What I mean is that is how much time passes in-between the creation of a character sheet and the point where you have to make a new sheet for that character. Not as in making a turn around sheet for a character you haven't done before.
Ive made a lot of turnaround sheets in the past 6 years from when started drawing my comic to now, with most of them being sheets for existing characters. In fact, out of the lord knows how many character sheets I've made, only 5 have not been revamped (yet). An unspoken goal of each turnaround Ive made was that it would be useful forever, or at least, as long as it could be useful. But I soon ran into an issue where the design I drew for character wasn't working, so I would have to make an entirely new character sheet for them; which happened with one of my characters whom, in the span of a couple of months from late 2020 to early 2021, had 3 turnaround sheets drawn for her. Of course, I have noticed this tends to be happen with characters whom I had trouble nailing their design down, but that moment left such an impact on me that I scaled back my intended goal of making a turnaround sheet for near every character to just the main ones. This was during a time where turnaround sheets took a lot of time and energy, so putting in the energy into sheets of side characters and characters would only appear in one chapter, along with pre existing characters would've been too much for me to handle. It also turned me off the idea of model sheets completely until I came to with another silent rule of only making a turnaround sheet for an existing character if its ABSOLUTELY necessary. And I feel like I've managed to do that for the most part, as while I did remake the model sheets for 3 characters out of the 6 completed (7 started) last year, the sheets for those characters were 3 years old at most and were really showing their age. That's way longer than was in the past and with how skilled Ive become as an artist, Im hoping that gap becomes longer.
Now I say all of this with the notion that Im remaking turnaround sheets for two characters, who's sheets are also approaching 3 years old. But these are two characters that not only some of the easier characters to draw, but also have sheets that have aged better than ones Ive made in the past; Scamp and Sarah. The reason why their sheets have aged the best is mostly due to the fact that they include a a full body front, side profile, and back view. In the past, Id do the front, and either the side or back view, so the fact those two had full body drawings of all three made their sheets future proof. Also, these are characters that Ive drawn so much that I don't really need to refer to their sheets as often. Although, the issue I have noticed with these two sheets as time has gone on, especially after my artistic growth earlier this year is the amount of straight lines in the posing, and the lack of clear defined shape language and silhouette. And in regards to how Ive drawn Scamp and Sarah recently, its not entirely different but there are design discrepancies that are not apparent in their 2023 sheets. And in regards to Sarah specifically, I did want to simplify and tone down her hair a little bit. But even still, if that warrants new sheets for them. (Below are comparisons. The image in the ref window are their existing 2023 sheets and the right is their new revamped designs)
Also, what do you guys think? Also feel free to give your own insight into your thought process for character sheets and share yours below if you need to!
