Redesign of main characters

Redesigning the main characters based on the visual feedback Fumio had given me on how to exaggerate the proportions of the head and body size to fit in as a miniature version of the characters has helped a lot in the progress of recreating my characters as mini versions of my initial designs that are based on realistic proportions. 

Not a lot of changes were made and the overall design of the characters remain the same, it is just the size and the proportions of the characters were altered to make them easier for me to draw, as well as to make the characters have some sort of ‘fun’ look to their design and to add some appeal. The design for the animal (fox) and the spirit character remained the same, though I have gone through a few revisions of their design to refine their faces/expression.

Revised versions of the new designs for the characters in flat colours. Looking at objects that they use, features as well as their overall look. These will be used as references to help me know about their colour scheme, size, items and proportions when it comes to final artworks, so I can keep track and for consistency in terms of illustrating the characters. 

A quick size comparison of every character I had quickly sketched out/designed during the development of character creations for my world. It is interesting to see the varying shapes and sizes of different characters being grouped together and as a visual reference, this is useful to use when illustrating a scene involving interactions between different characters, as this allows me to keep track of consistency in character heights so I won’t accidently illustrate a character who is supposed to be small as tall as someone who is of medium height. 

After the development of redesigning the main characters to fit within my skills of illustrating human characters, I gave my Tutor, Fumio, an update of my recent progress on the designs. The feedback that was provided (above image) was good to know that everything as of now for the project (designing characters of the world) is ok. Only thing I need to do was to make some minor adjustments on the sizes of the heads, as well as the height of character 2 to fit to scale based on their initial designs. 

Only thing I need to do now is to refine the character a bit more with their design (also adding in the adjustments from the tutor’s feedback) and to do a character sheet for character 1 and 2 to explore more on their facial expressions. 

Character sheet on expressions. Can be used for visual guidance when illustrating the final artworks.

Final version/design of the main characters. 

The progress of the redevelopment of my character designs had went smoothly despite hindering the progress of the project. The issues I had faced after realising I do not have the confidence to draw characters as I wanted to due to the lack of confidence and experience (e.g. drawing anatomy/proportions and visual consistency) were troubling me and had me anxious about the outcome of my visual design. In the end I pushed the idea of exaggerating proportions on my main characters (and a bit of the visual style of my work), similarly to how I draw non-human characters. The visual consistency between all my characters are now there and it just a matter of practice (drawing the characters regularly) to keep the visual designs consistent.