SImple steps to breakdown your inspiration and research on animals into unique characters!

Introduction

We are not unfamiliar with the concept of anthropomorphic characters, we all know it and LOVE it. From the ones leaning into their animalistic features more, or their human like features.

One of the most common ones you see in medias are the classic human+animal ears combo. But most of the time, if you take away the ears, they don't really resemble the animal they're based from anymore. This is even more prevalent in modern settings

the same-face syndrome is also prevalent in mmaking a set of characters with anthropomorphic features, and ended up just the same set of features as any other humanoid characters

In this guide, i will give some tips on how to use different design elements like :

-animal features

-quirks (how they act, play, live)

-sillhouette

-world building

 

from the animal and translating it artistically into various cool looking characters!! Let's get into it!

Pick Your Animals!

any animal can be interpreted into anthropormophic beings, with varying difficulities. the ones closest to humans, which are mammals, are the easiest due to having a lot of similarities here and there. The presence of distinctive ears is also one of the most defining features of a lot of anthro characters. Animals such as insects, reptiles and fishes might be a bit trickier, but an even more fun challange to tackle! So as a demonstration, i will be tackling a mantis as my inspiration.

Observe and Research (for ideas!)

so first thing i like to do is do my observation and research. What does these animals look like? What features do they have? Do they have special abilities or unique trivia about them? keep a huge library of their face , legs, bodies, etc so you can easily pick and choose what elements you'd like to keep in your design.

 

for my research, a mantis :

-has a long, sleek body

-built to be aerodynamic, jumps very high and long

-triangular head

-multiple limbs, the "arms" are held forward and has a lot of spikes

-has exoskeleton all over it's body

-a silent/ambush predator

-uses camouflage

-huge eyes, on the sides of it's head

 

even things like where the animals live, their food, their native regions and such can be a source for inspiration. i like to use the usual copy + paste (Ctrl+c & Ctrl+V) shortcut into a fresh illustration file as my reference. if you have multiple references you want to keep in the same file, the renaming and layer folder system is your best friend to keep you from spending minutes clicking the visibility button on your 20+ layers to search for THAT one reference.

renaming your folders and layers is simple, just double click on their original name! It's a small thing to do but it will make your workspace much neater :)

Brainstorming Your Character!

after having all your information, the next step is to decide which direction you'd like to take your character

 

Do you want a fantasy character or a moderm setting character? what are their occupation? what are their personalities, likes and dislikes, how they move or present themselves, all that jazz. These will help you lay foundations of what will make your character much more alive, without you having to describe them with words.

 

you can also decide beforehand if you want to keep the anthropormophic character more human like, or closer to their animal inspiration. Using/removing certain features (no eyelids for a snake or digitigrade legs in place of human ones) can really make your character design unique and fresh

 

i like to keep my references file open while i draw, and since i only have one working monitor, i like to split my working space.

this way you can keep track of multiple files at once without having to toggle visibility or switching files all the time.

 

then i start my brainstorming process, aka breaking down what direction i want to design this character. For my mantis, i decide i want to go the fantasy foute, as it allows me to explore more with proportions and design elements.

breaking down my deas a little bit right here :

 

• the insect's exoskeleton translates well into armor, but since their occupation is an assassin that needs to move fast and swiftly, armor will be added sparingly to places it wont hinder movement

• the long proportions of the insect gave me idea to push the design's body proportion, making them look extremely tall and slender

• their huge eyes translate well into a stylized mask, and helps potray a more mysterious character for sheilding their real eyes and any facial expression. the eyes are also a bit towards the side, not front facing like humans.

-dual weilded blade for obvious mantis reasons

-etc

 

widening your scope of knowledge both about the animal you're adapting and fundementals of character design such as shape language, proportion, gestures and costume design will push your character into something intriguing and thought provoking for any viewers

Let's Get Sketchin'!

phew, finally, after all that research, let's get to the actual design! usually i would make a few designs to try things out before comitting, but this Mantis design came to me pretty easily so i instantly use my initial sketch as my final sketch

i amde these iterations for the final design. i like them both, but the right one seems a bit "fancier" due to the tuxedo looking outfit he wears, even though it really potrays the body of the mantis really nicely, thus not going well with my orginal concept of a mysterious assassin, vigilante character.

on the oher hand, the left incoporates the mantis' lower body shape as a cape. This works in the design because i could easily think of a camouflage cape and hood that he will use to escape and blend in, which is perfect because of mantises behaviour to camouflage and strike on the right moment!

Lineart and Colors

After the lineart is finished, i like to add a flat color underneath all the lineart to make my coloring process faster and more accurate. You can usse the lasso fill tool, or use the bucket tool & set your lineart as the reference layer, This waym you can keep your base and lineart separate, but enjoy the convenience of using a bucket tool.

Here is my finished lineart and base color!

once you have a solid base, you can now easily make a new layer on top of that base, and clip it to the base layer to color without worrying about going out of line :D

for coloring this piece, i'm using the CSP realistic watercolor brushes, nothing too fancy! keeping the colors like leaves and branches, so that this assassin can finish his targets before you even realize he's even there

Conclusion

In conclusion, doing a lot of prior research might sound tedious, but you'd be surprised on how well you;d be able to make negaging and unique characters with a lot of thorough research! Whether it's for a one of illustration, OC making, or something bigger like a comic or animation project, keep on experimenting and see what you can make!

 

hope my tips on breaking down inspiration helps in any way <3 happy creating!

 

 

 

ps: anyone can guess what these two are based of? they're pretty easy :D