It's very simple but time consuming to make characters. I'm going to tell you a history of all characters. Now, let's all calm down. CALM DOWN, NOW!!!
Good...
Now, characters dateback to the times of ancient history. Ancient egyptians used computers to play the only type of game that existed. Really... it is true. These "Games" had many components - story, graphics, sound, objects, and rooms. But, above all else, there was one component that ruled, dude. Characters. "Finally," the people said, "a component that talks, walks, looks, interacts, repeatedly executes, and many other useless things." Everything went well, until one day, Osiris came to earth and summoned a time portal into the future. Next, he returned wit a weapon and a company known as "Id software," and everything changed.
Enough history.
To draw a character:
1. Get a paint program, like paint. I use Serif PhotoPlus.
www.freeserifsoftware.com (It has layers. Cool.)
2. Visualise the character of the character. What will he/she look like? Act like? Make them look like that.
3. Make a rough sketch of the character on paper. Improve your sketch. Keep going until you like it.
4. Scan it if you have a scanner. If not, either get one or draw it on the computer.
5. If you havea scanner, import the file into the art program and outline it. If not, try to outline it.
6. Change the ouline color to the color you want it to be (black to red on a red shirt). Fill in the colors. WHOA, not so fast with the shading yet, mister!!!
7. Now shade. It's a good idea to start with about 4 different shades of each color.
8. Yay, you're done - one frame. Wait... wait... don't even think of walking off that ledge... it's not THAT bad. Create a few more frames. If you're havng trouble making a walk cycle, take a step forwar - STOP. Don't move. look at your arm positions and leg positions, and use this a a guide. sketch it.
Hope this helps.
