When I'm making a character, I go through a lot of processes, from initial concept, profiling, design, clothing design, turn around, expressions, verbal role play... they all go to making the finished look of a character.
But I find the best way to forge a connection, to really bond with a character is to sketch. Not the formal clean sketches of concept art... but the gritty phone doodle sketches done on impulse in biro at the bottom of your work report, the back of a receipt, the corner of your worksheet at school.
such rough, impulsive art comes straight from inspiration. Sure, it's not going to get you three hundred faves on DeviantArt or be a piece to put in your folio, but it really helps nurture and evolve the muse, and strengthen your connection with your character.
I also find I can fix a lot of niggly problems through doodling. Those problems you KNOW are there but can't quite put your finger on. Usually it's something tiny, like the tilt of an eye, the placement of a mouth, an earring that needs to be there, or maybe a higher collar. Scribbling roughly without much thought can often provide the solution...
The best part is sharing them in the end. I've torn out all the scraps of paper I've sketched on and stuck them into a book. The almost voyeuristic peek into the my art at its most raw seems to appeal far much more then flicking through a folio of finished images. Maybe it's the humour, maybe it's the quirkiness, the failability of slightly wonky, half formed images. Maybe it's just more... human.
Lilly
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