Character Process
When I first start designing a character, I usually have a few things in mind:
- The Setting (High fantasy, sci-fi, what restrictions and freedoms does it give?)
- The Character's general personality - This tends to help when I'm thinking of their appearance.
- A general idea - What do I want the character to be or do? What purpose do they have? Are they related to another character? How?
- Begin to think about their gender, species, skin tone, and other details. These things tend to be more fluid, unless the skin tone, ethnicity, gender or sexuality is integral to the identity of the character. If their species isn't something common (like humans, elves or dwarves) or has a special ability or quirk, I tend to write a small document on it.
Example: Leonard Drake
Character Overview and Development
Leonard Drake's original overview looked like this:
Then I began to hash out other details over a few days.
- He belongs to a high-fantasy post apocalyptic setting with a lot of modern elements.
- He is an Ex-Military Veteran who was rather high ranked. He left the military on the day of the outbreak forcefully.
- He is a Lycanthrope, which is different to a Werewolf.
- He is taller than a human usually is.
- He has black salt and pepper hair.
Then I began to hash out other details over a few days.
- He had been 5 days from retirement. He's still bitter about it.
- Used to be in prison after an accidental murder of a hunter that shot one of his younger brother. Was eventually transferred to the Military to try to "correct" him.
- He didn't have many friends in the Military, only two - Pottie, a Medic, and Swallow, a sniper.
- He hated being in the Military with a passion, and hates being called by his rank. He also now refuses to give himself a buzzcut.
- Very against the ruling class of his country, and is resentful that he was forced to fight for them.
- He has one true friend in the apocalypse - a Vampire medic called Aliyana. She patches up his wounds in return for drinking from him.
- Aliyana and Leonard met on the battlefield, she had tended to him despite him being the enemy and they became friends as he recovered.
- When the Apocalypse started he looted as many bodies of soldiers as he could, and continued to wear his old gear - it was practical and had plenty of pockets, which meant he wouldn't need a bag, which meant he was less bogged down or hindered. He had MREs, Ammo, a gun, a tactical knife, water and medical supplies from this. He also already had a multitool and a small comb. He also still wears his dog tags.
- He picked up the dog tags of the fallen out of habit. He doubts he'll ever find their families, but he figured he could at least try.
- Has a great respect for the dead.
- Wraithwalker Lycan - a subspecies of Lycan that can converse with the dead, see them and summon them to their aid during the full moon.
- Believes that if he doesn't respect the dead, he'll get haunted.
- Very gruff and world weary, but can be gentle and kind when it's called for. Not easy to anger, but when he does get mad he's the silent anger type. Tends to keep to himself. Very vocal if he thinks somethings up, and can be brutally blunt about things. Also tends to be brutally honest and upfront, doesn't like to sugarcoat things. If he likes someone, he tends to show them tough love. Has a dry sense of humor.
- Can partially shift to his Lycan form temporarily when it's not the full moon. During the cycle of the full moon he's stuck in his Lycan form.
Character document
Once I'm happy with the character I start writing out their backstory, personality, quirks and traits and other such things in a character document for easy referencing if I want to use them in a project or a story.
Visual Design
Next, I begin on the character's visual design. This often takes a really long time, especially if I'm not happy with it on the first try.
I like to start with the head and face of the character, because that's often one of the most recognisable parts of a character for me. I also really enjoy this process, especially once I finalize it and I get to shade it properly.
I like to start with the head and face of the character, because that's often one of the most recognisable parts of a character for me. I also really enjoy this process, especially once I finalize it and I get to shade it properly.
For the fullbody drawing(s) I had known I wanted him to be broad-shouldered and very tall. This lead to him being quite a large man, but it worked out because he was in the military for many years, and being so active and working with heavy equipment would lead to muscle building over time. I also liked the idea of him being a heavier frame than my usual characters, which tend to lean into being more lean and thin. It was interesting figuring out the proportions, but I had Ryke ( a previous character with a similar bodytype) as a frame of reference.
His first design in the image is what I settled on, I wanted it to look like he's been travelling for a while and has repaired his clothes many times. I wanted to keep the military gear because I wanted it to be clear at a glance that he's ex-military. He's also wearing knee-high boots in this one because I felt they would be more practical for keeping out water or mud as he walks around, seeing as vehicles aren't around anymore.
His second design was a thought that maybe he had been at a job interview or something similar, seeing as he was a few days from retiring from the military when the outbreak started. I ended up scrapping this idea because he wouldn't stay in those clothes very long after the outbreak because they likely wouldn't hold up, and it'd make more sense for him to still be in active duty anyway.
The third design was going back to the military idea. I did like the camo print and the multiple pouches, but I felt like it made him feel too generic and somehow too clean still. I could have dirtied the outfit a bit and ripped it up, but I was hashing things out and this didn't cross my mind at the time. I did keep his vest in the end but I changed it a bit to add more storage and feel more hefty.
The fourth was his military uniform, I was going to draw a version that's dirtied and roughed up, but I felt that it wouldn't be practical at all, even once it's been torn up. Suits are typically made of a very stiff fabric that doesn't leave a lot of room to move, especially if they're tailored like this one is. The hat would have been obstructive to his vision and would have been quickly discarded anyway, and dress shoes aren't the best choice of footwear if you might be walking a lot.
His first design in the image is what I settled on, I wanted it to look like he's been travelling for a while and has repaired his clothes many times. I wanted to keep the military gear because I wanted it to be clear at a glance that he's ex-military. He's also wearing knee-high boots in this one because I felt they would be more practical for keeping out water or mud as he walks around, seeing as vehicles aren't around anymore.
His second design was a thought that maybe he had been at a job interview or something similar, seeing as he was a few days from retiring from the military when the outbreak started. I ended up scrapping this idea because he wouldn't stay in those clothes very long after the outbreak because they likely wouldn't hold up, and it'd make more sense for him to still be in active duty anyway.
The third design was going back to the military idea. I did like the camo print and the multiple pouches, but I felt like it made him feel too generic and somehow too clean still. I could have dirtied the outfit a bit and ripped it up, but I was hashing things out and this didn't cross my mind at the time. I did keep his vest in the end but I changed it a bit to add more storage and feel more hefty.
The fourth was his military uniform, I was going to draw a version that's dirtied and roughed up, but I felt that it wouldn't be practical at all, even once it's been torn up. Suits are typically made of a very stiff fabric that doesn't leave a lot of room to move, especially if they're tailored like this one is. The hat would have been obstructive to his vision and would have been quickly discarded anyway, and dress shoes aren't the best choice of footwear if you might be walking a lot.
For his Lycan form, I knew I wanted to incorporate his scarring and his salt and pepper hair into the design, because I felt that it was an integral part to him as a character and it was important to make sure that he was still recognisable, but different.
I gave it two tails because I liked the idea that older Lycans had two tails, which would be how people could recognise them at a glance if they couldn't see their markings. It would also be what sets them apart from Werewolves, which are meant to be bastardized versions of Lycans.
I gave it two tails because I liked the idea that older Lycans had two tails, which would be how people could recognise them at a glance if they couldn't see their markings. It would also be what sets them apart from Werewolves, which are meant to be bastardized versions of Lycans.
Species Document
Once I've settled on the main parts of the character, I write up a species document if I need it, going over what their species is, the subspecies and the general way the species fits into the world. I've also included the lore document of the world, so there's a bit more context to this character.