Behind the Scenes: Building A Character Design (Patreon)

Harry is iconic. Any character with messy dark hair, round glasses and a lightning bolt scar is going to read as Harry Potter, but every artist gets to put their own spin on the iconic hero. 

How to Build Your Character Design: 

1. Look at art! 

Especially with fan art and book characters, a general design already exists. Find examples and identify what you like.  What makes it feel like the character? My Harry design is heavily influenced by upthehill. Her design convinced me of desi Harry — specifically, his bell-shaped nose. I love how Maria draw's Harry's nose, so of course I had to steal it for my own design.

2. Find a reference model. 

I cannot say it often enough, use references. Search the general look/ ethnicity until you find a model that looks close enough to your idea. I like shutterstock because each image has a "same model" section that allows you to see every image of that model. 

Avoid professional fashion models. Fashion models are beautiful, but rarely expressive. The blank face beauty shot is lovely, but won't help you learn to draw expressions. You want a model with a range of expressions. Use the "same model" feature to check if your model has photos with different expressions and angles. 

Avoid famous actors. I love a a fancast as much as the next person, but avoid using a recognizable actor. A real face takes people out of the narrative you're building with your art. (Also, all of the comments will be people fighting about the actor/ fancast.)

3. Make it your own. 

Now that you know what you like and you have a model, it's time to make it your own. Avoid using the model's exact face. Not only will this make you a better artist and make the character your own, it avoids any issues in using a person's face without their consent. Have fun with it! 

To make Harry my own, I gave him deep set eyes, thick eyebrows, a bell-shaped nose, a square jaw, dimples, and a more erratic scar. Why? Very simply, because I find those features attractive.

I get asked why all of my characters are hot, and the simple answer is that I draw what I find attractive. The thirst is real. This does not mean drawing conventionally attractive people.This means finding beauty in all kinds of features. I find thick thighs, fupas, rolls, stretch marks, thick eyebrows, dimples, scars, deep set eyes, body hair, and big noses genuinely attractive. 

4. Focus on the nose, hair, chin, and coloring 

Your character doesn't have to be perfect in every angle, it just has to "read" the same. The keystone features are the nose, hair, chin and coloring. If these are consistent, the character will read correctly in most angles. 

5. It's more important for your character to be interesting than "beautiful". 

We remember interesting. Interesting becomes iconic. Add scars, moles, body hair, and unique features to give your characters some character. 

6. Avoid racial stereotypes and white washing. 

Maybe don't give your Jewish character a hooked nose or your Black character overly exaggerated lips. It won't help establish ethnicity, it'll just look racist. Research models of the same ethnicity as your character and identify common features. 

Don't just draw white people with brown skin. Tan skin on white features is lazy and doesn't actually make a character of color (lookin' at you SJM). Don't be afraid of non-white features. 

7. Practice. 

There's no replacement for practice. Eventually, you'll draw the character so many times, you'll do it from memory or even on accident. 

It sounds complicated when laid out in 7 steps, but I promise it's much simpler than it looks, and it's fun. Experiment and play until you make a character that feels right to you. I can't wait to see your versions of Harry and other characters. 

As always, leave questions in the comments. I'm always happy to talk about art!