Character Designs

I would really like some feedback for the character designs of my superhero and super villain. I'll give you the link for the designs and a description of the characters. Keep in mind that these are for a lighthearted comic, so it's not super-realistic. Also, I know I'm not the best artist, I'm mainly concerned with the design.

Hero: http://kamikamiya.deviantart.com/art/Luna-and-Sky-Girl-263752717?q=gallery%3Akamikamiya%2F2932019&qo=33 Age: 23 Height: 5'11'' Body Type: I was going for tall and gangly, but I drew her shoulders too wide. Race: Quarter Italian, Quarter Japanese, Quarter German, and another quarter of either Italian or German. Hence the red hair, Asian eyes, and olive skin Costume Description: The costume is made of spandex, while the scarf is made from some sort of cloth material with a wire running through it to keep it stiff. The belt is a regular belt with a metal buckle with a stylized "S" design on it

Feedback Questions: 1. Does she look too much like a hipster, because she isn't one. 2. Did I subconsciously rip-off a part of her design from someone else? 3. Color choice, particularly on the boots, belt, and jacket. 4. Does she look her appropriate age and race? 5. Is the scarf too ridiculous to work as a superhero outfit?

Villain: http://kamikamiya.deviantart.com/art/Lord-Blackethorne-264999867?q=gallery%3Akamikamiya%2F2932019&qo=31 Height: 6'4'' Build: Supposed to be a little muscular at the top. Costume Description: For the cape, I wanted to a cross between Dr. Strange and an opera cape. The material it's made out of is actually very light, so it flows easily. The shirt underneath is puffy and as a drawstring front. The pants are leather. I was going for a lionesque hairstyle, but I'm not sure it came out the way I wanted it to. I'm especially not sure I he has enough bangs. Also, his face should be narrower, and I'm pretty sure his legs should be longer considering his height. Feedback Questions: 1. Is the design too childish and or too plain?

Note: I wasn't sure if character design questions go under Writer's Block, so if there is a better place please tell me

• Disclaimer: I'm not a professional in character design or anything like that.

Regarding Luna/Sky Girl,

1. I'm not exactly sure what qualifies as a hipster so I can't answer that for sure? The design to me kind of hints at someone that's not extremely fashion conscious, tends to dress in a way that's comfortable and is perhaps a bit snarky and prone to not giving a crap? I do apologize if those assumptions are completely off base.

2. The human costume is a very relatively normal outfit which I'm guessing is a good thing as she probably shouldn't stand out much. Off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone that it's ripping off of. I could be wrong though but there's no such thing as originality? Unless someone point blank says something like "It's Superman" then I wouldn't worry about this.

3. I'm just going to start with the color choices on the human form since that's the one that stands out to me.

Typically the best way to go with character designs is as few colors as possible. At the moment you have black, white, a few shades of brown, a dark red, a few shades of gray in the boots and the earrings, and green. The dark red I mentioned before looks fine as it's used in both her lipstick and her glasses. You could stand, however, to eliminate a few of the other colors.

To do this I'd recommend you recolor a few of the accessories using the same shades. Yes it will look a little too coordinated than most people in real life would go for, but things like repetition of colors and patterns make for a more cohesive design. You do this already by having the necklace and the shirt be the same colors. Perhaps have the boots be the same color as the jacket? Or use the gray colors in the boots in the belt and the bag? Just fiddle around with it.

For her superhero costume, the black of her belt stands out as it's a much darker color than what you've used anywhere else. I'd recommend using the darker blue and perhaps changing the decal on the belt to the lighter shade of blue.

4. The age looks appropriate, the race looks appropriate for the most part but I'm wondering where the red hair would have come from? Her German ancestry? If this is the case than her last quarter should probably be German as, to the best of my knowledge, red hair is a recessive gene. (But of course as Hollywood Genetics explains a few times, hair color and eye colors are all inherited through multiple genes.) The best I can offer is that if she would have the genes for red hair on both sides of her family somewhere, it should be plausible. Of course this is a very lighthearted work so I really doubt you're going to have people up in arms about the fact that your character shouldn't have those particular genetics.

A thing to consider though is the fact that she would probably have to hide this in her superhero form as a person with red hair, Asian features and a darker skin tone would stand out. You do a good job by covering up the later part of her face and taking away her glasses but perhaps some goggles as well? Would that be too much?

If you hang a lampshade on the fact that she is Clark Kenting to a minor degree is should be fine though since, as you've said, it's a lighthearted work.

5. The scarf to me is about the same level as possible ridiculousness as a cape in that it has the same risks for getting tied up in things. You could shorten the length of it to eliminate a bit of these risks. However, if you want to keep the length so you can have it blowing dramatically in the wind and all that then it should be fine because, again, it's basically a cape. Just keep in mind that people who fight dirty would probably try to use it as a weapon against her and try to strangle her with it. But that of course depends on what type of people she's fighting against, if they're mooks then she'd be fine, if they're all the types for pragmatic villiany then she needs to be careful.

And as a final minor point, is there a reason for the crop top in her superhero form? If she's the type of person that would feel comfortable showing her midriff, awesome, but I'm just a little worried she might get cold or something? I don't know. It's not a big thing I just figured I'd comment on it as well.

I will comment later with your villian!

edited 22nd Jan '12 1:13:58 PM by Hermiethefrog

Move this to the Visual Arts subforum.

Or possibly the Character Design Thread

@Hermiethefrog

Thank you so much for all the really good feedback! I'm going to clarify a few things, if you're curious

1. You're right, she really isn't fashion conscious 3. Yeah, the belt was a real issue for me. I wasn't sure what color to make it. 4. I think I'm going to make her mother Japanese/German and her father Italian/German, so that will make red hair plausible. As for the Clark Kenting, I'll excuse it by saying that since she lives in a big city (And isn't of high status or anything), know one could recognize her. 5. The scarf is actually two pieces (for now at least). The "mask" part is sewed to the shirt, and the tails aren't fully attached to the mask. So if the tails get caught on something, they'd come off and she wouldn't be choked. 6. The story behind the costume is that Luna wanted to be a comic writer, and she designed the costume for her character (She thought showing the mid-riff would make her look spunky, hence the crop-top). When she got superpowers, she just decided to use it as her own.

I'm very excited to get feedback on my villain

Luna's ordinary clothes don't strike me as a particularly well designed outfit. You have too much stuff there and the colour choice is all a bit of a mess.

The outfit on the right, though, is actually really pretty good, especially since it's something you'd easily recognize from a silhouette (which is ridiculously important when it comes to character design.) The fact that it's all one colour also means there's no space for mismatched palettes.

The villain looks so generic it's not even funny.