I'm trying to draw my character and nothing comes to mind. What am I doing wrong?
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Nov '22last reply
Jan '23- 36
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Is it your character though? Because if that's a new character, you just don't really know them well enough yet (thus they are not yours yet) that's what I like to think 
you just need to learn more about them via exploring who, what and when they are. Try a few different things, change the silhouette, the color, the shape, loosen your hand and imagination. If it feels like some particular detail doesn't suit them, think what you don't like about it, maybe it's just not their style. Your characters are people with their own story, lifestyle and preferences, maybe it will help thinking about them this way.
A good way to come up with character designs is to experiment with different looks shapes, clothes, species, etc....
Start drawing, this will help you visualize your character ideas better.
Another tip that can help is to seek multiple sources of inspiration and try different ways to combine them.
For example, write 2 random words like "penguin" and "tree" and make a character out of a combination of these concepts.
Well a good starting place is getting a grasp on the characters' personality and background before you start designing them. Who are they, what do they do, what do they like and dislike, so on and so forth. Depending on what your designing the character for depends the amount of time you would need to spend understanding their backstory. Then you can get into the more aesthetic elements like silhouette, color, etc.
When you’re first starting out, I don’t really recommend sitting down and making a whole reference sheet with exact heights and weights and eye colors etc. First thing you think of, is “what does this character do?” do they run around a lot, do they spend most of their day in one place, what’s their job, stuff like that. Once you decide on their main verb, i recommend thinking about their personality and thus what shapes you want to appear most (tldr, square = dependable, triangle = energetic, circle = friendly) and then looking up references and inspiration.
A big thing I see people do is try to draw a character first. Make your story first and that will cut down real quick what would be in the story.
If you need help with visual ideas i recommend going on Pinterest and finding ideas there. I agree that you should write a character sheet first but visual ideas could spark change in that as well.
Good luck and have fun with it.
For me, I always feel that knowing something about a character, like their personality, makes them easier to design.
Like someone who is super proper and uppity would have neat hair and wear expensive clothes. While someone who is a slob would have messy hair and maybe tattered clothes.
What's your character like? Maybe we can give you some more concrete suggestions (or a quick sketch, if I have a free minute) if you post a description.
This isn't my drawing. I paid @VibrantFox to do a character age sheet of them. Anyway, every time I attempt to draw them it gets kinda weird not gonna lie. 
They end up looking all blobby ....
Usually when i'm stuck on character designs I try to go through a few steps between character explorations to get an idea of their personality and their background and then looking through things like character creators, mood boards, pinterest pages and characters from other media that are similar to the concept i have in mind
that's like i don't really stick on one design at first i kind of experiment with or build on ideas till i settle on something i like. that's why one thing that helps is not expecting to get things perfect on the first try and kind of letting yourself mess around with things until they click. you just have to remember you don't force it it's more that it comes to you (one of those you'll know when it happens)
as for style stuff (like artstyle specifically) never worry to much about it looking just like someone else's. doesn't mean abandon standards but like...don't stress perfection just lets things flow
It sounds from this as though maybe part of the issue you're having with character design is just that your drawing skills are still developing and so even when you do have something in mind, you're struggling to put it on the page as you imagined it.
Probably the best thing you can do is to get out some general books and tutorials on drawing people/anatomy and clothing, and to just generally practice drawing bodies, poses and faces and various basic clothing types (trousers, leggings, skirts, jeans, shorts, hoodies, jackets, t-shirts, buttoned shirts, sneakers, sandals etc.) and hairstyles. Basically, build up the collection of things you can confidently draw so that you can mix and match them to make character designs.
This looks fine as a design for a shy eight year old girl. The simple A-line knee-length skirt and the puffy princess sleeves, along with her nervous expression and loose hair get across a sense of an innocent character, perhaps somebody very proper and feminine, or who has been raised to perform that role. In other words, it's a decent character design, because it's getting across information about the character! 
And that's all good character design is. It doesn't have to be the best drawings, or the most detailed or intricate, it just needs to help the viewer tell characters apart and communicate important information about them while being a suitable detail level or style for the medium it was created for (be it 3D animation, a 2d visual novel game, a weekly webcomic or anything else). Basically, just keep working at your anatomy, line quality and perspective, and spend time looking at fashion and historical clothing and trying to expand your knowledge of how to use garments, shapes and colours to broaden your character design vocabulary.
Thank you. That's how I wrote Zareen as well. She's the childhood friend and main character in this story I wrote ages ago called signs of love. Zareen is hard of hearing and has an in the ear hearing aid. She knows sign language and says some words on occasion. Her childhood friend and Love Interest is named Ayo Bello and he loves movies and anime...He's also 8 years old.
its not so hard buddy, in fact its super easy! 
if your making a guy character all you need is:
- cool hairstyle, spiky, wavy sexy hair
- sharp cool eyes
- cool flashy, trendy, modern clothes
if its a girl character:
-make boobies huge
next is... huh? your saying its all been done before? well... umm... maybe you can... uhh... 
shit now i cant think of anything new...
meh just "borrow" not copy ehem popular anime or manga characters and alter them slightly and you have your awesome OC! woohoo! yeeey! 🤣
Looks like a good start to me @GamerPrincessXI 
@simplykit Op wasn’t looking for that… Sense of humor. Real advice would be more appreciative