wheel tool
I got this sucker for around 6 or 7 US Dollars at a craft store in college. (Click to enlarge). One side is tints and the other is shades.

I used this to help me find the complimentary colors mentioned above, and it also helped me find what colors to use for shading.

So at this point, I have colored the highlights and the shades. There’s just one layer missing…

Oh I know! The mid tones!

I took the colors I wanted for the mid tones in each area, which went a little like this:

  • Mohawk: Spring Green
  • Shirt: Canary Yellow
  • Gauges: Cloud Blue
  • Camisole: Violet
  • Piercings: Magenta
  • Skin: Light Peach
  • Teeth: Cool Grey 20%

But after I colored the mid tones and finished out a few minor details (like the teeth), I noticed that the shade tones got lifted up a little.

So I went back over the mid tone layer with the shades again. Which went like this:

  • Mohawk: Dark Green
  • Shirt: Dark Brown
  • Gauges: Ultramarine
  • Camisole: layers of Violet Blue, Ultramarine, and Indigo Blue
  • Piercings: Mulberry
  • Skin: Sienna Brown
  • Teeth: French Grey 60%

Then I added some neutral tones like brown in the linings of the mouth.

The last step was VERY LIGHTLY adding Black on the edges to help delineate shadow.

Finally, at long last…

colored pencil portrait of validation roxie finished
FINISHED! Click to enlarge.

This portrait is finished!

Looking at it, there are still some errors that I notice (like her nose), but I have to say…

This is the first colored pencil piece of art I have made in a little over five years. I think I did alright. It’s not the best, but it’s not the worst. With practice, I’ll get better.

So what do you think? Should I do more portraits in colored pencil? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

In other news, the KickStarter for Seeing Him is wrapping up, and, to be honest, I don’t think we’ll make the goal.

But that’s ok! Kia and I have been talking behind-the-scenes and we have a few ideas for what to do next. I’ll be able to share them with you soon.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you back here on the blog tomorrow. Or in comments at Validation. Or Johnson & Sir. Or Charlie & Clow. Or Tumblr… I’M EVERYWHERE.

KickStarter Updates and Videos

The KickStarter for “Seeing Him,” the new webcomic made my Kia and myself, will end on December 15!

I made a video for the KickStarter on my own YouTube channel, which you can watch below:

We’re still not near our goal! So if you can, please donate and spread the word. You can get cool rewards like posters, stickers, or even a chance to get drawn in the comic.

But the best thing about funding Seeing Him is that you’ll help bring a story, featuring a trans man, to life.

Because there need to be more stories about and for trans men.

Again, the KickStarter ends December 15!

Here’s some art to show what the webcomic will look like when and if it’s funded:

seeing him trans man webcomic comic page preview
Click to enlarge (and read).

In other news, I’ll be updating my YouTube channel much more often. Hopefully the next update will be the blooper reel for the KickStarter video. After that, there’ll be a video showing off a sketchbook I finished recently.

For the rest of December, I’ll be finishing up the KickStarter, making commissions, and wrapping up presents. But the webcomics I do will still update regularly!

Here’s another crazy thing I’m doing: starting Monday next week, I’m updating this blog every day, from Monday to Friday.

I’ll be showing never-before-seen sketches, posting more videos, talking about comics (maybe even discuss some comics history), and who knows? Maybe I’ll write a blog post you suggest.

Leave suggestions for next week’s blog posts in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you on Monday.

My YouTube Channel… IS ALIVE!

I have revived my YouTube Channel!

The first video is uploaded for viewing.

The second video, which will upload soon, will be a video Kia and I recorded for our KickStarter. OR WILL IT?

Speaking of the KickStarter…

seeing him kickstarter promo art trans man webcomic
It’s Katy and Adam! The stars of “Seeing Him”! (Click to enlarge)

There are less than 6 days left and we need your help.

The KickStarter is to help fund the first 42 pages of our new webcomic, Seeing Him. It’s a romantic comedy starring a trans man named Adam and a nerdy lady named Kate.

If you back the project, you can get cool rewards, like an ebook of behind-the-scenes sketches (and an extended version of this interview), being drawn into the comic, and more!

Again, the KickStarter link is here.

Thank you to everyone who has donated! Please help spread the word, if you can!

And now, I shall end this blog post with some new personal projects I finished recently…

the legend of jamie roberts ranki silhouette sketch
A silhouette of Raguna Ranki from “The Legend of Jamie Roberts.” (Click to Enlarge)
goddess watercolor sketch painting
God as Woman Dancing (Click to Enlarge).

Thank you for reading! I’ll see you on YouTube soon, and I’ll see you here on Friday.