Drawing Book Characters: The Artist’s View
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As well as working out their characters’ backstories,
many writers like to have a picture of them as well so that they can visualise
them better. Some find photos and some very talented folk draw pictures
themselves. I’ve always found it difficult to find photos of people who look
like my characters. One picture might have the right hair; one might have the
right nose, but very rarely are they exactly right. If I had enough artistic
talent for drawing people, I would draw my characters, but alas I can’t.
I am very lucky however, to have a sister who is
very good at drawing, and who is also very interested in my writing. My sister
Charlotte has drawn me pictures of all my main characters for my series of superhero
fairy tale retellings, as well as designing eight individual covers. I love
having pictures of my characters, and I’ve really enjoyed working with her to
make the pictures match what’s in my imagination. But what is it like to be the
person drawing the pictures? Charlotte kindly agreed to answer some questions
about this.
What do
you need to know to be able to draw pictures of characters?
For
Imogen’s characters, I discussed them in detail with her, she found me a
reference picture and if I had any questions about them, I was able to ask her
for help. I found that this method really worked for me. I knew something about
each character, had a very clear idea of what they were supposed to look like
and could consult Imogen if I wasn’t sure about something.
What is
the best part about drawing other peoples’ characters?
I think
the best part of drawing someone else’s characters has to be seeing their faces
when you’ve finished the picture and given it to them. I never quite know until
I’ve shown Imogen the finished picture whether it is exactly what she wanted,
whether this picture shows her vision of her character.
What is
the most challenging thing about drawing other peoples’ characters?
Remembering
to draw someone’s character how they want it to look instead of getting carried
away with my own ideas can be a little challenging. I’m lucky that Imogen
trusts me to draw her pictures without much supervision. If I have an idea then
she lets me try it out instead of making me stick to her own ideas.
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Which is
your favourite character you’ve drawn so far?
It’s
really hard for me to decide who is my favourite character. I love them all so
much. But I guess that if I had to choose one character, I’d choose Aaron. I
love his superpower: Super-strong, super-big and super-hairy. Also he’s ginger.
He’s so unique and I loved the challenge of drawing all the fur and somehow
making him both human and beast at the same time.
What is
one piece of advice you’d give to other artists?
If you’re
working on the computer like I do, save your picture very frequently. While I
was drawing Imogen’s villain, I put in hours of work on the picture and had
just got it ready to colour, when Gimp crashed and I lost the entire picture. I
had to start the picture again from scratch. You’d have thought I would have
learnt from that experience, but I did the exact same thing with another
picture not long afterwards. So save your picture often and save yourself the
frustration of losing entire pictures.
Have
you ever had anyone draw your characters for you? Are you one of those talented
people who draw their own pictures? Any questions for Charlotte?
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