Sketching

As an artist/designer, one of the most often asked questions I get is where I come up with the ideas I have for a design. The answer is really simple, actually. I just spend a lot of time at it. I start with with something simple like a sketch page where I fill up a piece of paper with as many characters and thoughts as I can cram in. Some characters are mine, others come from somewhere else and just offer inspiration.

Once I have some ideas that I like, I pick a few that I like and blow them up (in size). This way I can add details and start thinking about specifics surrounding the character. Is he a good guy/bad guy/something in between? What kind of creature is he? Would he fit into a larger collectivist culture or is he one of a kind? What drives him? How does he move? What does he like to do on Saturday nights? Almost any question can be important in determining what ends up in a final design. Funny questions can yield some ripe fruits for application, but at the very least, they make the job more entertaining and keep your mind active. From my page sketches, I can come up with some semi-final sketches pretty quickly:


As you can see, from words and sketches, I can expand a simple idea and add details as I go. Next week (after I finish my programming project and CS midterm) I’ll get to work on and try to show off some of the final designs that come from these sketches.