A French Poet Moment: Part 3

Character Design

This is probably the area most people have the most fun. It sure is one of my favorite parts. There is a lot to go into character design but here are a few tips:

• Keep it simple
• Believability
• Appeal

Keep it simple: Because you will be drawing this character over and over in a variety of poses so you'll want to keep it simple. Create your character using simple shapes. Using simple shapes will allow you to draw your character quickly.

Believability: Your character needs to be believable. That means your character has to look like they are in proportion and that their movement looks real. Okay, so I am going to let you in on my secret of creating believability. If you are unaware artists measure characters by heads. An average person is 7 1/2 heads high. Not everyone you draw has to be 7 1/2 heads high. Your character can be 3, 4, 5, 6, and up heads high. Now for my secret. No matter what size you draw your character at, the important thing to remember is that you draw your character's elbows just above the waist and hands fall mid thigh. If you keep the elbow and hands proportion correct your character will always be believable. 

Appeal: Whether a hero, sidekick, or villain your character has to appeal. You want your audience to feel for the character. You want the audience to be rooting for, crying, laughing or feeling hatred for the character. This is done in a few ways including facial features, body type, costuming, and color. Think about the type of character you want to create then take some time to research some characters similar to yours. For example if you want to create a superhero look at characters like Superman, Green Lantern, or Spiderman. What makes them visually appealing? Well, they all have broad shoulders, muscles, and wear a brightly colored costume. It doesn't matter what style you are drawing in, if you draw a large muscled guy in a brightly colored costume you have just drawn a superhero. Research and reference is a must before you start any drawing. 

Also, never go with your first choice. Draw, draw, and draw some more. Once you finally have your character the way you want, the next step is to create a model sheet. A model sheet is a collection of your character in a turnaround. A turnaround are illustrations of your character in a front view, 3/4 view, profile, and back view. These sheets are used as reference to know how your character looks from any angle. There are also expression sheets, which shows what your character's regular facial expressions look like. Finally, we have pose sheets which shows how your character looks in their regular poses.

I haven't had a chance to draw out the French Poet's model sheet yet so I went online and downloaded a few model sheets to demonstrate how they look. You will notice on these model sheets there are lines on the model sheet at specific places which we use to make sure all body parts line up in any position. Also, feel free to add notes to your model sheet incase you are not the only working on your character so other artists know what they need to know. Take your time to review these model sheets which I found on the internet. I think they are great examples of what I am talking about.

I hope you all learned something today. I will post my model sheet soon. Just remember to practice and continue to observe all around you. Characters come from everywhere. You can get inspired anywhere from a family member, classmate, a person in a store, coffee house, or on the train. So keep your drawing pad with you at all times. Until next time, keep your pencils sharp and your head in the clouds.