Design a Fictional Character

Thumbnails: Shapes and Forms

Blocking It In
Start by blocking in the pose and then exaggerate it even further. Drawings tend to naturally stiffen once detail is added and you want to keep your concepts dynamic. use simple shapes at this stage.
Adding a Little Detail to Your Block-in
Rough in the shapes of the head, body and limbs with simple forms. If you are happy with the proportions, continue with the facial expression, hair and any important accoutrement to the character. Remember to keep it simple and your lines light so that you may go over them with any new ideas that come to you during the process.

Always keep your reference books or any sources of inspiration close to you.

Anatomy

Designing the Muscles
Start bringing out the forms of the muscles of the anatomy you want to emphasize. Still keep your lines pretty light so that you aren't married to them. Remember, the muscles are part of the picture too. Design them and keep them attractive.

Refining Your Character

Refining Your Lines and Shapes
Start refining the lines and shapes but keep them varied! Repetitive line quality, shapes and proportions make for a dull illustration. For example, if you start to notice that the size of the hand, arms and head are the same, then change one of them.
Adding More Facial Detail
Start to add more detail to the face without losing the facial expression. The expression is a big part of the character's personality.
Shading
Shade in a little bit of mid tone values to the drawing to give it some dimension but as you are building the layers of your character, do not lose the original dynamic gesture of the pose. The energy of the drawing is just as important as the rendering.
Defining the Character's Costume
Start defining the costume/equipment and always keep in mind the designing of your lines and the designing of your positive and negative shapes. Nothing should be drawn haphazardly.
Vary the textures in your drawing. For example, the textures of the hair, skin, fur, metal, leather etc. should all look different. It makes for a more interesting picture.

Finishing Details and Color

Add color
Use the pencil sketches to inform your placement of color on the creature.

Additional Resources

Dinesh Subramanian

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