Pushing Character Design

I was recently taught an important lesson by my illustration teacher. He told me that in order to give my cast of characters more diversity, I need to push each of their designs a little further. They have aspects that set them apart from one another, and I need to take those and run with them.

Character design is important, independent from the skill level an artist has at illustrating people. I own one volume of The Gentlemen’s Alliance by Arina Tanemura. If you’ve read any of this manga, you know that her art is gorgeous. She has a fantastic style, flow and her use of screen tones is beautiful. However, there were times while reading where I would get characters mixed up. The main character and her best friend look incredibly similar when they make certain expressions, as do the main character’s love interest and her little brother.

Character Design- Too Similar?
Two very similar Looking characters from The Gentlemen’s Alliance

I loved her art, but needing to reread a certain passage or compare characters to figure out what’s going on was jarring.

 

Distinct Characters

A series that is phenomenal at character design is the Avatar series. While watching Legend of Korra with my husband, it was fun to look at Mako and Bolin, and observe just how different they are. Though they are brothers, their eyes, nose, jaw, hair, and especially their body shape are very different. If Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino could make two brothers look so different, then we know that we have tons of room to push our characters to look more unique.

Great character Design- Mako and Bolin
For brothers, Mako and Bolin look very different.

 

My Challenge: Redesign Characters that are too Similar

In order to give my cast of characters more visual power, I need to make each more dynamic and unique from the others. Mango is lithe and thin, whereas Kay is a little broader. I need to make Kay broader and Mango lither. What sets Kaipo apart is his child-like features. I need to make him even more childlike, especially in his face. I’ve already pushed Araya when I chose to broaden her hips, so now I just need to work with her outfit.

I have a long way to go, but I’m going to keep making breakthroughs, because that’s one of the joys and adventures of being an artist. I hope that those of you who are working with characters you love will keep working until you have the perfect character designs as well.