the art of life: character design

wonder | wander | women have a new project! It's good to get back into drawing for comics again. Of course every project, especially one that tells a story, naturally comes with a slew of research.

Waves Under Blackfriars Bridge is set in London, focusing on a few central neighbourhoods - particularly the busy city areas around some of London's most famous museums. The story revolves around a brother and sister, and lately we've been busy working on the sister's character design.

What is character design? Digital design magazine CGSpectrum defines it as "visually defining a character's physical appearance, personality, behaviour, and aesthetic". Can you really put all those things in a drawing?

The best art starts with observation. Can you learn something about a person just by looking at them? Can we infer a person's story from the shoes or clothes they wear, from the way they move or their facial expressions?

We can certainly try. Many museums around London are full of students busily copying the art of the masters, but it's just as worthwhile to observe the visitors to the museum and try to capture them on paper. Who looks excited and who looks bored? How many people are taking pictures? Are there any interesting outfits? Try copying the poses and expressions as closely as possible.

When you have a feel for how characters stand, move and gesture, it's easier to create a character of your own. I started with simple shapes doodled in blue: more like bubbles, stick figures or artist dummies than a full human.

Then I filled in the stick figures and shapes with details based on the story I created for the character: a school uniform, school shoes, socks or leg warmers, and windblown hair in different lengths. I tried to put a little personality and energy into the figures: clutching a bag, crossing arms, planting feet. 

And there it is, a character! Or at least, the draft of one. After this stage comes refining, adding textures, and many other gradual steps, but this is the important foundational stage, where design and story come together and form a framework for the rest of the process.

From here on the character is your actor, to play with and set scenes as you want. This is where the story can finally begin!