Creating Characters, Where to Start?

Technical Aspects - These are the fundamentals that you need to practice, over and over again to build your skills as an artist.

    - Anatomy - Having a solid understanding of anatomy will create more believable and accurate characters. Practice using references or take a life drawing class. 

    - Proportions - These have countless tips on how to remember accurate proportions. Look them up like, "The head is five eyes wide" etc.

    - Posing - Having a combo knowledge of anatomy and proportions will give you the freedom to pose your characters. Work with gestures first. 

    - Angling - This is the placement of the "camera" or the set point from where you are viewing the character. 

Aesthetic Aspects:

    - Strong Silhouettes - imply shape and form. Easy to recognize. Unique, bold silhouettes are usually the strongest composition. 

    - Shapes and Poses - Helps distinguish features and creates interesting compositions.

    - Color Balance - Choose colors that ADD to the character. People associate colors with different aspects, so be mindful of that. 

    - Creating an "S" -  This creates a visual flow to your piece and creates a more interesting composition. 

Character Aspects:

    - Who are they? - More than just what color is their hair. Ask questions like how were they raised, what is their favorite memory, etc. Things that add to the character that aren't just aesthetic. 

    - Role/Occupation - defines motivations and goals, usually sets the first impression. 

    - Dynamics - actions based on intentions, most simply: scale from evil to pure. 

    - Building Interest - add an element that adds interest to the character and wants the viewer wanting to know what that mysterious element is.