Start from the basics
Here you see paper cut outs, and left hand scribbles leading to the top-left design - going back to basics to get a fresh design.
Here's my initial process while designing a game show host and an audience member
Just to clarify - these dragons were done before the dragon movies came out - I was tired of seeing people draw the same old fire breathing evil, snake like dragons around me..In my world, they'd be more varied...side note : I loved the How to Train Your Dragon movies!
Here's the boy that appears in the above shot - a little more fleshed out....
Evolution
Just like we evolve, our characters evolve through the process of design:
Story telling through your characters is a great way to understand them!
Exploring expressions
When you are satisfied with the character, explore their expressions and develop a chacter model sheet. here's one sheet from an original design of mine: the feedback was that the glasses are probably too difficult to animate, but I liked the fact they had a persona that reflected the character's moods..
