Do you have a favorite design that you've made for a character? Alternatively, is there one that stands out as being the most fun to draw? How do you go about your creative process? What are the steps you use to capture what you're looking for?
Honestly, I have a lot of mixed opinions on my own designs. I’m not satisfied with the vast majority of them, because my designs often end up being very simplistic and repetitive (in my eyes, at least). In order for a design to be “good”, I have to do a lot of research to make sure it is, and sometimes I just don’t have the time for that when I want to draw them right now!
I will say that I do really appreciate Thirio’s design, if only because he has key design details that hint toward parallels he has towards other characters.
His glasses parallel another character, and his kimono is intentionally crossed right over left instead of the correct way. It makes sense in context, but I should really move on.
My opinions on who is fun to draw shifts, considering that I often end up drawing the character that I hyperfixate on most at the moment. But one example that stays a consistent source of being fun to draw for me is Outlander.
Something about his short, snout-like face, as well as his expressive horns, make for excellent practice drawing at different angles. His simplistic and flexible body also makes it easy to practice dynamic poses with him. I often find myself doodling him very often just to warm up.
Artblock is also fun to draw for some similar reasons, but one thing I really appreciate is that the roughness and scribbles in their design are diegetic to the story. They can look as messy or unpolished as I want, and it makes sense, since they’re Artblock!
For your last two questions…. I really wish I had a concrete answer for them, but I don’t. There’s no one way for me to achieve what I want, and truthfully, I’m a very amateur artist. A lot of my pieces, especially fully rendered and shaded ones, are very messy when you look at the close details. That’s partially because of the limitations of the art app I use, but also because my process is nonexistent! So much of my art is me fucking around until something looks acceptable, regardless of whether or not it matches the vision that I had going for it.
At the very least, I have outlined some steps for how I might go about making a piece, whether it’s art or writing:
Make an outline. With art, this can start with thumbnailing, or if I’m feeling particularly risky, I start directly with a rough sketch. With writing, I write down a few sentences about what direction I want the scene to go in.
Solidify that outline. With art, usually this translates into me lining the sketch, since that’s what I do most with my style. With writing, that might turn into me expanding my outline by making different lines with step-by-step instructions for how a scene goes. I often skip this step in writing, though.
????????????
Wake up with a colored and sometimes rendered art piece, or a collection of paragraphs.
Touch them up a little until you stop hating it.
done :)
And that is the Doodle way 👍! I don’t recommend approaching art like this in the slightest, but again, I’m just a beginner.
Ah, very clever of you. In a single word, you have managed to turn one of your problems into something that doesn’t just affect you, but me as well, thus throwing my own forces into entropy. I am now distracted writing this post to ease your boredom. But ask yourself, my rival tactician! What shall happen when I finish writing this post, and you are done reading it? I shall be satisfied, and you shall return to being bored! Victory on this battlefield is most assuredly mine!
