New Project: Character Design Portfolio

Good morning and hello!

I’ve been keeping up with my daily art- and my one hour dedicated to “business” has been really helpful to get me inspired, figure out what about my art do I like that could also create an income. For the past few weeks, I’ve been teaching myself a “class” on character design- which means finding successful artists in the industry and learning what they do.

I do feel like I’ve hit a bit of a block because I really need a new graphics card, so I’ve been putting in extra hours at my day job to make digital art, now, am I a digital artist? No! I’m an oil painter, but it’s still a very valuable skill to learn if you’re like me, a huge nerd who’s always loved designing characters.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a comic book artist, I designed characters and wrote entire stories all the time. I’ve never stopped loving doing that, and while my career path has diverged into the art history/conservation side, I want to get back into character designing. The more I’ve been doing it, the more I realize how much I loved it!

So, an easily attainable goal I have is- build a portfolio!

As such, I’m kind of taking this learning backwards, rather than learning character design first, I think it’s better to learn how to build a good portfolio- that way you know what art directors and clients are looking for, and can make your art reach that goal.

My portfolio will consist of character sketches, a few variations (characters with different color schemes and costumes, turnarounds, poses, and of course splash (the kind of art you would put on your wall).

I’m really excited about this because it’s an opportunity to hone my art skills in various ways: story telling, figure design, still life art (maybe your character holds objects that you wouldn’t generally draw otherwise), and even making some beautiful, print-worthy art!

Wait a minute! I already have a few character sketches! Lookie here!