I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE HDR EFFECT WAS HARD BUT IT’S ACTUALLY LIKE A 5 STEP THING BESIDES DUPLICATING AND FLATTENING SHIT HOLY FUCK I CAN DO IT. I’M SO EXCITED WOW THAT’S LOVELY and I have to share because no one every taught me this.
- Open your picture.
- Duplicate layer (Ctrl+J)
- Overlay that shit 50%
- Flatten image (Ctrl+E)
- Duplicate that one layer that you have now (Ctrl+J)
- Desaturate (Shift+Ctrl+U)
- Invert (Ctrl+I)
- Gaussian Blur it to 40
- Now overlay that B&W Blurred image
- Duplicate and sharpen if necessary
- AMAZEMENT WOW HOLY SHIT
I found this nice tutorial/anatomy advice spread created by meghanhetrickof deviant art.
She gave me permission to post it up here to share so go make sure to visit her and look at her other creations of goodness!
Developing your Characters and Making Them Interesting
Recently I got a message about a person struggling on how to develop their characters, as they normally wrote about already created characters—also about how to make them interesting and make the people reading your story actually want to continue reading it.
I’d say this is one of the main differences between fanfiction and original work. Writing fanfiction you already rely on the fact people know the characters—how they look (or are supposed to look), personalities, and backgrounds… unless you’re writing an AU. There’s people that already like the characters and would (probably) be willing to read your story. Now, you focus on a good plot to interest them.
But then we are back on our original stories, our novels, anything we write. We have to create our characters from scratch—interesting characters that can fit and make our story flow. Because good characters can handle a poor plot, yet a good plot can’t handle poor characters. I guess this is all we do here, right? this is the bane of our existence as writers.
Truth is, there’s no right way to write a story. And there’s no right way to develop a character! I tested this by asking you guys how you do to create and flesh out your characters. Every response was personal and different.
Sometimes it starts with the spark of an word, an archetype, a color, a trait, a flaw, a song lyric, a painting, someone you know in real life—then you go from there.
Here are some basic steps on developing a character, yet, you can do it as you see fit:
- You start with the personality. Once that’s done it’s relatively easier to know how they look like. You sculpt and pick virtues and vices, flaws and qualities—perfect characters are not interesting. When it comes to protagonists and antagonists, they’re neither 100% good nor 100% bad, because there is not fully good or bad people. Get what I’m saying? Round characters are the thing we’re going for. Take details from people in real life, if you want: funny habits, mannerisms, what makes people human.
- Work on the appearance of your character. What’s their body type, their eye color, skin color, hair color, shape of their face/nose, if they have birthmarks or scars somewhere…
- Pick a name as you see fit. This can be the first step depending on how you work. Is there a meaning behind it? does it show somehow their character’s personality? remember sometimes they are relevant to the setting/genre.
- Flesh. ‘Em. Out. Think of hobbies and background. How’s the relationship with their family and friends, how they act around authority, what kinds of clothes they like to wear…
- Always remember: character development is an ongoing thing. You never “finish” developing your character, just like we, as people, don’t stay the same.
That being said, be creative with it! Don’t imitate the way your favorite authors develop their characters- create your own way! your characters are all yours! Make playlists about songs that remind you of your characters, keep a journal for them- sky’s the limit.
Good links for you:
- Fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment: a blog just about character development. Seriously, if you are not following this blog, you are in nothing.
- Our character descriptions and characters tags, along with body and mind and personality.
- Create fictional characters from scratch
- 13 ways to create compelling characters
- Moral Alignments and Jung Personality Theory: both good resources by the same person. They’re a different way to add dimension and understand better your characters. Even if you aren’t using them, they’re still a pretty good read.
- Get to know your characters interesting questions require interesting answers.
-Alex
WriteWorld’s resources on character can be found in our Toolbox. we also tag all of our posts related to character.
-C
hello yes i do get this question often but my method has changed since last time i posted anything about it, by which i mean i don’t really have a method beyond “draw a shape for the body of the hand and then add stuff”
sometimes it is a circle and sometimes it is a square, it is not very enthralling
i drew the reference above a few months ago, it’s a few things i try to keep in mind, maybe it will help someone
also i just now drew this in like 30 seconds, my drawings are messy & i knew i was gonna be posting this so i had drawing-related performance anxiety while it was happening, but maybe it also will help someone
wait can i take a second to mention gesture and body language? you can have the most immaculately drawn hands in the world and they can still look dead and useless unless you really think about what your figure is doing/trying to convey
check out this thing i drew like a long dang time ago: the hands, they are not well drawn. they are sort of claw-like doodle hand wannabes, it’s nasty. but shit who cares, they are adding to the story, not just hanging there like weird turnips taped to wrists. i just want to say that gesture is sort of more important than cool stylish style ok good night
some nice programs to draw
- mtPaint: free source tool designed to make pixel art. for Linux or Windows.
- character maker: it’s to make charsets for rpgmaker but you can use it for whatever you want. it’s in both english and spanish.
- scribblertoo: really nice website to draw with.
- sekka: free source tool to draw things like these:
Character Design References (characterdesigh) →
Character Design is using Pinterest, an online pinboard to collect and share what inspires you.DEAR TIM I HAVE CONCEPTS TO COMPLETE DUE IN AN HOUR WHY DID YOU LINK THIS THIS IS THE MOST DISTRACTING THING YOU COULD’VE LINKED
CLICK IT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CLICK IT.
What are studios looking for? How can I get into a good animation school? What should I be studying?
I get a lot of these types of questions now and again, and I never know how to answer them. I can’t be sure of what studios are looking for, I don’t control admissions policies to schools, and I have little idea what makes for a current and relevant curriculum. There are a lot of variables in your bid for a career in animation, and it’s kind of impossible to control most of them. You must be crazy to want this job!
I find it helpful to focus on the things I can control. Among those things are your study habits and how you spend your personal time. It’s good to work hard and have goals—without them we would get nowhere. Study hard and make decisive strides towards achieving your art goals. But in the heat of that pursuit, don’t forget to go out and live your life!
If you spend any amount of time looking at artists online, you’ve probably figured out by now that there are about a million dudes and dudettes in internetville who draw better than you (I relive this realization daily). Once your have done your best to rise to their level, the only tool you have to compete with these crazy talents is your background, your personal character—is you!
Consider developing your whole self with the same raw focus and intensity that you develop a particular skill set. Get focused. Go out, have adventures. Run, jump, skin your knee, fall in love, root loudly for the away team at a baseball game, barely escape a crash of stampeding rhinos, live to see another day. Experience things big and small. Go for a walk. The world is full of wonders.
I know this advice is not particularly animation-specific, but maybe that’s for the best. At any rate, it is something I feel strongly about. Animation is great, and there are few things that I enjoy doing more than drawing and storytelling. But in order to have stories to tell, first you have to live them.
Be good, and see you soon!
PS, if you were looking for advice on draftsmanship you should probably be reading this.
DIY Know Your Shoes Guide from Enerie here. My favorite shoes aren’t listed yet - Louis Heels which were popular in the 1920s. First seen at inspiration & realisation’s Facebook page.
Neck Reference Updated by MelissaDalton from DeviantArt
Many thanks to spreeunit for linking us to this!
Cause some people asked me how to do that 3D effect
OH that hoodie is reffed off that octopus hoodie that has been going around tumblr
Hope this wa s HELPFUL
THANK YOU
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