Holding back on character designs for the artist's sake?

[MasterValkyrie]

Whenever I create a character description sheet I always hold back on more "complex" ideas because I want the artist(s) to have an easier time when drawing. Because of this, I've been told by friends and strangers that my characters are too "candyish" or "boring". I want to see my real ideas come to life, but I'm afraid that the artist(s) I commision will feel overwhelmed or annoyed by my ideas. Any advice for this type of mindset?

[Mallory]

I mean, characters like this exist:

Yes I still have nightmares from the time that one friend who paid me to draw him this character so he could put it on his game console. (I'm kidding, it was a fun project, but I spent most of the time screaming "WHY, JRPG?!" every time I had to check the bloody order of baubles on his person)

That being said if you're paying someone, it's up to them to assess the complexity of the project and charge you for their time and/or turn it down if they don't think it's feasible. If you give them the list of details and they say "ok" and take your money, they don't really have any reason to get annoyed later unless you become a nightmare that keeps changing their mind when the art is almost finished.

[Oto_Kouda]

God, then I must not have a heart.

I've written literal paragraphs for commissions before, but they always come out SO well! The artist I talked to (he was new to commissions at the time) actually liked the extra details/reference photos I gave since it meant that they had less guess-work to do, and I always make sure to be completely open for extra questions from the artist just in case they want clarification.

The last thing you wanna do when you're paid to do something is to mess up the something you're getting paid for~

[Scarlet_Cryptid]

For a single illustration, like a solo pic of someone's character? Give me all the details you want. I only have to draw it ONCE.

If I have to draw the character multiple times, like in a comic? Keep. It. SIMPLE. You will get REALLY sick of those bells and whistles REALLY fast if you have to draw them 4,683,917 times.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I agree with @Mallory, if an artist doesn't want to draw bells and whistles, it's on them to say no. If they see your character and accept the job, then you should assume they're fine with it, or at least willing to put up with it for the money.

If the guilt is really bugging you, you could always look for artists who already draw at the complexity level you're looking for. Like, there's no reason an artist who draws 10 Shulk Xenoblades every month for fun should feel burdened if you PAY them to draw your own complicated designs.

[Kaydreamer]

For a single illustration, it's fine to have super-detailed characters! If the artist feels it's going to take them substantially longer, they can simply charge more. Most artists will have a clause like that in their terms and conditions.

But for a comic, simple designs are far better. Otherwise, it'd take forever to complete an episode. You can still have excellent character design while keeping things comic/animation friendly. Look at TV shows like She-Ra, Avatar, Voltron, and so-on. They all have excellent character designs, while ensuring that they're not so over-complex as to double the animation time. My character designs in Blue Star Rebellion have been complemented a lot - it's one of the most frequent I get - and they're also very simple. Hell if I'm drawing two-dozen buckles and belts on a character, when I have to draw the character 20 times in a single episode.

The trick with making simple characters memorable is good shape design, strong colour theory for their base colours, and unique outfits which suit the character's personality. If you're looking for that, you should specifically seek out artists with strong character design skills in their portfolio for the initial character sheet, even if they cost a little extra.

[Legendofgenii]

For a one-off image/illustration I find it more enjoyable working on something if there are lots of details. It makes the end result more pleasing to look at too.

For a comic though, I try my best to simplify characters costumes. I’d say Aatma is my most tricky character to draw because of all his jewellery and accessories - but it’s part of his personality so I will just have to put up with it.

[darthmongoose]

An important aspect of character design is having an appropriate design for the medium.

Characters in videogames can have complex designs because you only need to make a character model once (or maybe twice if the game uses a higher detail model for cutscenes and a lower one for gameplay). They often have elaborate designs to show off the capabilities of the hardware. Final Fantasy games in particular do this a lot. Squall's fluffy collar was to show off what CGI can do, the highly complex costumes in FF10 showcase how many polygons the PS2 could render, all the curly hairstyles and glowing accessories in FF13 were to showcase new things the PS3 could do like glow maps, and FF15 has all the characters in black costumes that rely on texture rather than colour to break up the design because the PS4 had Physical Based Rendering and could do really nice materials that behaved differently in light. Generally they're not detailed because detail = better, they're detailed because it looks better in that medium.

Comic and animation characters need to have simple, elegant designs that get across everything you need to know while being easy to draw a lot without looking bare. It's a real skill to design unique, recognisable characters who have personality and presence with limited detail. Personally I'm a big admirer of really good animation or comics-friendly character design. It's hard to do well, but great, simple designs tend to stand the test of time and be more memorable.

As a wise person once said: "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

[Bokyongyo]

Well it just depends on how in depth do you want the design to be for a comic and if you care how long that process with churning pages out.

If your idea for how your designs will look are super complex down to the belt, socks and fabric details of clothes then yeah, I can see there being a issue in how long the artist will take to bring your vision into a page at a timely matter.

I will say to take the main aspects of your character's design and go with that.
So what parts of your character's design are essential and what isn't. From there, simplify it down without losing the essence of what ties that specific design to that specific character.

There are reasons why usually a artists comic art looks a tad simpler than let's say their commission/ one off art pieces. A comic is a long process, so having designs be easier to draw constantly can make that same job easier in the long run

[ninjashira]

Yeah with comics, there's a delicate balance between coming up with a design that is unique and interesting while still being simple enough to draw thousands of times without either 1) forgetting details from panel to panel, or 2) making it too time consuming or painful for your wrist, or 3) too busy to be read clearly at a small size.

I tend to go a little all-out with the details on my costumes, and then go back and remove unnecessary details to make it easier on myself.

A trick I suggest trying is to draw the first few drafts of the costume with a really chunky brush, so you can't get too carried away with tiny little details. If it's still interesting and recognizable with a chunky brush, then it'll be good when it's inked properly.

[darthmongoose]

A trick I suggest trying is to draw the first few drafts of the costume with a really chunky brush, so you can't get too carried away with tiny little details. If it's still interesting and recognizable with a chunky brush, then it'll be good when it's inked properly.

This is a good trick!

Mine is I go away from all the drawings I've done of the character so far for at least a few hours or a day or two, then I try to draw the character from memory. Chances are, anything I forgot to put on there doesn't need to be there.

[rajillustration]

It really depends on your artist, but you don't really have to hold back for their sake. This is kind of what they do, and they'll let you know if your design with like 8 wings on it and crazy detailed clothes is too detailed and would need a higher price (and that's all it would take to make them draw it, is a higher price) Generally if you can draw one bangle, you have the ability to draw more bangles, youknow? And like we have our ways of making brushes that can draw things like beads and pearls and flowers with stamps. We have our methods of getting out complicated fashion notions quicker. (and like I'm talking more stand-alone illustrations here. The comic stuff should be simpler by default but we went over that earlier in the thread)

But if it's more of a confidence issue of character design, then you can just ask your artist "would this look good, or would it look weird?" because detail and complication do not necessarily mean it's better. And, especially since we're in 2021, which has a lot of minimalism in our fashion, we don't want to make things feel dated by putting a lot of belts and jewelry on it, which was cool 15 years ago.

[FafasMcMelt]

More details doesn't always translate to more interesting, less details doesn't always translate to less interesting. If you don't want to overdo on details for the sake of the artist, think about how to use the few details you are willing to put in more intelligently. You can have a good character design that stands out and is simple as well, but you have to put in the work of it.