Intro

Steampunk is a very eye-catching genre filled with appealing character designs. But where do you even begin? In this tutorial, I will explain the basics of how to design your own steampunk characters.

What is Steampunk?

To begin with, what is steampunk?

 

Steampunk is a sub-genre of the science fiction genre that combines steam powered technology and the aesthetics of somewhere around the Victorian-era.

 

You may have seen this sub-genre before, think of gears and goggles combined with fancy dresses and corsets. The technology has evolved and the mechanical designs are somehow elegant.

 

But how do you start creating for this sub-genre? Well let’s delve into the world of fashion and machinery.

Character Design

Let’s start with our characters. For this, we need to understand the basics of the clothing and the items that can be found in this genre.

A. Clothing

The fashion of the Victorian era plays a large part into the steampunk aesthetics, however they don’t always adhere to the actual norm of that era. But to know how to stylize them, it’s important to know how they were originally worn so that it becomes easier to break the ‘rules’.

 

Fashion of that era are generally shaped by the principle or inspiring certain silhouettes: for example a slender body shape, or full and broad.

 

Just as fashion are today, the trends of dress changes depending on the years and the exact terms and times may not be the most clear today, so this tutorial will use the most common and recognisable pieces of clothing.

1. Women’s Clothes

It’s impossible for me to discuss the entire trends of women’s clothing during the Victorian era. It’s not as if there was only one kind of dress, or details such as specific neckline on a dress that is always adhered to. Trends kept changing and trying to explain all of them in this tutorial would not be enough, so instead of going through the trend of the decades one by one, I’ll be discussing the items that, in my opinion, were the most well-known in shaping that era’s fashion.

(i) Chemise Gown

Early in the era, following the style established in the previous era, the taste established preferred clothing with natural lines and loose draped dresses such as the chemise gowns.

Chemise gowns are made from thin and lightweight fabrics such as silk.

 

These gowns were styled with a high waistline that rests under the chest, low necklines, with vertical folds falling to the ground and hemlines at the back for formal dress. Sleeves could be either elbow-length or long sleeves. Chemise were usually plain-coloured and were popular for ordinary wear.

 

Later on, these gowns were instead used as undergarments for women, but it’s not unusual to see women wear these gowns with shawls in the first few years of the era.

(ii) Bustle Fashion

As the fashion developed throughout the years, the back of the dress become increasingly emphasised until eventually a bustle, a padded undergarment, is needed to use as support. This creates a soft and feminine silhouette to the clothing of this time.

Other than the bustle, there is also the crinoline. The crinoline is a stiff petticoat worn as underskirts to make large voluminous skirts.

However, in my opinion, bustle dresses is more recognisable as part of the Victorian era than the voluminous skirt.

The bustle style became popular around the 1870s. While there isn’t a definitive style to them, bustle dresses usually focus on pinning all the fabrics at the back to created the silhouette that was trendy at the time.

(iii) Corset

Corsets were used as undergarments and they are frequently seen in both steampunk illustrations but also discussions of fashion in past eras. They can be considered a staple fashion item.

 

These undergarments were wrapped around the waist and tightened at the back to not only help create the silhouette, but also to support large dresses.

(iv) Bonnets

Headwear were often used to complete the outfit, and they changed to mimic the trends of the fashion of their time.

 

There are many types of bonnets and they were made from different materials such as silk, felt, cotton, and even straw. Later in the era, bonnets became more elaborately decorated with flowers and feathers. Some would even use ornaments like buckles and brooches.

Here are some assets that I like to use when drawing bonnets:

2. Men’s Clothes

Now that we’re done with the dresses, let’s move on to the suits.

(i) Suits and Tailcoats

Compared to dresses, the suits that is worn by men of the time period aren’t as drastic.

 

First, we have the tailcoat. The tailcoat was originally used as a horse riding outfit. These tailcoats were sometimes made of heavy fabric and they outlined the body contours.

Later in the era, coats that were loose fitting and have a more box-like cut became popular.

Other than coats, waistcoats were often used as fashion and as a layer of protection, especially when men didn’t button their coats.

Other than that, another fashion item that keep appearing is the cravat. A cravat is a strip of fabric worn by men around their neck. They are usually tucked into their waistcoats

(ii) Hats

Compared to women’s headwear, men’s hats were much simpler.

 

Top hats (1) could be used to symbolise wealth and a social standing as they made men look taller. However, top hats may be impractical to use for some occasions due to their height, as it would be awkward to carry.

 

Another popular choice is the bowler hat (2), a hat made from hard felt with a dome crown and narrow brims.

Another well-known hat from this era is the newsboy cap. They are a hat predominantly used by working-class men and boys. Newsboy caps aes casual wear round caps made of 8 pieces and has a button on top with a short brim.

3. Eyewear

By the Victorian era, glasses were already quite similar to what we see in modern day today.

There are also glasses made specifically for certain uses. For example, cinder goggles became popular due to the popularity of rail travels. It’s not uncommon for engineers and passengers to use to protect the eyes as some train cars did not have glass windows to protect the passengers.

 

A leather strap or string is used to secure them, and later elastics are commonly used by the 1850s. They have padding inside so that it would be comfortable to wear and the lenses are tinted from a smoky yellow to black lenses.

B. Items

1. Gears

Gears often show up in steampunk art, but drawing them can be tricky, here is how you can easily draw gears in Clip Studio Paint.

 

First, go to the [Ruler] Sub Tool and choose [Special Ruler]

Open the [Tool property] and choose [Concentric circle] and turn on the [Keep aspect ratio]

Draw the ruler on a layer.

Use the [Pen Tool] or whichever brush you like to use to make a circle. The number of circles you make would depend on the shape of your gear. For example, I’m drawing 3 circles here. The innermost circle is a hole, while the outer circle is to show that the gear is thicker at the outside part.

Next, go to the rulers tab again and choose [Symmetrical ruler]

Open the [Tool property] and increase the number of lines to the amount you want. This will make it easier to make the teeth of the gear. Make sure to turn on [Snap Angle]

Make a new layer and place the [Symmetrical ruler] in the center of the circle. I increased the [Number of lines] to 16

Now, draw the teeth of the gear using the ruler.

Turn off the rulers.

Finally add the colours you want.

Feel free to play around with the rulers to make a variety of gears as you like! Here are some examples of what you can make by playing around. By adjusting the properties of the ruler tool and using multiple rulers, you can make something really complicated if you want to!

2. Prosthetics

Prosthetics did exist in the Victorian era. These prosthetics could be made of metal or wood and usually the wealthy can afford prosthetics that consists of jointed pieces of sculpture, while the working class opted for hooks.

However, in the steampunk genre, since technology has advanced, more intricate designs can be created.

 

But how do you create these designs?

 

First, start with understanding the human anatomy of the limb you want. For this, I’m using an arm as an example.

 

The most important thing to understand is the bone structure of the arm.

What I like to do is replace the anatomical parts with machinery. These bone structure will be used as main pieces of metal used in this prosthetic. The long bones will be made of metal while joints such as elbows will be bolts and rivets that connect the metals together and allow movement.

Next, bundle some wire cables together. This will replace the muscles. Try to vary the size of cables.

I like to add a few loose cables to add more details and to break the uniformity of the bundled wire cables.

Finally, I like to add some metal plates as a cover to act as the ‘skin’ of the prosthetic. This will also act as protection against dirt or dust.

 

I like to avoid having the metal plates in the places where the joints, like the elbow, are located because having two metal plates go against each other constantly would be unpleasant. I also like to add details like jagged lines or dents just to make it look more interesting.

To connect this to the person, you’re free to attach it however you want. For example you can attach a leather strap at the shoulder area. Or you can add a metal plate around the shoulder of the character to attach the arm in a ‘cleaner’ look.

3. Weapons

You may want to add a weapon into your character design. Given the era it’s set in, rifles and revolvers and items such as a swords hidden in walking canes would be popular.

 

Here are some assets that I like to use:

You can stick to these normal designs and just add motifs to make these weapons look more unique and special to the character.

 

Or you can design your own using.

 

When it comes to designing weapons, I like to use a known weapon as a base. For this example, I’m using a revolver.

This gives me the rough idea of the size and shape of the weapon so that I can keep the final design balanced. Next, I like to break the revolver down to have an idea of how the components would move.

Now that I have a general idea of the movement, I would start to alter the design.

 

Instead of normal bullets, why not have some fun and make the gun shoot out something else? For example, in this gun, instead of the gun cylinder storing bullets, I’m putting in tubes of liquid into it. Since the steampunk genre uses steam in a lot of its technology, why not have a gun that heats up different liquids and shoot out steam that causes different effects?

I added another section at the front. This acts as the mechanism that heats up the liquid. I also added a scope at the top.

Then I added details such as rivets and engravings onto the gun to give it a personal touch.

Finally, I cleaned up the sketch.

Feel free to use this method to design your weapon of choice. In fact, you can use this method to design most items, from goggles to vehicles, there are a lot of possibilities to try!

C. Designing Your Character

1. Designing

Now that we have covered the two topics above. Let’s begin designing our character. When designing your character, keep in mind of the kind of lifestyle your character has. Are they rich? Or are they from the working class? What’s their job? How are their personalities? These questions will decide the kind of clothes and items your character might own.

 

For this, I will be designing 2 characters.

(i) Eccentric Young Lady

For the 1st character, I’m going to design an eccentric young lady to go along with the gun I designed in the previous section.

 

First let’s start with a base body.

I mentioned before that you don’t necessarily need to adhere strictly to the norm of the era. For example, corsets. Corsets, at that time, are typically worn under dresses, however in the steampunk genre, it’s common to find them worn on top of dresses. This is one way to break the norm of the era.

 

Since she is a young lady, I decided to give her a bustle dress to show her status.

 

When drawing the dress, I decorate it with frills and pleats across the different sections. I decided to give her gloves due to her handling a weapon.

Then, at the waist, I add a corset.

Another way to break the norm of the era is through the hairstyles. The women of that era may have braids or carefully arranged hair, however I personally see a character’s hair as a way to express their personality. So instead of giving her a neatly arranged hairstyle, I decide to give her messy and loose hair.

Next, I added a bonnet. Because I decided to pair her with the gun and her personality, why not make her the creator of the gun? Of course, she tries to adhere to the fashion trends of her era, but what if her hat was decorated just slightly different. On top of the regular ribbon, I’m giving her a pair of goggles that rests there.

Finally, under parts of her skirt, I decided to give her a small bag where she stores her items. This would be hidden from normal view as it’s covered by the cloth, but it would add to her character maintaining her status of being a young lady.

(ii) Seasoned Gentleman

For the second design, I’m going with an adult male. The idea behind this is of a gentleman who was part of the army for a time. Because he was in the army, I gave him short hair.

I decided to make him lose one of his arms and his eye. I’m using the design from the previous sections for his prosthetics. I decide to give him a simple eyepatch so that there won’t be too many details on him.

I decide to give him formal wear which a tailcoat, a waistcoat, long trousers, and laced up boots.

To make him stand out more, I decide to add subtle embroidery onto his waistcoat. This embroidery would not be noticeable unless viewed under light, and I think that it is fitting for this gentleman to not want to stand out.

I decided to not give him gloves because I think the gloves would get stuck onto the joints of the fingers.

 

Finally I decided to give him a top hat and a cane to complete his outfit. It could also add to his character, perhaps he likes to hide his eyepatch using it. Or perhaps he has difficulty in walking. Or maybe, it’s just a status of his wealth.

2. Colouring

Now that we have these designs, it’s time to add colours.

 

Many people think that the Victorian era fashion used a lot of dark and gloomy colors, but they used a lot of colors especially on dresses.

 

With men’s clothing, they used to have a range of colors like dark blue, light tan, and even plaids. However in the 1850s, they were slowly replaced by a range of grey and black.

 

However, women dress used a range of colours depending on the era. All black clothing was generally assumed to be mourning clothes. For example, the following are some colour options for their decades. Of course these aren’t all the colours they used, but merely a representative of what could be found at the time.

 

For starters, 1840s used muted version of colours.

1870s favoured bright colours with contrasting combinations. Coloured dress were mixed with either white or black trims and given tonal shades for a less dramatic look.

And the 1880s used more pastel colours for warm seasons and rich saturated tones for winter.

Now that we have an idea of the colours used, let’s apply them to these characters.

For the gentleman, since that style of clothing were from around the 1850s, I decided to give him a dark blue coat, with a light tan waistcoat, white trousers, and a dark cravat. Because these colors were only started to fade away to make room for grey and blacks, I figured it would still makes sense that he wears these colors just before they’re gone.

 

I try to keep the same color and tones when colouring the accessories, except for the hat where I mainly use the color black.

And for the young lady, I decided that giving her bright colors with contrasting trims from the 1870s would fit her character the best.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this tutorial! I hope you learned something from it!