Best method to draw the same character over and over

[beta1042]

I go in planning to do everything by scratch, but then laziness and exhaustion take over, and I end up using the same face and then change the expressions a lot and then crop or scale the photo in different ways so it looks less like the same picture....

Behold laziness at it's finest:

I tend to do this mostly when it's a lot of dialogue but very little movement.... like sitting down and talking, or standing in line waiting.

I also try to have maybe 3-4 pictures so I can cycle through them and it's hopefully alittle less obvious XD I'm probably not fooling anyone, but whatever.

[Kann]

I draw almost everything from scratch. What helped me is the fact that like 70% of characters in my comic have same hair color, so I have to pay extra attention to their face features, so you could tell them from each other. xD

There have been few pages where I just copied one panel and altered it a little, but that's all.

[punkarsenic]

from scratch. you start to develop a muscle memory for a character, and with repeated drawing the character develops of their own accord, which is in line with the nature of webcomics themselves.

[Harmony-S-S]

I'm not an artist, but I would have to say that #1 is your best option....Because you get familiar with your character and you won't mix them up with another

[silverraven0]

Drawing from the beginning. Sometimes use the same draft (everything...) or trying different pose everytimes.

[Merle]

I know a very good Comic Artist on this page who recently started to use self - created bases for certain character / poses. They can do that because they have years of practice and a style that works well with it. It saves them a lot of time.
Unless you have a lot of experience, I would always recomend to draw from scretch, but take reference by how you drew them before.
It´s how I do it, too ;D

[akemikae]

Draw them from scratch, and draw them often. Don't be afraid if they start to adjust themselves a little bit at first, that usually means that your art style is probably changing too. Maybe something about their initial design wasn't the best choice (like hair length, or face shape.) just let it adjust if it needs to happen. You'll eventually find them looking the same every time.

Tracing over stuff tends to be more for comedic, or a pause as @Jenny-Toons mentioned earlier. I use it from time to time for that, and it works like a charm. Though sometime's I'll use it too and just use it as a base and do slight changes (like a head angle, or an arm moving) but most the time from scratch is gonna be your best bet. Time and practice will make them stay the same eventually.

[Vanesalisa]

I use crop and copy it helps at times

[rmdooley]

The best method to draw the same character over and over is to draw the same character. Over. And over. From scratch.

[storytimebiondi]

I always suck at drawing characters that look the same as I draw them over and over.
I always draw from scratch every time. But, what I found helps, is deciding EXACTLY what their features are. Right down to the curvature of the face, the shape of the nose, etc, as well as how they are arranged. Makes life much better.

[akemikae]

I've noticed especially in cartoony art, that faces are the most important part of a character. So I think practicing their faces in general is very important. I also try to place a keyword to each character. Like;sharp, round, strong, skinny...Idk, that helps me a lot to recall what style of features I decided on them.

[lunaartemisasama]

If you want to learn the first option is the best.
If you want to do things faster, the third one...but you will lose the fun

[anitacomics]

I draw from scratch, because it would be too mechanical to have references for all of the expressions and poses I need to make to trace it. Plus, using an existing drawing is good only if they're not very close in the story, and that woul mean spending time looking for the right drawing to use from previous pages. Nah, I just like to draw.

The downside of this is my characters changed A LOT through time. They're all recognizable, but they evolved so much withouth my willing to do it (and sometimes I feel like I cannot draw them anymore even thou I've been on the same group of characters for years)

[ericsalinas149]

draw my bodies from scratch but retrace the heads and faces for consistancy

[storytimebiondi]

Never thought of adding a keyword! That sounds like a really sharp idea. badum chiii

[akemikae]

A yes, someone thinking my advice is a good idea, and a strong pun. My favorite things. <3

[nekoendy]

i believe faces are the most important feature in any kind of art, no wonder they're the hardest part to get right

[GalacticPotato]

Well, you won't really get better if you don't practice. I draw every charcter from scratch every time, even if the only thing changing is expression or an arm or whatever. I think it's better that way.

[BiTronic]

Draw from scratch, I usually reference previous pages to build/change upon existing faces I've already drawn. I personally want a sense of natural progression like that.
Though ideally, one would have drawn characters a lot of times that some of the processes can be skipped over while maintaining a level of consistency.

Even more ideally, I'd make a proper model sheet, but that's even more work. I'm not illustrating full time, so fuck that >_>

[awesomefeelsman]

Draw from scratch, I update my characters a lot and I put up the new designs on my wall so I would always have a reference on how to draw them.