Visual Design - Game Design Essentials - page 95

C r e a t I n G a C h a r a C t e r (Continued)
use a variety of references: “There are a lot of photo references
that are available for artists. Try and show the character in an
action.” “After I establish a pose I can use, I begin to gather references
of subjects that I would find interesting to draw. I combined some photos
of dinosaurs and images of tribal humans. It's important to have as much
detail in your reference materials as possible. The more you are looking at,
the more you may use in your final painting.”
Think about your character from the inside out: “A good practice
is to start looking at skeletal structures. Then look at muscular systems,
followed by textiles and costumes. Work a design from the inside out. This
will give your imagined characters a degree of believability.”
Love what you're doing: “You should always draw what interests you.
If you want to get good, challenge yourself. Embrace the process and don't
worry about the end product. The process is everything; if you love doing
it, you will get good at it.”
Nick also recommends looking at what others in the field are doing. This is
part of staying current. It's good practice to be aware of how other artists work,
study their methods, and pick up tips on how they derive inspiration from blogs
and sites like www.conceptart.org , where numerous projects are posted with
comments on how they were created.
Staying current also means understanding what trends exist in the industry.
Trends give you information on what kinds of games are popular; what kinds of
characters, props, and environments are popular; and what the next big interest
is likely to be. Popular culture is another good indicator. The Harry Potter topics
swept the world with their tales of magic and spawned a series of über-success-
ful movies and games. Graphic novels, classic stories, popular movies, fashion
trends, comic books, toys—whatever people are talking about (and you can eas-
ily uncover this by reading blogs or news sites or walking through the mall) can
be a source of inspiration.
Functionality of Characters
What types of things does this character need to do?
When you work as a professional in the game industry, you're essentially
a professional problem solver. Your problem is how to design the character's