In my game there will be 4 characters, the player character and 3 NPCs. I am going to start with the player character. As my game is based around my memory of neing on holiday as a child the player character is going to be a child.
Before I started drawing I conducted reseqarch into how child and teen characters are drawn using a book called The Fundamentals of Character Design.
From this book there are certain characteristics that lets the viewer know the character is a child
- Usually a very large head compared to the body.
- facial features are located towards the lower part of the face and are close together.
- Their eyes are large.
- Clothing and body language play a big role too.
- As they grow up the head elongates and facial features drift apart.
After my research I decided to begin with some warmup 1 minute sketches. I do not have any defined traits or features yet so I kept everything loose this was just to feel a bit more comfortable drawing child characters.
After I had practised drawing children I started on the characters personality.
She is very much a character in her own right despite the fact that the player controls her, so instead of the player projecting whatever they want to on her she needs to have an engaging personality that lets the player empathise and connect with her.
As she is a child she will have more cheeky responses to NPC’s not out of malice but just because hse is a kid.
Reference Board
For the reference board I began with items that I owned when I was a child, such as tops with eyelet lace and embroidered denim shorts. I also looked at how kids are commonly drawn, a lot of these are with chunky crayon textured brushes. As her bag will be the players inventoryI also researched those so I could begin to build up the idea of her outfit.
For the pencil sketches I began with figuring out the shapes I will use. One shape for the body gave the impression it was of a much younger child so I broke it dwon into two shapes – a bean for the torso and a ball for the hips, I played around with some poses of these shapes I really liked it. I then focused on drawing the different elements in my reference board and trying out different facial features and hair styles.
To create the final sketch design in Ibis Paint X I looked over my pencil sketches and chose the elements I liked best. For the emboidery on the shorts I settled on a flower and a rainbow on opposite sides this was fun to evsion in 3D when drawing the turnarounds. I initially was going to have her wear a ponytail but for the silhouette pigtails were more recognisable.
For the colour combinations I played around with different main colours such as pink, green orange and blue. There were elements of each palette that I liked so after seeking feedback I chose number four but darkened the pink as it clashed with the hair and incorporated green elements seen in her shoes and bag.
Final Character Design
I am not very satisfied with the final drawing as I struggled to draw the 3/4 angle of her face but I am pleased with her design elements she has enough personality and things for players to grow attatched too and like.
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