Character Design workshop LAS PG CERT 2025
- 1. Lily Ash Sakula - 31/10/23 Who tells the story? Character Design for your Critical Practice Project
- 3. Alison Bechdel from Dykes to watch out for How can we create diverse characters without tokenising or stereotyping?
- 4. Jacob V Joyce Portraits of Travis Alabanza and Yusuf Musse Draw real people
- 7. Draw what you know The Cosmic Collection is a collection of 12 astrological cards cards for use in mediative and divinatory activities. The illustrated figures on each card are an ode to South Asian gender non-conforming bodies and explore notions of femininity and how it is able to exist in multitudes. Soofiya
- 8. It doesnt need to be literal Sam Szabo Enlightened Transexual
- 9. Bishakh Som from The Apsara Engine
- 10. Hayley Wall explores chronic illness in their illustration practice How can we show what we cant see?
- 11. Becca Human Push at the bounds of reality
- 12. Your characters dont have to be anatomically correct to be convincing By Maddelyn from Bossy Bottom
- 13. Look around you Usually Ill be working from drawings Ive made or descriptions of people Ive written down. This could be either a person Ive captured in their entirety, or a mishmash of details Ive drawn. Maybe a thick ankle squished into a strappy sandal crossed with a scowling woman with a pouting, made-up face clothed in a floor-length woollen coat. Its often like an exquisite corpse, matching together bits as I see fit. Grace Wilson
- 16. 1. Who are your favourite characters? From comics, books, tv shows, films, games etc 2. Who is missing? 3. What characters (if any) represent your experience? How do they show this? 4. What kind of characters do you draw? How do you show their identity/ identities. Discuss in small groups
- 17. Character Jam 1. Fill in the first caption area with an occupation eg: nurse, food cart vendor 2. Pass the page 3. Repeat Examples: A type of criminal Character from a fairy tale Personality type A celebrity A silly name An awful occupation Cartoon character A housemate you hated Lynda Barry
- 18. Character Jam Now we will fill in the boxes! You have 1 minute to draw the character doing something. Include their face and their entire body. No stick figures. No dialogue. Draw for the whole minute Pass the page Repeat Elisha Lim
- 19. Lunch
- 20. Write about your character Nicole Eisenmann Who are they? Where do they live? What do they always carry in their pockets? What is their greatest fear? What is their driving force in life?
- 21. Scott McCloud says characters need 3 things: 1. An Inner Life (what is going on in their heads?) 2. Visual Distinction (something about their body or clothes that makes them instantly recognisable) 3. Expressive Traits (a particular way of moving that reveals something about them as a character)
- 22. Time to draw our characters Prompts adapted from Linda Suparts resource: I want to show you a body Are they hairy or smooth? Why? Are they young or old? Have they always looked like this or have they had experiences that changed their looks? Are they animal, mineral, vegetable or other? Do they have long hair or short hair? Why? Do they have an afro? Where are they from? Do they have big arm muscles? Are they like you? How long are their eyelashes? Do you love them? What kind of character are you making? Are they a man? What makes them a man? Are they fat or thin? Why? Do they have a race? What is it? Why? How many arms or legs do they have? Are they a woman? What does it mean to be a woman? Do they have a gender? Are they soft or hard? Why? Do they have a tail? Can they see? And how? Do they like land or sea better? Some prompts to think about:
- 23. Next steps Finish drawing your character Go see Nicole Eisenmann exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery Read: https://www.frieze.com/article/trans-representation-after-figure