Safari an OReilly Media Company. - Draw With Jazza - Creating Characters: Fun and Easy Guide to Drawing Cartoons and Comics

Although it doesnt involve putting pen to paper, you might be surprised to learn that the discovery stage of character design is just as important as the drawing. Its in the discovery stage that a solid foundation is created.

Theres no harm in sketching out your ideas to keep your passion flowing, but at the very start of this journey, youve got to make sure you know where youre going. As artists, we can get pretty excited, and sometimes that emotion can make us race ahead without taking the time to make sure were not creating something that has already been done, or doing something that means well have to come right back to the drawing board later!

Lets say, for example, that you want to invent a comic book character. Some people might assume that you would begin with sketches and drawings, but many potential problems arise if you skip the discovery stage. The visual presentation of your character should reflect the characters personality and history, so before drawing anything, those things need to be outlined. Who is this character? What are his or her motives, loves and hates? Where is the character from? What is it like in that world?

Remember, there are zillions of comic book characters out there, and most of them arent very popular. So if youre creating a character for a comic book series, and you want your character to stand out from the crowd, there are questions youll want to ask yourself. For instance, are there characters out there already that are similar to the one you want to make? What makes a comic book character popular? What types of people will most likely enjoy the story youre designing your character for?

All of these questions (and any others you think up) are important to explore as you set out to design a character that will make a lasting impression on your audience!

DRAW WITH JAZZA
CREATING
CHARACTERS

FUN AND EASY GUIDE TO DRAWING CARTOONS AND COMICS

JOSIAH JAZZA BROOKS

CINCINNATI, OHIO

impact-books.com

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CONTENTS

WHAT YOU NEED

Required

Pencil (mechanical pencil recommended)

Pencil lead (if using a mechanical pencil)

Sharpener (if using a traditional pencil)

Eraser (kneaded or white plastic recommended)

Paper

Recommended

Non-Photo Blue or other colored pencil

Ink pen or fineliner pen

Ruler

Coloring tools (markers, colored pencils, etc.)

Fun but Optional

Digital software (such as Adobe Photoshop)

Digital tablet (such as Wacom)

DEDICATION

To my incredible wife, for your seemingly endless patience, love and support. And to my beautiful first-born son, the best character Ive ever helped create!

INTRODUCTION

You see them every day on television, the big screen, T-shirts, cereal boxes, books and more, in endless styles and themes. Some of them are so familiar, or are thought of so fondly, that they have become a part of our passions, hobbies and everyday lives. Characters, from Batman and Superman to the simple Reddit cartoon character, or from Mickey Mouse to the Balrog in The Fellowship of the Ring, were created through many hours of unseen planning, thinking, experimenting and revising. They were created using a method that I refer to as The Design Process.

There are many how-to-draw books out there that walk the reader step-by-step through drawing cool characters, and while this book does offer drawing tips and ideas, its primary purpose is to teach you how to effectively invent your own characters by applying the steps of the design process.

This process can be approached formally, but it can also happen naturally, without you realizing it. There are many variations of this process, and while the steps may be called by different names, the basic approach is always the same.

This book will demonstrate these steps for you in a simple, easy-to-apply method, and show you how to use them to effectively design your own characters for comic books, cartoons and more.

Lets get started!

OVERVIEW OF THE DESIGN PROCESS

As mentioned in the introduction, the design process has been explained in many different ways and used for a variety of applications. Were going to keep it as simple as possible and use the four Ds:

1. Discover: The exploration of ideas, themes and visual styles.
2. Design: Loose play with brainstorm sketches.
3. Develop: Refinement of ideas and styles by narrowing down visual elements and testing the design for expected applications.
4. Deliver: Creation of finished art as polished concept art, character turnarounds, expression sheets and more.

By using these four steps, we can take an idea from concept to finished art with confidence. Through the design process, we create many ideas of what our character could look like, and then we narrow down and refine these designs using the process of elimination, until we are left with only one design.

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS

Throughout this book well explore the intricacies of the design process. It should be noted that this process is versatile and can be applied to many creative fields. In fact, if you were to look around and pick something in the rooma piece of furniture, a book, a toy, an item of clothing or a piece of technologyyou can be certain that it has gone through the design process, in one form or another.