Creating a character

Creating a new character from ugly to: “I like you.”

Hey hey, what’s up what’s up human. Today, I thought that I would show you how to create a character from ugly to “I like you”.

It’s super hard on the hardware side. You need an expensive paper and a pencil that cost, huh at least like a spaceship.

Let's go!

First there is this blurry idea of what you’d like to draw. In my case today I wanted to create a persona “Mom with a kid.”

I wanted it to be simple because I need to redraw her multiple times in a storyboard.

Then you take the paper and pencil and draw. I drew this.

It’s kinda ugly, isn’t it? But, hey we all are when we are born. It is simple but ugly.

Let’s try another one.

Okay, the hair, I feel a relief there a bit. The neck is too bodybuilder like, maybe only the feet are fine.

This is usually a moment when I laugh over my drawing mouth creation and say to myself: “Now try to not be lazy, really draw and have fun.”

Now we are getting somewhere. Then I look at it and I feel this connection. The area around the neck how it is a bit to the side. The hair is floaty. She is bent a bit which gives her a bit of movement.

I did draw another one trying to replicate this one. But she was odd again. Not hideous like the first one but odd. Then I take a close look at what is the difference between those two (Sorry I deleted her right away, I didn’t like her.)

Seeing them one next to another one can see and mainly feel what are the parts that resonates. During the drawing that’s basically my compass. The feelings of “that’s odd” and “Uuu, I like it.”

This is basically what I do. I draw something then I took whatever I like and throw the rest away. Then I repeat it. Again and again till I have this.

Even here you can see the progress, I started to get the grasp upon what I felt “Uuu I like it” feeling and replicated it to the next one.

Focus on a neck and shoulders for example. You see that by changing only those, I change the whole feeling of the character.

Also look at her posture and the chef posture. Chef is more like dynamic and mom is more stiff. I was even saying to myself: “Ah, I may need to redraw her again.”

In my example I wanted the characters to be easily drawn for the storyboard. However, the chef is already complex.

Now it’s another challenge, you want a character to feel the same, but with less number of lines. Otherwise, you’ll go nuts drawing the storyboard.

Then I go and have fun again. I just take the pen and draw again trying to hit the sweet point. I draw again and again till I hit it.

Look at the image which one do you feel connection to? Take the time and look at them.

I felt to this one.

I took her out of the crowd again and try to finish her legs and stuff.

See, I just like her. The head is somehow the way I want it to be. Even the neck. It’s just this feeling of a click rather than the words I am using here. Oh yeah, you are using the feelings here rather than thoughts like the previous one “The head is nice.” No it’s immediate.

Let’s look at them together.

Okay, they have a different character to them a bit. There are a lot of similarities, I think mainly the neck and eyes is doing the difference. But I feel connected to the right one a bit more.

Yeah, it’s fun. It’s not only about the parts but also everything together.

Hopefully you would find some inspiration or courage that you’re the same person who create the left one and also can create the right one.

Yeah, sometimes I am even surprised, did you really like. How?

How? I just told you take what you like, and draw another one. Take what you like again, draw and have fun with another one.

Bye human, and draw your own character!

Tomorrof,

Luke

Edit: Hey hey people, it got curated in Art and I was making funny sounds of celebration: “Vuhuuu”.

Here is another part of the story: Creating a character continues. Where I look at how to make it simplifythe character for drawing it multiple times like in storyboard but still feeling the same vibes of “I like you”.

For anybody wondering how did I drew it digitally. I used graphic tablet, and online program pen (Shift+P) in Figma. But the message is the same like on paper.

Maybe last thing, oh gosh I talk too much. Sometimes you can run into trouble when drawing on paper, and liking it and then using a sterile, one size line on computer, and wondering: “Why is this so odd on computer and on paper so cute.”

Well it’s the lines difference. When you draw with pencil you change the line size with pressure. But on computer some drawing tools don’t have it. It’s getting long but I wanted to help, with being unhappy of the paper to digital transition.

So maybe the advice here would be again, draw till you feel the same vibes, not the same looks. But the feelings of the character digitally.