TUTORIAL // my character design process
Added 2024-03-07 09:38:39 +0000 UTCHello patrons! It's time for this month's tutorial ~ this one is on my character design process! It basically runs you through how I generate ideas for a character based on a simple brief, and how I present the artwork in a professional way. It's less of a technical drawing tutorial, and more of a walkthrough of my process - with lots of tips and advice of course!
If you want more technical tutorials to supplement this one, here are some that might be helpful:
- Constructing faces & expressions - this one runs you through how I construct heads and find helpful reference to convey expressions.
- Constructing a pose - this one shows you which shapes I use to build up a pose sketch.
- Drawing clothes - this one talks about how I come up with clothing ideas from basic shapes & silhouettes.
The brushes I use are:
- MaCaLabs HB Pencil for sketching
- Splatter brush from my own brushset
Here are some additional resources which might be helpful:
- the character prompt generator I used in the video
- Pureref - for collecting & saving your reference images
- Adorkastock - a source of interesting pose reference
As always, here's a cheat sheet with the most essential information about this tutorial. There's also a PDF version with clickable links at the bottom of this post.
And finally, here's the final results of the character design session!
I hope you enjoy this one! The subtitled version is coming up in just a minute! ❤
Comments
I'm glad you found it helpful, Karen!
Loish
2025-06-26 10:19:35 +0000 UTCThank you for this lesson - your art is inspiring on its own, and getting a look into both your working and thought processes is invaluable. The last point you made, about coming up with ideas as you go and not getting stifled just because an idea isn't fully formed from the beginning, is something I tend to forget a lot and always appreciate being reminded of.
KarenB
2025-06-25 15:24:46 +0000 UTCThanks so much!
Loish
2025-01-02 11:59:48 +0000 UTCI loved this lesson! Very much helpful honestly!
Yagruti Maharana
2025-01-02 04:59:15 +0000 UTCThis was incredibly informative. I loved all these sketches too.
Jenakin Skywalker
2024-12-15 21:37:57 +0000 UTCthanks so much :)
Loish
2024-10-17 10:48:27 +0000 UTClove everything about this tutorial and the way it just seems to flow out of you. i know its years and years of experience but u make it look so easy
Jamie Seroogy
2024-10-16 21:27:11 +0000 UTCThis is so valuable!!. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Vakuu Void
2024-09-14 16:01:34 +0000 UTCso glad you find this helfpul! congratulations on your first visdev job!!
Loish
2024-03-18 15:09:40 +0000 UTCso glad you found it helpful, kat!
Loish
2024-03-18 15:08:24 +0000 UTCThis is perfect!! Thank you so so much for sharing your thought process on this. I went through similar steps with the character concepts I'm working on, but it definitely needed to be more streamlined. Thank you!!
Kat Craig
2024-03-14 16:10:33 +0000 UTCI am currently doing my first job on visual development, so this has really helped me focus. I really connect with the way you process everything in your head. My coworkers do it in such a different way so this perspective is very helpful and welcome for my skills. Thank you!
Vizzy
2024-03-13 04:53:48 +0000 UTCSo RAD!!
Alex The Sketchy Ant
2024-03-12 03:35:26 +0000 UTCThis was so unbelievably helpful. I always struggle with getting all my ideas out on paper first.. then get analysis paralysis.. I’m gonna try it this way and just let it flow! Thank you kindly! 🔥🫶🏻✨
Opal Owl Tattoos
2024-03-09 01:14:55 +0000 UTCi'm so honored to hear that!! i'm glad you found it helpful!
Loish
2024-03-08 10:27:53 +0000 UTCi constantly scour the internet for character design processes, tutorials, concepts, classes, etc. and nothing ever seems to really help me find a workflow that makes sense to me but THIS one does…it’s a miracle…
Kiara Ali
2024-03-08 07:30:13 +0000 UTC
