Drawing Tutorial for Character Concepts (Races): Part 2

This tutorial is designed to help with 2D sketch art. I have been drawings for over 15 years and in that time I developed many new techniques and styles to help me portray the image I wanted to create. During my path as an artist I have mainly specialised in Character Design/Concept art. Ranging from Orc Berserkers to Pixie Enchanters, any inspiration from movies, games, and my own imagination has helped me design all kinds of things. Below is techniques I use when drawing certain types of characters. In this tutorial I will focus on Orcs, Pixies and Minotaurs. Take note that everything written in this tutorial is my opinion.

ORCS: These savage green beasts have always been the crux of your typical, evil army. Their physique is extremely large and profound, muscles bulging everywhere. Orcs are creatures who drive fear into the hearts of any combatant and live for war and die in war. To start drawing an Orc, begin with the face so you can easily build a correctly-sized body from the neck. Make the Orc's eyes quite small but make sure to give the bones around them, like the cheekbone and brow, very dominant and cragged. Hesitate in giving the eye a pupil because without one they look deprived of a soul and heart. This simple effect gives them much more presence. Avoid giving an Orc hair, but if you do, make sure it's a deep black. Give them a messy haircut with as much disarray in the design as possible. Facial hair, however, can work very well with Orcs. Several long plaits streaming down from their war-torn face or even a simple jagged beard really gives them attitude and distinction. With the mouth, make it further down the face, closer to the chin. Beside each end of the lip, draw lines like the Orc has two small golf balls in his mouth. The nose should be relatively small but stout. The ears can vary from large to small. Personally, I prefer give Orcs thick ears which resemble an Elven ear if you made it bigger with some chunks taken out of it. From the face, make the neck thick and full of muscle. Where the jaw meets the ears, start the neck from there and give it a robust shape like a cylindrical tube with too much water in it. The shoulders should be the largest part of the Orc body. Orc's are known to be all strength so giving them dominant shoulders will easily create the effect. With the chest, make it come out a fair distance from the abdomina but still make each ab full of muscle and stand out from one another. A sketchy effect really works well with Orcs and gives them a more ravage rendering. Make the hands large and over-sized. For weapons, spiked clubs and two-handed axes are most proficient. For the theme, Orcs can have many characteristics. Savage Orcs dwell in the forests and have a tribal theme. Siege Orcs are equipped with copious amounts of steel armour, and so on. Overall, you want the Orc to look like it has seen many battles. And, it must retain a menacing demeanor. This could include giving it scars, a bloody axe or even a a pole of human heads.

PIXIES: There are many different types of Pixies that I could be talking about but I'm going to describe the child-like, mischievous Pixie. If you know Zelda: The Wind Waker (a video game) think of those types of characters. Make the heads big and give them a cute, little button nose. The ears are small and pointy and placed high in either side of their oblong heads. Nature really suits the Pixie for attire and for head-wear a leaf for a hat or even an acorn. If you don't do head-wear, give them wild, extravagant hair that would resemble something that is bouncy and fully of energy. Their legs should be very small and generally the same length as their stubby arms. Their hands and feet shouldn't really stand out from the limb to which they are connected so just make a subtle bump for where hands and feet would start. Smooth lines should work best with Pixies. For eyes make them big and bulbus with a large pupil. An open mouth to generate a massive smile or laughter will give your Pixie the most presence and throw in an item from the backyard as their weapon. For clothes, I recommend simple, eco-friendly stuff and a nice, thick belt. Give them cute boots and matching gloves for an extra sense of character. Overall, the Pixies is very small and should give off an energetic aura of either delight or mischief.

MINOTAUR: It's not every day someone draws a Minotaur but these beasts look amazing when shaded and detailed properly. Refer to the Minotaur as bison's torso, with a faun's legs. This combo will give a Minotaur great stature. With the head, literally think of a bison's (or a bull's) but give your Minotaur's face more skeletal structure to form a distinct face. This can be achieved by creating a more prominent jawline and cheekbone, aswell as emotional lines around the eyes. Horns give even more character so try maybe a rams horns or buffalo horns. Anything that would suit the chosen mood of the character. Angry Minotaurs grab the greatest attention so draw them roaring with their arms spread out. With the surface texture, making a balance of fur and skin can be somewhat difficult. Make the fur its thickest around the neck and shoulder, and try to avoid fur on the inner arm, chest and draw a very thin layer of fur on the front torso. For armour, shoulder-pads and a simple loincloth look good because you don't want to cover up too much of the Minotaurs features which mainly come from the creature itself. For hair, draw many tiny lines all beside each other with different shades of light and dark until the whole desired area of fur is filled in. Make sure the legs bend the opposite way to a humans legs (bend them like a flamingo's) and give it hooves. The armour could be elegant and carved with fine streaks of gold. Giving a Minotaur lush armour really makes the rest of their brutish form stand out. Make sure the head and neck are larger than any other part of their body and give their forearms extra muscle.

I hope this small tutorial helped. Remember that a character is given it's look by the way to use the pencil also. If you want a mean character, use jagged lines and a sketchy effect. If you want a nice character, be gentle on the pencil and use smooth lines and curves. Now, get drawing and create the fantasy heroes and villains you always imagined.