Mar 2018
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Apr 2018
Oct 2019
akemikae
Mar '18

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.

rmdooley
Mar '18

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

storytimebiondi
Mar '18

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
Mar '18

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
Mar '18

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 :stuck_out_tongue:

anitacomics
Mar '18

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)

akemikae
Mar '18

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

nekoendy
Mar '18

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

GalacticPotato
Apr '18

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
Apr '18

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
Apr '18

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.

ChanYE
Apr '18

if your having trouble with drawing the same character, learn how to draw their likeness, and their shape.
its important to get their shape and likeness down so itl be better to draw them again.

if your characters more chubby, or small you may use more soft, round shapes. start using shapes and the personality of the character to draw them.

gh0stcr33p
Apr '18

make a reference image or reference images and draw from those

11 days later
starbeams
Apr '18

Reusing art doesn't do much to help you grow as an artist. It is generally better to draw the character fresh every single time. But it depends on the style of art/comic that you're doing.

Luminosophy
Apr '18

The only time I would re-use an artwork of a character is for a moment to moment transition or something of the like, where it's intentional that they have only moved very subtly. You will be able to draw your character consistently once you've gained a better grasp of the fundamentals. There's no short cut for practice.

1 year later
Vanesalisa
Oct '19

you copy and paste your drawing then try to redo it without drawing it from scratch it's what I learn it when practicing sometimes you can recycle some of the old drawings to redo it into a new one

BobbyjoeX
Oct '19

this might get closed cause old but, i personally find it really off if you dont redo from scratch, i may do it once or twice but the majority of the time my characters are not in the same pose in the next panel so its pointless to me to rehash