Wrote this for a friend who was asking me, but figured it'd be useful to share for others who are intimidated to start with.
This is my general approach/methodology for making characters, especially for larger projects like video games.
Clearly it's not perfect and this is just what works for me, but I hope it helps some of you 💕
Core Concept / Idea
Brief
- How would you describe them in a single sentence bio
Reference
- What inspirations do you have for them
- Build a mood board
- What other characters like them already exist
- How are they similar to those characters
- How are they different
Characterization
- Who are they
- What drives them
- Where do they exist
- How do they solve problems
Tropes and Shapes
- What traits do they exhibit that have common visual associations?
- (ie. Studious characters often have glasses or powerful characters are tall)
- What is the shape of their silhouette
- How would they dress
- Is their any significance to their colour scheme
- (I just like those colours is good enough)
Actually Drawing
Art stuff
- Start actually drawing once you can answer most of the above with at least a word or two
- At this point you should have a good framework that'll make the sketching easier to approach
- It's unlikely you'll get the design good on the first try so Iteration is key!
- Be sure to take breaks between each iteration
- When you get frustrated or find yourself futzing with small details, YOU'RE DONE! Don't try to force yourself to keep working on it after that, however the character is that's them for now!
- You can always come back later to refine them when you're not going to overwork them!


