What do you think of my characters?

they are very nice. Do you have a story to go with them?

Well this is an awkward thread to reply to

Um. Maybe if I knew more about them than their names and faces? Also, in general, art should be posted in the Art & Design forum.

Am I the only one who sniggered at 'Wang-Long'?

I think this is going to turn out much like your previous thread: Can you make some descriptions of my character?

Kallithrix said:

Am I the only one who sniggered at 'Wang-Long'?

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didn't notice it till you said it, and now I am laughing

Yes. Wang Long. Snark the Wizard.

Hmm... in the off chance this is legit (since I don't recall you returning to your previous thread, and the name Wang-Long's setting off a few Troll Bells in my head):

Since you seem to like drawing your characters, you might consider visiting an art forum - ConceptArt.org's a good place to post, learn, and grow (if you're willing to accept instruction and criticism.) Otherwise, How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way's a good book to start with if you're interested in pursuing comic-style art.

I write this because, while you've clearly got imagination, art is like writing: both take practice and learning and more practice before you get the ideas out of your head and into the world without significant data loss. As it is, I'm having trouble imagining whole characters out of what I'm seeing here. These images tell me nothing, the names tell me little more.

jacklevin1234 said:

They're going to destroy the evil lord who is called Sentinel. He's going to change the Earth to his world of chaos.

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These drawings and this simple, cliche description reminds me of myself when I was relatively young. No offense just, just interesting to be older.

But, names and drawings is nothing to go by. And generic bad guy destroying everthing is nothing to judge a character by either. Seen Gladiator by chance? Theres a lot more to Commodus that "I want to rule!" Theres psychological reasons.

jacklevin1234 said:

They're going to destroy the evil lord who is called Sentinel. He's going to change the Earth to his world of chaos.

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So, get writing! Make those pictures into characters that come alive on the page. If you want to write, those are the characters you need to worry about, the ones on the page (though I know drawing them helps some writers)

Write, write that pesky dark lord out of existence, write like your face is on fire.

Feel it, write it. Do it

hi Jack.

I THINK you should write, as drawings can be nice to help get your head straight (if you can draw; I can't) but they don't make a book, even if you're writing comics.


I SUSPECT you're tugging our love-bits here, because, well, you dropped a similar post (already linked) and never, you know....came back, participated, etc.

I hope I am wrong about #2.

It's a start, jacklevin, a very good start, and one that puts you ahead of writers who struggle to come up with a workable idea of their characters' physical appearance.

Step number two might be to write a little bit of dialogue between two of those characters, just to see how things go for you. Are they still alive in your imagination? Can you still work with them?

Then maybe you can decide for yourself what step three might be and so on.

Eventually, you'll want to decide what the main character(s) want and what series of things will make that nearly impossible to achieve...and then you're on your way!

I look forward to seeing your first chapter in SYW when that glorious day arrives.

Aren't there any women in this world?

Those sound like characters I would like to hear more of. Please do keep us posted on your progress, OK?

One thing: Julius is a Roman name, not a Greek one. I recommend either changing the name to something Greek (like "Epaminondas") or making it a Roman statue.

This is a writer's board. Why do you keep showing us drawings?

I think nothing of your characters because one sentence and a sketch is not enough for me to try to form an opinion with.

I also think, on a tangentially-related subject, that needing the validation of others is a bad thing for an artist. It makes criticism sting too much, and that can lead to the artist giving up in dejection--which is not a good thing, because art has value to the artist even in the absence of an audience.

Also, seeking validation from others is a gratification we sometimes pursue instead of creating more art, i.e. it can be a form of procrastination.

When you ask us, "What do you think of my characters?", you should first ask yourself whether you genuinely want feedback or are fishing for compliments. If it's the latter, then avoid asking the question, because we're not here to pat your head, and it's a bad habit to allow your happiness to hinge on the opinions of strangers. (For starters, you can't trust them with your happiness. They won't care about it as much as you do.)

Okay, if you want feedback on written characters then WRITE something about these characters.

A drawing, a name and a description mean nothing. SHOW me them in action. Tell me about them. Let me see who they are.

I woulld advise against a generic native American character wearing war paint and a headband with a feather in it. That's a land mine.

jack, how old are you?

jacklevin1234 said:

Why do you ask?

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You seem... younger than perhaps the average poster on here...

jacklevin1234 said:

Why do you ask?

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I think Quick asks because some of your posts seem to be from someone quite young who is struggling a bit with elements of writing, namely character, which tends to suggest that the writer is younger and doesn't know enough of human nature / hasn't experienced enough to fully be able to express characterization.