I’m making an African based character (help please!)

[RosesnWater]

Hello everyone! So I decided to make one of my long running characters African/black, this decision was made a while ago. Some background in the fantasy setting, the world as the reader experiences it is mostly european-styled kingdoms. Didier (Dier) is a prince who was switched at birth and replaced by a changeling. He was supposed to be abandoned and then die but he was rescued by a woman who owned an inn but didn’t have any children of her own.

ANYWAY I just wanted a more diverse palette for shades and features. He’s a supporting character but I’d like to know what people think!

And here’s the main character for comparison

[Inspector_Spinda]

Your long running characters? Are you redesigning him? I’m sorry I’m kinda confused

[RosesnWater]

I mean to say he hasn’t been just add spontaneously but the character wasn’t always black!

[Inspector_Spinda]

Well the art looks nice!

[RosesnWater]

Excellent! I watched a couple tutorials by black creators and I’m glad it paid off!

[Black_Conscious]

hmmm OKi!
Man I've totally heard of somethin similar to his back story but Idk where...
His backstory kind of reminds me of Rapunzel a little but that is just me .

Oo!
Out of curiosity I have a question are you more used to with drawing European people or in a specific group of people ( I am really not trying to sound rude here )

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The drawing of the African man do look pretty good 🏽
I kind of like the braids on the character or the cornrows (it looks like cornrows to me )

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Since you have also mentioned that the world it is mostly European-styled , I think you should look at what did the Black people in that Continent looked like to have more of an Idea of the character.

I look at some but they are queens in England

[RosesnWater]

No that’s a totally valid question! Yes I mostly have been drawing “European” people with a few exceptions and it’s a pseudo Disney style comic.

Thank you! I think I meant to do cornrows, although altho sketches are a little rough, could be braid later tho!

It’s a good idea! I haven’t built up the world building yet to that point but it’s definitely important to look at! I’ll check out some more period piece paintings to see what I can do ^^

[alcchron]

If you're looking for references of what African people looked like in medieval settings, you might be interested in John Blanke, an African man who lived in Tudor England (there was actually a relatively sizable African population in England, but John Blanke is probably the most well known due to his proximity to Henry VIII). There's also the book Black Tudors by Miranda Kaufmann, but I don't know how much research you want to do lol.

The character looks great, though I will note that the most important thing will be how you fit the character in the European setting, which has more of a potential for pitfalls.

[Black_Conscious]

Yes I mostly have been drawing “European” people with a few exceptions and it’s a pseudo Disney style comic.

Thank you! I think I meant to do cornrows, although altho sketches are a little rough, could be braid later tho

Branching out to different things is always good, I believe this year and the last is when I have actually started looking into African/Black people on the way they do their hair and their features as well, because before I had used to draw anime characters. but that is just me going onto somethin of my life

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Whelp Anyways
May Your Journey Be Well And Successful 🏽

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Also that second picture art style really reminds me of this drawing here,
maybe it is that Disney style, but it do be lookin good though either way

Pin on beauti

[Lady_T_Musings]

I'm all for folks branching out to diversify their cast and challenge what they typically draw in order to be more inclusive. If Africa or any of the countries that exist within Africa aren't a thing in your fantasy story, he is just black. He is quite the beauty and the rounded features look good without coming off as satirical and I love his lips. The textural approach to his hair is interesting on the digitally rendered version, but not sure that brush choice is the best for giving off a curl pattern though. I like how you did it on the sketch (2nd face with the short coils) more.

I'm not 100% sure on what you are asking, but if it's about him looking black enough? I think he's fine :).

-From your neighborhood card-carrying black person Lady T.

[RosesnWater]

Great idea! I'm also looking at a lot of period paintings of Africans in European centric art ^^

[RosesnWater]

Thank you so much! I hope your path is also very fruitful, it can be hard at first to try new things but there's always a benefit to including any form of diversity in art when it comes to characters (especially since in a lot of art styles they can all begin to blend if they don't have different features)

[RosesnWater]

Yes he is just black since the countries of our world don't exist in this one^^ I'm glad you think he's beautiful, it's my first sketch so I'm still trying to smooth out his look, but I was worried that his look might not be as good as my other characters since it's my first time drawing this ethnicity. Thank you for your insights and so sorry for the late reply.

I'm actually currently looking for the right brush for his tight curls, if you have any suggestions I would be very grateful, but either way thank you for your opinion! ^^

[VibrantFox]

I'm actually currently looking for the right brush for his tight curls, if you have any suggestions I would be very grateful, but either way thank you for your opinion! ^^

I'm not sure what kind of brush you're looking for specifically but this artist has natural hair brushes for black hair that are available on their website here:

https://twitter.com/SimkrayINK/status/1293928892122771456

Simkray || Shop

[RosesnWater]

Thank you very much! I’ll see if they work for the program I’m using ^^

[Lady_T_Musings]

Adding to the things to try, check out @jennytoons brush here. Hope you find one that works for you!

https://twitter.com/toonsjenny/status/1297614365441630208?s=21

[RosesnWater]

Thank you! I believe I’ll try this brush first as I’m not sure if most downloaded brushes will be useable with Krita or Sketchbook which are the art apps I use.

[Lady_T_Musings]

Gotcha. I have a pretty stylistic approach to doing afro-textured hair as I tend to make natural black hair very rounded and cloudlike. When I do braids it's pretty much the same deal, I keep it round, but I also like to be real extra with bigness, that may not work for you, and as your style isn't painterly I'd probably avoid brushes that have natural brush patterns as they will be a bit jarring in your style, but I encourage experimenting. Mayhaps try and find or edit a round brush (or the one you typically draw with) that has a bit of line jitter instead so that you will still have control, but also get a little texture out of it.

[RosesnWater]

That’s some excellent advice! Sketchbook does allow my to make my own brushes so I think that’s very doable, And thanks for describing the brush I would need, I’m very grateful for the help ︎

[Lady_T_Musings]

No problem! I'm glad to see you are out here trying to diversify more and looking for ways to do it as naturally as possible <3!