Can anyone give any feedback on this character design?

ellendallanora 2021-07-15 20:30:16 UTC #1

Hey. Could someone lend me some advice on the design I made for the main character of my comic? I am already satisfied with it, but some input would be more than welcome (by the way, some of these drawings may be a bit too sketchy, but bear with me).

This one is the final pass. Also, that is probably what the comic overall style will end up looking like.

Just for the sake of clarification, her name is Eucarya. She is a cinnamon roll who can get quite scary if she wants to. Eucarya is an ancient nature spirit and the eldest of Mother Earth's children. She gets trapped underground after falling inside a pit and has to breach the 12 gates of the Abyss to go back to the surface.

Here are turnarounds for her face and body. I'm not too keen on the front view face, but you can't get all of them right.

There are way more things at stake than simply that, of course, and there are other characters I did not mention here that play a role in the most fundamental aspects of the narrative. But I am not going to go into detail on that. For, you know, the sake of not making things too complicated.

Some expressions...

...And action poses.

Anyways, thanks so much for your time. Hopefully, the images are of good quality. I appreciate all the feedback I can get from you.

Cheers!

ninjashira 2021-07-15 20:47:46 UTC #2

I love this character concept so much! The silhouette is very distinct, the colors are great, and I particularly love that you figured out how their hat and face will work from multiple angles. And the mushrooms growing up the leg? Chef's kiss!

That being said, I'm going to be a little blunt here. It looks like you specifically designed this character because you can't draw hands and feet. That may not be the case, but that's what I'm getting. Judging by your action shots, it looks like your character doesn't have arms and can manifest spirit arms? That's cool and I can totally be into that. But also not having any feet? It feels like you just don't want to draw feet. I can't see how this character can walk on those tiny little points at the end of their legs, and the rest of the style isn't cartoonishly-exaggerated enough for me to believe it's just part of the style. It feels very unbalanced and wrong for the character. Giving them feet would instantly make them more grounded and believable as a person instead of a 2D design.

Overall though, I think it's honestly a very cool concept, and I'd be very excited to see a comic with a character like this!

ellendallanora 2021-07-15 21:56:45 UTC #3

A) Don't worry about being abrasive. I know you mean well.
B)I can draw feet. I'm not amazing at it, but I can draw them.

Talk about a sketch that went a little too far.

C) I asked around before posting this, and people said she would be a cutter character if I simplified the feet. As you can see by this sketch, I usually get one foot right and the other one always looks kinda weird. Nothing that practice won't make perfect, but I suppose you understand why I was so keen on going for the simplified feet.

D) As for the arms...I can draw them. I can also draw hands. It's just that I really wanted to tell a story about a character with disabilities that went through problems people can relate to and be empathetic towards.

E) I will have to run more tests to see what will work better for Eucarya.

DesiredUsernameTaken 2021-07-15 22:04:13 UTC #4

I think the pointed feet is a little odd, too. You could try making really tiny feet? She looks like she has an "average foot size". The link below is some article with Clip Studio Art, but if you scroll down you'll see an image of an anime girl, with a chibi-fied version near her. Those tiny chibi feet are super cute while still being feet!

Notwithstanding, LOVE the character design (I personally think she already looks cute. Not all cinnamon roll characters need that "uber cute" look. She's got a mushroom hat! What's not to adore?). It's simple, but has a great level of detail without being overbearing. The colors are really nice and the texture you've you've applied (either through a texture sheet or a brush?) really compliment the art. It makes it look artistically sketchy--which also happens to be my favorite look in art in the world

ninjashira 2021-07-15 22:10:57 UTC #5

I think there is room between "realistic feet" and "no feet" to give this character some simple stylized feet. Even if they're just little nubs. Just a little something to ground the character on a surface will go a long way to helping them feel more solid.

ellendallanora 2021-07-15 22:15:11 UTC #6

Hey, thanks so much, I will certainly check it out! You are really kind!
I will think about tiny feet, but I could certainly make them rounder.
As for the texture, I used a noise filter on krita.

ellendallanora 2021-07-15 22:18:23 UTC #7

I am certainly considering that. Maybe what they did for princess Aurora in the Sleeping Beauty movie? There are endless possibilities. I will make sure to test at least a few, and try to go overboard with the sketches I make from now on.

Tanidreams 2021-07-16 01:57:33 UTC #8

Hi Ella, I love Eucarya's design! Great job keeping with the 4 colors color scheme. Love her silhouette, it's very distinct and recognizable. I'm sure you made sure that other characters have distinct silhouettes as well (worst case scenario, just test the silhouette test). Yes, she is very adorable, I love that you can read a lot of emotion from her face. I especially love her eyes!

I would just make sure you are comfortable redrawing her details multiple times per page (I only say that because I personally get a little tired of keeping track of multiple details per panel, but if you're comfortable then feel free to keep them on). I did think about the feet, too, but it CAN be a stylistic choice (think the character designs for the PowerPuff Girls as an example).

Otherwise wonderful job Good luck!

ellendallanora 2021-07-16 11:25:42 UTC #9

Oh, thanks so much! You have good points, and I will make sure to take all of them into consideration moving foward.

gabriellabalagna 2021-07-16 11:47:37 UTC #10

I know other people commented about it. But yeah, I'd try some simplified feet. If you've ever read the comic Space Boy, all the comments were always about "why doesn't the main character have feet?" It's just kind of distracting. But eventually...the creator started giving her feet.

Second comment is, without hands or feet, how will she pick things up/grab things? You showed action poses. But how does she put on the cloak? How does she climb out from underground?

Finally, I love mushrooms and this is a really fun design. Great job!

micch 2021-07-16 11:55:01 UTC #11

I really like the design you have chosen and the colors.

ellendallanora 2021-07-16 15:05:22 UTC #12

Yeah, I think I'm gonna give her actual feet. Or at least, stylized feet that still have fingers. I'm trying out different stylizations to see what works. Will likely post the final results in this thread once I'm finished. As for your other points:

Before designing Eucarya, I researched how people with Amelia ( that is, the congenital absence or partial absence of one or more limbs at birth) and amputees in general, perform day-to-day tasks such as dressing up, opening doors, or outdoor activities such as climbing and hiking. I might as well make use of it. Eucarya has a similar condition, so drawing proper feet for her would make things more intuitive for readers and save me a lot of headaches. Thanks so much for making me take more notice of that.
I will make sure to answer these questions in more earnest in the drawings I intended on posting next. They will be taking your and everyone else's feedback in mind.

ellendallanora 2021-07-16 19:03:45 UTC #13

Did a couple more explorations, taking into consideration everything you guys mentioned. Honestly, Eucarya looks much more interesting with proper feet, so I believe she will do so from now on. Thanks so much, guys.