Tyler Niccum Has Character!

Creating Characters
by Tyler Niccum

If you’re working on a story for a writer or company, odds are that they will ask you to do various character designs. So, I will show you some basic character designs and what to do.

First of all, a writer will give you a character’s name, age, and specific summary of a particular character. Example being “Nick Badrow” a 35-year-old man, dark long hair with features similar to Brad Pitt from the Seven movie.

First thing I do is research how exactly Brad Pitt looked in that movie, then I draw in my own sketches of a normal person putting in the features of the actor.

Most of the times, I’d take a reference picture of myself doing certain poses and then I would go ahead and put in the finishing characteristics of Brad Pitt while creating a new character design at the same time.

Best way to figure out the poses is to draw out a full size person on a piece of paper (mine being Bristol Boards for inking smoother on).

Then I send in to the writer the final draft of the character. He gives me his opinions on what to change or fix. Once I get his revisions, via email, I then redraw the character to match the writer’s descriptions.

Finally I will have a more descriptive and individualized character of Nick Badrow, which will satisfy the writer’s thinking of what the character looks like.

Creating Characters by Tyler Niccum

Creating Characters
by Tyler Niccum