INTRO: Believable Characters?
When drawing characters, there are a few elements that make them appear believable. We will focus on 2 of these.
1. Having fundamental anatomy skills
2. The character suits the world/ objects around them
1. Fundimental Anatomy
You don’t need to be highly skilled. Just understanding how to sketch a general body frame is enough.
When in doubt, use 👐Reference 👐. This can be stock photos, looking in a mirror or taking your own photos, using posable figures or digital 3D models.
*human reference is better, I’ll explain why further down*
2. Interactive Objects/ World
For the sake of this tutorial, I will focus on the character interacting with an object rather than a detailed background.
Character Sitting on a Beanbag
We will draw a character sitting on a beanbag. I chose this example because I remember reading a comic where the story was good, but the character didn’t seem to match the world they were in. My attention was pulled away from the story, and I was distracted by how the character didn’t match the world they were in.
Not hate to the comic author, as I realise strict deadlines force comic artists to sacrifice quality for quantity. It’s just that these kinds of details matter.
Examples
Common Mistakes
Here is a rough sketch of what stood out:
The character was well drawn, and most likely using a 3D digital model as a base. However, that can be a trap! Digital 3D models do not respond to physics or gravity the way IRL models do. That’s why it appeared that the character was floating in the air.
Pay attention to interactive objects.
If the character was sitting on a hard object, like a hardback chair, then a straight pose might work.
However, a bean bag is an object made of lots of little beans. When you push into it, one’s body will sink, (sometimes to the very bottom), and the beans will spill outwards.
The posture of the character will sink backwards, as there is no stiff surface to support a straight posture.
Designing the Pose
Let’s design the pose with a quick sketch!
This step is important, as you can plan without wasting time (important for comic authors).
Since we’re skipping drawing the background, we’re going to sketch in a basic plane so we know where the floor is.
Designing the Pose - Anatomy
Beginner Skeleton
When drawing a basic skeleton, you want to include major body parts and movable joints.
a) Free-drawing a Pose
Draw the basic skeleton in the lounging pose you want either using your imagination or using reference.
make sure you sketch in the plane, beanbag shape and light source
Note: references are there to help you, feel free to use it as a base, but then customise your art as you like
I’m using a pose reference photo from Pintrest to help. I’ll put the link below, as I am unable to include it in the CSP article without copyright issues.
b) 3D Models for Poses
It you prefer to use a 3D model as a base, that’s OK. Just make sure you position it to interact with object.
Personally, I prefer not to over depend on the 3D model, as you may make a pose you like, but since the model doesn’t have physics, it tends to end up looking weird and unbalanced.
For example, the left arm looks like it is trying to support the body. However, in reality, it’s just floating in the air. The shoulder is down, meaning that it isn’t carrying any of the body weight. The angle of the arm is very twisted, as if their arm is broken.
BONUS: Exageration
I personally like to draw my characters based on reference rather than depending 100% on the 3D model’s pose. Think of the 3D model like a plastic doll; it can show you the general shape of a body, but not the squishy bits.
For example, when sitting down, all bums are flat because of gravity (yes, even the skinny ones).
While less relevant in this example (because a lot of the body will be hidden in the beanbag), I think it’s an important tip for when you design future poses.
Building the character + the Interactive Objects
Now on another layer, we can build our character. Some of their body will be hidden within the beanbag, but it’s important to sketch it in anyway, to make sure you don’t get weird disconnected body parts.
Red lines show where body weight and contact points are.
The body sinks into the middle base of the bean bag, which pushes the beans out of the centre towards the outside, causing the bean bag to look lumpy and cylindrical in places.
The fabric material and beans bulge around the sinking figure, which makes the folds look like a curved, radiating pattern.
Line Art
Lower the Opacity of your sketch layers, and outline the character with a thinner brush.
BONUS TIP: We drew the structure of the body first before the clothes, that way we can see how the body is layered *=(eg, the T-shirt sleeves have no folds, as the fabric is stretching up the arms.)
Outline the bean bag with a thicker pen nib. Line weight is essential! The folds are tapering down into the centre of the bean bag, as there are denser shadows there.
Re-Position the Character
Unhide your horizon line and light source sketches, and position them with your character.
The horizon line needs to be above the feet and base of the bean bag; otherwise, it will look like the bean bag is flying.
Angle the light beams in the direction you want.
BONUS TIP: The light source doesn’t need to be on the page; it could be off-screen, and you see the beams. I’m drawing it on the page to make it easier to understand.
Colour
Create a new layer underneath your line art and call it flat colours.
Use the paint bucket tool and select the Refer to other layers Sub Tool.
Colour the image based on your preferences. I’m using monochrome shades of orange
Making it 3D with Light & Shadows
a) BASIC Shadows
At this point, you can add basic shadows and highlights, BUT - it would be more believable to know where these shadows are coming from.
b) ADVANCED but Prettier
Remember when we sketched that light source earlier? Well, let’s say it’s a lamp.
The light bulb is the light source, and the beams of light radiate from it until the beams hit a hard surface (our character, bean bag, floor, wall…)
The light has a lamp shade, so one side will be blocked off in the shadows
Radiating Light
Make a new layer with a random colour and lower the opacity. It will function as a mask. We will use this layer to draw where the shadows go.
On the shadow layer, follow the angle of the lamp shade and block out everything outside of the direct light.
On a different layer, make guidelines. These radiating lines start at the source (light bulb) and radiate outwards until they collide with a solid object.
In this example, the light hits the ridge of the knee. The other side of the knee is in shadow.
This can get a bit confusing, so draw the shadows for one element at a time, then erase the radiating guidelines and measure a different area.
Form Shadow
Keep going…
These are called form shadows. They are shadows that define the shape of a form (eg. back sides of the legs.)
Cast Shadow
Cast Shadows are the result of shape blocking the light and casting the shadow on everything on the other side.
Blue Shape - The bent leg will project the shadow.
Radiating Guide Lines - The guide lines go over the ridge of the knee. If the light is blocked, that’s where a shadow goes.
Teal Angle - Start at the lowest object that has contact with the floor (foot). Draw a straight horizontal line across the page away from the light.
Top of Knee - The top of the knee is the highest point of the objecting the light. Follow the directional ray beam to know where the end of the shadow will land.
Cast Shadows on the Environment Too
The light rays hit the peak ridges on the bean bag too, creating pockets of light.
As you add more layers, the shadows merge together.
Making a Mask
When you turn your mask (shadow) layer up to 100% opacity, it can look a bit crazy, but trust the process.
+ \CTRLclickthethumbnailofyourmask.Itwillonlyselecttheshadowshapes.
We are basically cutting out the red shape on to the duplicated colour layer
Right click on the duplicated colour layer and select New Correction Layer ==> Levels Correction
Drag the right slider to the middle and press OK. It will have the image 50% darker.
Clip the Levels Correction layer to the duplicated colour layer. Only the selection on THAT layer will be dark.
Final Result
Here is the final result of our drawing!
Once you get the hang of this technique, you can add more detail such as backgrounds, additional props and highlights.
Please comment and let me know if you enjoyed this tutorial :)
Users who liked this post
Comment