1. Introduction

What up folks! I'm LazyStudio and I'll be doing a tutorial on building a combat character! This will go over the design process as well as other details during that process to really help you sell your designs. Combat is a very prominent part of my comic and something I think of deeply when it comes to creating characters.

 

This tutorial may be a bit different then what you're used to. I go in depth about ideas and concepts more then teach you the basics of artwork. You'll learn how to properly setup and prepare for the design process. I go in depth on how to genuinely think about characters and how they'll work in combat as well as how they'll work in your comic or story. These kind of concepts and guidelines are things I've picked up over the years and I hope they help you.

 

You can find the video link below if you'd prefer that version and also I talk a bit more there about everything in a bit more detail. Also below you can follow the link to KiwiPunchComic.com and enjoy the first chapter! Always free to read for everyone. Mature rating for the comic though, so viewer discretion advised. (Violence, Drugs, and Language)

2. TIPS Video

3. Setting Up Your Concept

Here is where it all begins. I will do a little writing or setup some references in a reference page to really start brainstorming my ideas. I use PureRef here on a second monitor and get all my references saved together for the designing process. Sometimes you don't need to follow through with an entire page but for this design I built a small one as an example. This program is free and very useful but not neccesary for your workflow. You can just save images or compile them in a jpg if you like.

A) World

 

This is probably the most important part about designing a character. What world are they a part of? Ninjas, pirates, future, past, high fantasy, space? These are things that can change your designs drastically. For this example, we'll be using the world of Kiwi Punch. My comic takes place in a crime ridden city and these characters are part of a combat sports team. Anthropomorphic creatures replace humans in this world. Everything is somewhat the same as normal society here. Guns, swords, and super strength are common place as well. With these world traits in mind, it really sets you on a distinct path with characters. This city specificially is predominantly mammals as well so that will play into my choice of animal to use. Since I've already picked the animals for these characters you can see them in my reference page I've setup along with some athletic references.

 

B) Story

 

Next up we have story. This is where things start being built up and we get the ideas for how these characters will be developed. The sport this team plays is basically capture the flag, but much more violent. Blunt weapons are allowed and randomly scattered through the arena. You receive points by capture their flag and returning it to your base. Only five players are allowed on the field at once. There are a few more rules but we won't get into that as it doesn't pertain to these designs right now. Our main characters end up having to compete in one of these matches in order to make some money. This team however, is actually one of the top ranking teams in the pro circuit and our main characters are taking them on in hopes of generating even more money. So building up these characters to give a professional athlete look is very big. I've already scripted their interactions with the MC's and have their stories written so for me, this won't be as complicated.

 

When you're working from scratch on a character though, no matter the world or story, you need to have a general personality set up for them before hand. They can have quirks or traits that you can add to their design to help sell their character. These kind of things can range from physical handicaps, scars, color mutations, a nervous habit such as chewing, or even emotional/mental characteristics like a superiority complex. Building a character's personality before hand will really help guide you on what they'd wear, use in combat and how they'd handle said combat. For example, the hyena we'll be creating is female to male trans. This means physically we need to have some personality showing such as how their build is. They're still the vice captain of the team and are extremely strong and brawly so I want the build to reflect both their physical capabilities and life choices. Feminine features but still a bit in between both masculine and feminine. Then we sprinkle in some personality traits on top of that to give them depth. Competitive, a little harsh, blunt, and maybe some quirky quips they'll toss around to opponents. Even that out with some nicer traits next. Maybe they talk a lot of crap, but never really about someone's personality, only about their skills at the sport. This, though small, can impact how a character's design is changed. Maybe they never use a sharp weapon? Maybe they are defensive characters because they're a bit on the nicer side and don't like to hurt others? This is where story really affects design.

C) Shape

So you want to have a dominant, scary character but don't want them to have that usual big bad wolf look? This is where playing with shapes can come in handy. For these characters I've somewhat decided on their animals already based on their personalities and role in the story. However, their actualy abilities and combat expertise are influenced by this choice as well. This is something that makes a very big impact on the design concept. If you have a high fantasy elf in large hulking armor, the first instance you'll give is that their a tank, bruiser or something like that. This of course doesn't have to always be the case, but this is the original vibe that you will give off with that character. That first scene where they show up should really show a lot of the character without having to explain muc. This is what can make or break a design.

	During my design, you'll see me use this moose to play with the usual meta that is generally followed. Sure he's going to be huge and tall, but what i'm going for is a more calm and sturdy feel. He's the captain, but also the defensive specialist who defends the flag. We want his shape to really be large, long and intimidating for someone trying to get by him. However his personality is pretty tame and polite when not in a match. So thinking of shapes ahead of time can really help your work flow here. 

 

D) Function

So function is equally important to these other concepts. It's not always necessary depending on your style, but functionality can help with designing details and picking weapons or the outfit. What is the function of the character? What's their purpose? Are they defensive, offensive and so on. If they are wielding a big weapon, do they have room to swing it? Do they have some way to hold it while resting? Do their belts make sense and are functional for that mage or support character? When i'm creating a character from scratch, having a few of these things in mind leads me where I want to go. I'll even get some references of outfits, clothing or gear setup in order to help influence my design. For this one we have jerseys saved since this is a team and they need to have functional yet cohesive outfits.

 

4. Design Process

Once you've gotten your basic concepts prepared, it's time to start your design process. The key element I focus on during this stage is just getting something down on paper. What you throw down will not always be your final design. Sometimes it may take quite a few attempts to get something you feel is fitting.

I start out with some bases that I've already prepared. These are just some general body shapes with some 3/4 poses that I use when doing quick designs. I highly recommend having these set up as materials as it can save you a lot of time and help you streamline your process. These shouldn't be overused for customers or similiar situations, however they're amazing for what we're doing here which is just getting some designs fleshed out. When I create my designs, I usually use them as character sheets for my comic. I toss them into my character reference page, thus saving a lot of time that I'd use looking over other images for their designs or details. This also is great to have on the side of your work area so you can refer back quickly when doing toning. That's the reason I leave most of my character sheets colorless. 

 

Moving onto my actual design process now. I'm just fleshing out some basic shapes. Since I've already built my world for this comic and the characters are scripted, we have a general idea of each one's personality. We also have an idea of what mammal we'll be using for these characters, however that can sometimes change while in the middle of a design for me. Here I've decided on a moose for the captain. The captain is a laid back character who isn't very imposing on others. He'll have a slight slouch to him to help sell that idea. These are little things that can really help your design out. Posture plays a big part of expressing body language.

Next up we have the hyena. This is the vice captain of the team and they're very brawly. So I'm looking to express that in their design. The hair, outfit, and overall physical build need to show that clearly so a reader can understand the design quickly. Especially for characters like these who won't have much backstory.

Lastly we shape out the rabbit. He's te superstar of the team and utilizes speed to win the matches by scoring. He'll have a very flashy personality and during the shaping I had the idea to have him be an amputee. It wouldn't affect his main function which was to be the flashy point scorer since he only needs one hand for the flag. This also gives him more believability with his personality since he would be very popular for being a superstar even with his physical handicap. This also could come into play when combat started and even add to some story depth later in the comic.

5. Slamming Down Some Details

So we have the general shapes done for our characters. Next up we'll be playing around with some details. As you can see I like to hop around between my designs. When I'm working with a team or group of characters who will be seen with eachother a lot, I like to design them together. Hopping around keeps me looking at things with different perspectives. This can really help make sure your characters aren't too similiar. Sometimes you are after a cohesive look and sometimes you aren't, it really depends on the story or function of these characters. 

 

Since these characters are a team, I do want some cohesion when I get to the outfits. I have some ideas in mind but right now my main focus is the hair. Hair is a big part of my design process as it really can give personality without even having to add explanations through dialogue of how they act. So i will play around with hair styles quite a bit til I find something that feels right. It's important to have a broad reference folder of hairstyles as well. I always recommend having dozens if not hundreds of hairstyles from all over the world saved away somewhere. 

 

Next I hop into fleshing out the rabbit. The moose and hyena have some general things that make them stand out and give their designs some weight, but the rabbit has a pretty normal build. So i want to really sell the flashy bit with his clothing here. I go for a track star sort of look with the outfit. Lean, tight and free to give him movement. These kind of details are really important when it comes to functionality for me. I used to bboy or breakdance and the biggest issue for me was always mobility so I definitely take time to make sure things would make sense or are comfortable for characters who are flexible or plan on moving around a lot.  We tighten up some of these designs on the rabbit now, finalizing some details, giving him some cheesy lightning bolts to help sell his design and then finishing it off with a matching haircut! I start detailing his outfit a bit, but soon you'll see I really don't have a logo design in mind for these jerseys.

 

6. Creating Re-Usable Materials

I actually came up with this name on the spot for the team. Since their owner is a major part of the story, I wanted to incorporate his love for music somehow. Sound bites happened to pop up in my head and I thought it was pretty clever. The owner actually shows up in the comic later on as one of the major antagonists. I won't get too intricate on my design process for this logo, but overall I just wanted to keep it sporty and have strong colors. I use the outline function in the layer properties tab to give a border and we're ready to save it as a material!

 

The importance of saving materials for future use cannot be stressed enough. Make use of this function! I knew coming into this design that I'd be using it on multiple jerseys, fan shirts in the crowd or on billboards in the comic. So with that in mind, I decided to take the time to fully flesh this out and save it as a material. Doing this with different things can really save you a lot of time, especially with comics. 

 

To make an image material, simply select what you'd like to use and go to Edit, Register Material, and click image. From here you can name your material and also add it to a folder. I keep all my comic materials in one folder though having sub folders may be necessary as your material count starts to grow just for the sake of organization.

7. Outfits, Clothing and Gear

So we have our logos to slam onto our jerseys. I get those laid down and shaped using the transform tool. If you want to free transform something quickly, hold CTRL and drag it in a direction. Next I start laying down some blacks. For comics it's important to use black for darker colors and to add some contrast to outfits. You can use white lines to show details if you need to or just leave it a solid black. Some artists may just use a dark value to represent black as well. This just comes down to personal preference but do keep in mind, the colors of an outfit will affect the shape and vibe the character gives off.

 

When creating outfits for characters, it can be really fun to get carried away. I have somewhat realistic designs for the characters in this comic but I have dabbled in high fantasy and other themes as well. What always matters to me though is the design elements. Does it give off a certain look? Does it sell a design? Does it give the character personality? These are all things you should think about during the process. Since these are combative characters, the final look really needs to depict three things here:

 

- Their fighting style

- Their role on the team

- Their personality

 

These vary depending on the character of course but for these, it's what matters most. Gear, equipment, and weapons are also big factors and follow the same rules. The more time you can save explaining a character in a comic, the better. Sometimes you do want an air of mystery around someone and those are of course important to have, but since these three will not be making appearances later in the story, I need to have clear designs that really make sense. In these capture the flag matches, weapons are allowed but are scattered through the arena. So having specified weapons can be tricky. The mace that the hyena uses is definitely going to play a big part in their design since they're the brawler. It'll be a highlight of the character and the crowd knows when they manage to grab it that it's game over most the time. This is great for story building and can even build tension. Will they get the mace? If they do, will the main characters be able to defeat them? This is why designing and thinking ahead can really change dynamics. 

8. Toning

I'll keep this section brief as it may or may not apply to you and your design process. Some people leave things black and white, some may do color. For these designs, I do not expect them to ever be in color unless I do a color spread, digital wallpaper, or a poster. When that time comes I can easily come back and color this though. For toning, I have a few percent values ready and saved in my color set. You can edit your color set to fit your needs by selecting a color and right clicking a color block. You can replace the color there and have a nice color set ready for use!

 

For my comic, I keep it to 3 levels of grey:

 

-75%

-50%

-35%

 

I have these character sheets saved in a reference page that I keep up on a second monitor so I can streamline my work flow. Saving time is key when doing comics or even commissions. A little tip when selecting your tones, keep in mind how it will look in motion. Having a character in all 100% black looks cool at times, but remember you need to show motion really well. It can be done of course, but just keep an eye out for things you can really show off well. If I have a black weapon and their outfit is all black, I will have to use a lot of tricks or white lines to show that weapon and may lose some of the silhouettes or shapes that way. That's fine if it's what you're after, just make sure you think about it when finalizing designs. 

9. Combat Style, Motion and Visual Set Ups

Next I want to touch on what I consider to be equally as important when it comes to combat oriented characters...the actual combat. I won't usually do a full page of sketches unles they are a major character, but I'll still rough out a few just to get a feel for them. It's important not to just leave a design at the base phase like we just finished. When working with a team, or even if you are working alone like I do, it's really nice to have a few sketches to refer to. I want to be able to just glimpse over at this page and say "Oh okay, speed, power, defense." Sometimes laying down those concepts with some sketches can reveal some issues with designs as well. Such as here with Jordan, I notice that him having a missing arm will be something I really have to take time to correct. I drew him with an arm at first and had to erase it. So that means when I draw him, I have to be really careful with his posing so that it's still expressive even with a missing limb to show the movements. That helps me later on when I get to storyboarding a scene.

 

Logan the moose has a large build and long arms. I wanted to translate that in a scene and give off this immense defensive aura. That can be done with some perspective and warping of the body. This is where that early thought in design really shines. His arms are really coming into play here and I'm happy with how its working. Giving him the fluffy long hair as well can really build up his shape and I'm pleased with how its coming out. Sometimes you may go for something like this and feel like something is missing as well. For instance, it wouldn't have the same effect if he wasn't a moose. So maybe I draw this and realize he needs more top heavy shaping to him. That's where I'd maybe change the design to fit. Let's say you have armor and it feels lacking in an area, maybe you fill it up with feathers or something to give extra shape to the silhouette.

Lastly I play around with Alexi using the mace. These sketches may or may not be used in the comic's storyboarding but it's important to feel out how a character moves. Do they use big swings, small swings, or have finesse behind their movements? Are they elegant, raw, or do they use a more tactical approach. Do their designs help sell that movement? Maybe they are fast with an elegant sword technique. In that situation I'd probably play around with a long flowing scarf or garment to show their movement better. These are little things that come into play during motion and visual setups and why I recommend doing them.

10. Outro

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I have others on my youtube channel and you can get early peeks at them by subscribing to my patreon. You can find all of these links on the official Kiwi Punch site. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in a comment or message me! I am always happy to help how I can. 

 

Combat characters can be very complex when designing them, but they are some of the most fun, especially for me. I hope you learned a few things or picked up some ideas for your own concepts. Share them with me if you like! I enjoy reviewing or just checking out other's work!