Artist insight - LEVEL UP YOUR CHARACTER ART

Mauro Belfiore breaks down his key design principles and important considerations when designing unique, engaging characters

- Mauro Belfiore

Every artist should reflect on their own personal style, taking the time to consider how to explore or improve it further. Style is something that you build up after exposing yourself to art that you love, understanding the principles and core elements of that art style - those principles are like ingredients you mix to create your own unique recipe, but you have to know your ingredients first, so asking questions and reflecting on them is essential.

I'm going to share with you some of my thoughts about those principles, diving into examples of my work that are reflecting those thoughts. Some of them are more technical, other tips are questioning more the nature of the character exploration itself. That's what you should do when approaching character design. You're in the process of creating something unique; even if it's just a sketch, some of the core elements should resonate instantly.

I hope you can find this helpful, but never forget that you can only achieve results with a lot of practice and dedication. Please enjoy!

1 WHAT'S THE ROLE IN THE STORY?

Let's say you have to sketch a group of characters, for any kind of project. Each character has a role in the story, so thinking about silhouette, proportions and shapes is key as every character should instantly communicate their role. Are they a protective tank? Use big proportions and shapes that go from round to square. Is the character more mysterious and villainous? Than use more sharp and triangular shapes. It is also important to communicate the role using colours, as how we perceive colours can influence the essence of the characters.

2 PLAY WITH PROPORTIONS