21-Draw-Illustrators-Guidebook-vol-2-ebook-(2021)

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS
When a client or studio hires a character
designer, they’re not simply choosing based
on technical skill, they’re also looking for an
artist that can think through the process.
Consequently, a strong portfolio needs to
provide insight into your conceptual process.
Any good design starts from an artist
brief or a good understanding of who
the character is meant to be in the story.
Here is an example of a brief I created for a
personal project designing characters for a
hypothetical Dungeon & Dragons campaign:
A gnome-like wizard whose magic is nature
based. She is a friendly and nurturing
character who is devoted to seeking
knowledge about magic from sources near
and far.
In my mind, sketches and thumbnails
help to pull ideas from your brain so you
can place them onto the canvas. They
only need to communicate your ideas
effectively, so sketches for my personal
projects are pretty rough because I’m the
only one who needs to see them. Sketches
for clients are usually a bit neater because I
need to be sure they can see what I have in
mind. Once I’ve narrowed my ideas down
to a concept I really like, I start to focus in
on the details.
Over the next few pages is the evolution
of a character from sketch to final design.
See if you can tell what design choices were
made in order to better communicate the
character as she was described in the brief.
Step 1: Thumbnail sketches
FUNDAMENTALS OF CHARACTER DESIGN
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