My character designs keep changing mid-story

[mpiradarada]

Hello, folks

Do your characters' appearance keep changing as you learn to open up your mind and appreciate more diverse designs? Mine sure do

And I even made a video exploring all the changes my protagonist's already gone through:

Has this already happened to you? If so, what changed and how did you deal with it?
I'm really curious!

[nostalgicroxas]

I'm not..doing... a... comic... but my character's outfits change depending on what they need done.

Crow ref page

Somewhere I have an image of both Crow and Will in their knight outfits.
I'm not a fan of the unrealistic "never changes clothes" characters. If you fall in a lake you should change your clothes.

[mpiradarada]

Same!
That stuff always bothered me, even as a child. One Piece's a great exception because the clothes changes every arc but it's always the same type of outfit.

Keeping a color scheme like with your outfits is also a nice idea!

[nostalgicroxas]

If a character is stranded and can't get a change of clothes then sure, but really... If someone knows they're going somewhere, they should bring a change of clothes. Clothing is a lot about personal style, or what TV is trying to sell you on style - reminds me of the Hannah Montana era of Disney where all the girls had long shirts and jeans and a "belt skirt" that went around the fattest part of their hips that was a mix of fancy belts and scarfs. Or some kind of splosh of color in that area to trick your eyeball.

Crow has no sense of color style, thus the blue sweater with pumpkin orange pants. HAHAHAHA. But he had achromatopsia for the last 5 years, soooooo
Will on the other hand wears a bit more variety, and yet less, since he's a noble.

Will refs

I actually have tried really hard to keep both Will and Crow specifically in a harmonious color scheme so I can take pretty much any outfit they wear and pair them together without losing sight of their styles. If Crow gave Will one of his button-ups, Will would button it up all of the way and the cuffs, and Crow is more likely to leave the cuff's unbuttoned and not button it up all the way either at the top, bottom or both, and likely wouldn't tuck it in.

Reminds me of the clothing design for Smith's character in I.Robot; When he wears his hat, it only covers one ear.

[snailienz]

The main cast of my comic went through a huge overhaul when I realized three cisgender boys did not fit my storytelling style at all anymore. One of them changed into a lesbian with a prosthetic limb! The other two had more like, story changes than design changes, but I love seeing progress like this. It's very relatable! Thanks for sharing it!

[mpiradarada]

Did the changes occur during development or after you'd already started the story?
Because if it was mid-story then WOW! that's wild!

[snailienz]

I started it once a LONG time ago, but then I burnt out and had to set it down. I'm rebooting it now, and the new story is coming in september!

[vothnthorvaldson]

I have a character who is always changing facial features (not chapter to chapter but from page to page!), which is a big issue. I think it's fixed now, but I have no idea why it happened with just this one. The other ones may not be drawn very consistantly, but they are at least recognizable.

One other character is always changing clothes, but it's a voluntary choice I did. Flashbacks and all, he must have worn 5 different outfits in chapter 1.

[Coati]

I confess I mess a little with my characters. Trying to get better at that XD

The only thing I change constantly is the outfits because I want to people to know they take showers :v

[IdiotWithPencil]

it's called art evolution and it's the bread and butter of webcomics =)

Note: if you want your characters to be the same take panels you've drawn and have a reference sheet open filled with the character in all possibles poses while you draw.

[LT1986]

My character designs continue to change, because I'm trying to draw them better. Most of the changes involve skin texture, clothing texture, hair texture, the color of the outlines of them, and drawing them at different perspectives.

When I draw the characters in a way that is not fitting to me, I just take note of the drawing and try to draw the character differently the next time.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

My main character doesn't change that much. But...all of the side characters? Um...I'm bad at not having finished designs for them as they come in to the story. So they start out as potatoes. Wonky looking potatoes. On the plus side, after a few pages they look much better...

[Iris-Grimoire]

I didn't have any changes during the comic updates, but while I was drawing buffer someone gave tips on drawing undercut haircuts and I ran back to fix it before it went up.

I'm still behind on proportions and perspective so I like having some ground to stand on by having the character have few outfits (and probably related - they remove a big jacket, or formal wear that has a similar palette to their casual wear, etc) that I know from the inside out. Ref sheets would be ideal but time is pretty short. However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't change, especially as you add things to your character that make them feel even better to write/draw about, and gain skills in drawing more detailed or different types of designs!

[mpiradarada]

Maybe it was a type you face you weren't used to drawing yet.

Oh boy, I actually have one like that too! And she's on the comic's icon right now but she's had at least three different faces since she showed up

[mpiradarada]

It's been two and a half year but I still don't have reference sheets.

But personally, I'm at a point where I'm ready to just trace a face if it's giving me too much trouble. It hasn't happened yet but I'm ready...

[mpiradarada]

Hair texture's a big one for me.
But skin texture? Damn you're ambitious!

[mpiradarada]

Wow, you actually went back and fixed it

I think I also believed I could do that when I started but the me from back then was too naive and optimistic. Time is short!

[vothnthorvaldson]

Ohh, I think your comic may be something for me! I'll read it this evening!

For my character changing face... I think it's mostly that I did not have a clear idea of how he would look like before I started drawing him. For 2 other main characters, I knew very early what features I would give them; for a fourth, I had difficulties, but then found that mixing two inspirations I had for him worked very well; but for that one problematic character, it never clicked..

[mpiradarada]

Thank you for your interest!

I just read yours and you have a very original and intriguing setting! Plus, I didn't notice any jarring face changes.

[tchotchkeco]

While mine have a "default" outfit they still change their clothes fairly often. Kinda also depends on the situation or if we're worried colors will clash. So...yeah! Mine change outfits often too.