Drawing Your Characters

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Ixtila

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I've done this. I have a collection of my sketches on deviantArt (same username). But I'm no artist. :p Someone mentioned the Sims 3 - yes I've done that. I actually created all my characters in the Sims 2, then when I upgraded I couldn't use them anymore - heartbreaking! Now I've discovered a great 3D modelling program that's still in beta. It's good for faces but the hair and clothing is really basic so I have to find them elsewhere and build a collage in photoshop.
 

Tezzirax

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This is Captain Falraan, a character from my Gifts of Vorallon trilogy. She's not finished yet... What I have here is the progress after about seven hours. Painted in Photoshop.

VP01_Falraan04.jpg


I wasn't going to pour this much work into the portrait initially, but she's coming alive in my mind with each pixel I lay down.
 
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Raindrop

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Great job with the shading (and I'm not just talking about the obvious!). I love your use of bold colours, too.
 

Tezzirax

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Great job with the shading (and I'm not just talking about the obvious!). I love your use of bold colours, too.

Thank you. She's looking better as I get more time spent on painting her. I am posting daily updates to my blog.

Looks good tezzirax, but how is her sword hanging onto her, or is she holding onto it from behind some way?

She'll have a sword belt before the painting is complete. I painted over my sketched in details when I blocked in her dress and corset. This also removed her right hand from her hip, and now it looks like her arm is going behind her back.

I will post an image of Captain Falraan again when she's complete, daily updates are going up on my blog.
 

Katallina

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When I start a new series I often go to Deviant Art and hire people to do character sketches / designs for me. I draw decently on paper, but not on a PC, and I don't have a way to get drawings on here. I often picture my fantasy series in anime form so this works really well for me.

On the other hand, when I write my contemporary romance stuff I try to find stock art that matches the characters instead, since that works better when trying to picture them.
 

Rachel Udin

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I updated Rapunzel a while back.

http://goldsheep.deviantart.com/art/Rapunzel-6-347877492

Mostly done in Painter. I still want to refine the roses a bit more. The largest size you can see I hand painted the embroidery stitch by stitch too. I also did some research into embroidery to make sure it was consistent with her style of dress.

Still technically not my character, but I'm kinda still working on the other book. And I've drawn those characters already.
 

Kitty27

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I'm just here to admire and seethe with intense jealousy.

I can't draw to save my life:cry:
 

sunandshadow

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I'm just here to admire and seethe with intense jealousy.

I can't draw to save my life:cry:
Have you tried making your characters in a Sims game, as mentioned earlier in the thread? The Sims2 Bodyshop is free as far as I know, though I'm not sure if it requires you to have the base game installed.
 

pixydust

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That's awesome, Rachel! I'm on DA, too, I'll have to watch you! :D I'm thepix on there: http://thepix.deviantart.com

I've done bunches of character stuff for my last ms but when I did my last rewrite I changed several physical traits, so they turned out to be bunk....lol. But they were fun for the brainstorming.

My main guy stayed pretty much the same, though his eyes changed color.

Main character went from this:

Link: http://thepix.deviantart.com/art/Deception-78162975

to this:

82bb4bdc353c9775c05b6413359ea2f3-d5u1y18.jpg


And my male characters are here:

Marec: http://thepix.deviantart.com/art/Desire-78554036

Colm: http://thepix.deviantart.com/art/Decadence-78804422

:)
 
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Dragonwriter

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A friend and artist (who I later hired to do the covers on both my self-published books) did this one for me, unsolicited, several years back and sent it to me. I have it framed and it hangs next to my desk. This is one of my main characters (and my favorite) from my various novels.

Sorry about the quality--took it from an odd angle with my iPhone.

drstone.jpg
 

Rachel Udin

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Wa~ Dragonwriter, I see why you did.

Pixy--that account has all sorts of odd things on it. (I put up embroidery, dress designs, jewelry, photography, flash animation, photo manips, digital painting, 3D models, actions, fractals, etc. The range is kinda weird and wide too.) =P I do have the racheludin.deviantart.com account as well which is more normal.

I like the color use in the image of your character--well done.
 
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Ixtila

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Have you tried making your characters in a Sims game, as mentioned earlier in the thread? The Sims2 Bodyshop is free as far as I know, though I'm not sure if it requires you to have the base game installed.

I love the sims for that reason, but sims3 has no bodyshop, which is really disappointing.

I now use a program called makehuman, which is in beta release and the characters you create are royalty free. The only downside is that the hair and clothing are limited, as are the posing options and you can't export an image, you have to take a screenshot of the hairless head and then collage in photoshop using other images to complete your character. But for people who have trouble drawing faces it's awesome as a first stop tool. Check my avatar - it's a makehuman face loosely based on me, with my own hair edited on. :)
 

CheG

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I draw my characters once in awhile. For the most part- even though I CAN draw- I like to leave them in my imagination because I can't always draw them the way I see them in my head.

I also think it depends on the project. My currant MG book actually began as a pair of rubber stamps I drew for a rubber stamp company that publishes stamps of my work (and lots of other people too). I liked them so much they ended up with a book!
 

StormChord

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I draw all my characters, because it really helps me flesh them out. Sometimes I'll draw someone with a particular facial expression, then realize afterwards that it establishes something entirely new about them that works really well. I do it so much I think that my story actually needs to be a comic book in order to do it right.

It's also probably because I doodle and draw compulsively now. Half the times I have an idea, I'll run to my sketchbook or tablet and spend five hours drawing it. I have had trouble focusing in class because I really need to draw this one idea before I forget it.

I've never considered having someone else draw my work for me. It seems… wrong, somehow, which is definitely a 'just me' thing, since other people do it all the time.
 

scifi_writer

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When I do scifi or supernatural, I draw my aliens/creatures. I don't draw any humans. I also sketch out ships and space stations and draw maps. It help me organize. And it's all pretty shoddy. Nothing I would would use in an appendix or anything.
 

Rachel Udin

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nukduandjungtaeyong.jpg


Working on coloring that one right now into a more realistic style.

It's my next project if I ever get through my current project.

It's about a court lady that works in the sewing department of the Joseon palace (As shown) who is really short. She has a sister that shamefully left for the mudang after getting the mudang disease, leaving her husband.

She finds that people are getting killed in the palace using embroidery and various sigils. Mudang and the entire sewing department are blamed for the deaths.

So she must work with the guy on your right to solve the mystery. However, falling in love with him isn't an option since palace ladies are banned from falling in love.

Publishing chances if I get it written? Slim, I think. But I think it would be a lot of fun to write. I've made hanbok and done embroidery...

I'm still brewing the story a little, trying to figure out who would want all those people dead. Woman centric to make up for the fact that the majority of writing from historic times about women were done by men who thought that all the court ladies wanted was to sleep with the King. --;; (gutter)
 
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