Hello Steemians!
I have been away for a while because I have been busy with work, life, and other projects. It breaks my heart to be away for so long, but I hope that after this week I can arrange my time efficiently to post more frequently.
Anyways, today I come to show you the first character I made for a graphic novel project I'm creating with a fellow writer.
I don't think I can explain much because the project is not done yet, but it's about magic, towers, and other stuff. We are attempting to create a whole universe so it's no easy task. But when the time comes I will probably share all about it with you guys.
But well, I want to show you the first design I completed and also try to make some kind of guide for everyone that wants to try to create original characters.
Her name is Ahatu, she's a magician from one of the royal families in the story. She sacrificed her status as a noble for a person dear to her and got sent along with a group of prisoners to explore one of the "lower floors".
I don't know if what I said made any sense but the story is kind of convoluted so it's no easy task to explain who she is without giving away the complete story.
Her design is supposed to be inspired by Egyptian motifs. The families in the story have clothing inspired by various ancient civilizations, so all of the characters won't look like her necessarily; the cast is really diverse. I'm still trying to define the overall feeling for the characters... but I had to start somewhere.
First draft
Okay so, when you are creating a story it's only natural you have to spend a lot of time deciding on the characters that will we part of it. I spent weeks discussing with my writing partner the kind of characters we wanted in. After a while, we came up with this girl. In terms of actual design, all I had clear was that:
a) She was going to have a long ponytail
B) She was a teenager
At first I pictured some sort of robe to reflect the fact that she was a magician.
My friend said something like:
"That won't do! Imagine her more like a Middle Eastern/Egyptian girl. With big pants or something like that."
That gave me a clearer idea of what I had to go for. I definitely wanted to keep a similar hairstyle to the one I envisioned, there was no way I was going to change it because I just felt this girl had to have THAT hair. And after a bit of research and looking for inspiration I came up with the final outfit.
Scheherezade and Nitocris from Fate/Grand Order. Check out the game!
I am a big Fate fan so these characters kept popping in my mind when I designed this person. I think it's important to look for inspiration when you want to design something.
I'm not telling you to rip off other characters, but nothing pops out of thin air, drawing inspiration from artists you like will take you to a clearer path.
Honestly, I wanted to do a lot of actual historical research for these outfits but the idea I had in mind flowed nicely without much of that. Since it's supposed to be for a fantasy setting I let it go, but for the rest of the cast I am definitely trying to put more research into the costumes.
So I quickly sketched a body and drew the outfit I had in mind on it for reference. I had a hunch that told me "this is it."
After that, I decided on a simple pose for the final concept art. I tried to keep the proportions kind of natural, but I also went for some cartoony elements to make the design more distinctive. In this case, the big hair and the long flowing simple ponytail.
Credits: Crypton
People tend to remember more clearly characters with very distinctive characteristics, keep that in mind.
There are countless examples in media, but I always like to point out the case of Hatsune Miku and her gigantic teal twintails.
Her unique yet simple design has inspired many artists to give their own twist to this character, resulting in an endless amount of variations of her design.
Lineart
After I was happy with my sketch I made the lineart. Nothing too out of the ordinary here. For future characters I think I'm gonna try to make thinner lines because I want to achieve a more mature feeling.
Coloring
After you finish the lineart it's time to COLOR! I always try to go for simple palettes, saves me time and I think that you don't need a lot of colors to make something look good.
In my case, I always envisioned my character with purple and gold tones. The red was an afterthought. (But I do think it worked very well).
Details
After I am happy with my base colors it's time to bring my baby to life. Color details like shine and shadows give a new dimension to illustrations.
By the way, this is just my personal style, do whatever you please after selecting the base colors for your character. I encourage you to experiment to create your own unique style.
Do you prefer to add textures? Experiment with unusual brushes? Blend the colors? The options are endless when it comes to digital art.
I would even say my process is a bit standard, I'm still looking for ways to make it more unique.
Final shadows + overlays
I end up adding about two layers of shadows to give more depth and details to my illustrations.
Lineart + color adjustments
This is the final part of the process, I adjust the lineart to blend it more with the rest of the art. After that, I add an overlay to bring the colors together a bit.
Feel free to go back to change something if you want. My process is not as straightforward as I make it out to be here, I tend to go back and forth within the steps I mentioned. I just tried to bring it all together into a comprehensive guide.
Bonus gif!
I had a lot of fun creating this character. Honestly I'm trying to spend more time studying art to refine my technique, but creating something out of your imagination is a great drawing exercise too.
I encourage all of you to try your hand at making your own characters. It will make you develop a unique style, which is super important for an artist.
Thanks for reading, Steem On!