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How I design characters.

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How I design characters.

A Moose, a Racoon and a Pika

Adam Ming
May 26, 2022
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How I design characters.

adamming.substack.com
The winners.

How I design characters from a picture book text.

  1. I. Read the text and sketch or write my impressions

  2. I make a style map, to give myself some parameters to stay within, the narrower the better.

  3. I do research and find reference. I learn about the subject both intellectually and visually.

  4. I draw the subject from reference

  5. Then I imagine each character, with out reference, and draw them over and over. I think mainly about shape and particularities on the character. For example a Pika cuts grass and stores it for the winter, so I gave it a grass hat. A moose has a hump so I gave it a backpack.

  6. At some point one of those drawing might stand out. I hone in on that one, maybe redraw it a few time

  7. Once that rough sketch feels believable, I take it into procreate and add line work, texture, light and shadow. Here’s a video of step 7.

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How I design characters.

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1 Comment
Vendela Vrensk
May 26, 2022Liked by Adam Ming

Very nice Adam! I need more black and white in my portfolio, loved how your white accents really made things come to life <3.

Also, very interesting read about your process to get there. I don’t make as many sketches, I think, but I love the idea of sketching your way to get there!

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