Critique Welcome - Character Designs for Comic
-
Hello everyone,
I've been working on this pair of character designs for a comic project. They are the two protagonists. I just wrapped up the "Breathing Life into your Character Designs" class last month, and picked up a few tips. I'm also learning how to draw and ink on my iPad in Procreate. Last time I painted digitally was, say.. 2013? So there's been some catching up to do
I'm also trying to get faster. These character boards took me about 3 weeks to finish.I'm trying to draw consistent characters from different angles and feature different expressions. Any feedback is welcome, no matter how honest or critical.
Thank you!!
Erich von Hasseln
https://ashcop-illustration.carbonmade.com/ -
I don’t have any critiques to offer. Sorry, looks great to me! Really impressed with how consistent the characters look, which is what I am struggling with. I also am hoping to start making a comic and have been in the conceptual/writing/brainstorming phase. I’m having a hard time keeping characters consistent. What tips or resources or classes have you found helpful for you in this regard?
-
@Eelwick I agree with the previous comment. I like your designs and just wanted to share this.
-
@Daniel-Grissom Thank you for your feedback!
The class I took here on SVS, "Breathing Life into your Character Designs" was helpful in all aspects of character design. For making characters consistent, I found it helpful to simplify them into unique, easily repeatable shapes. (Round head, square torso, triangular chin, etc.) The SVS class also talked about designing characters with shapes and how that translates into how they are perceived by the reader.
For me, It was helpful to start with silhouettes. This helps to define characters by their shapes. As silhouettes I saw areas where I could make my character more unique or more easily understood (for instance, giving 'Jacob' an oversized coat. Only after I nailed the shape then added details. The whole idea is to work big to small.
Otherwise, I think it takes practice, lots of sketching the same character over and over from lots of different viewpoints. There are many examples out there of animators making boards for each character in a film, how they look in different poses, with different expressions, at different perspectives. They are the real masters. Think about having to draw a character hundreds and hundreds of times!
If you're working on a long narrative, I don't think it's uncommon to go back and redo the first pages once you've warmed up and completed the others. If you look at serial comics like Calvin and Hobbes, you can see how Bill Waterson improved his characters over the course of the comic's printing. You don't have to worry about getting the characters right, right away.
By the way, If you are looking for more resources on writing and drawing comics I found alot of help on the subreddit r/ComicBookCollabs
-
@Dima-Eichhorn Thank you!
-
I think they look pretty good to me, but I'd work on Marcella's features a bit more. Her facial structure looks like a boy more than a girl, especially in the 3/4 and frontal views. Maybe even just adding more of an eye line on the top of her eye lid might help? Also the lips look different sizes in the different poses. Jacob looks much more cohesive through all the different poses.
-
Okay, first off I love your rendering style, and look forward to seeing a full comic of it! Are you planning on doing it full colour, or in B&W?
As for crits, I noticed that your gestures are a bit on the stiff side, which I find doesn't convey motion as well as if you exaggerate the gesture. I tried a draw over to show what I mean.
A good resource for getting that exaggerated effect is How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema.
P.S. I'm happy that you correctly drew the pistol with the empty clip :). Forgetting those little details can pull me out of a story.
