Unique Doesn't Always Mean Good

So you’ve dabbled in art a bit, built up some skill drawing people, plants, animals, buildings. Your art looks nice, it’s been great practice, but at a certain point you get that itch to flex your creativity. You start thinking about creating a character of your own! Time to start imagining what they are. Are they human? Animal? An insect? Monstrous being? How do you make it unique? This is art, there are no rules, it can be anything, right? Well.

Hello there! My name’s Kanjon, I talk about art things, and I want to get back to some thoughts on art today with some help on character design. It’s not uncommon as a new artist to want to make your own characters: I encourage it! But I’ve seen plenty of folks get tripped up on the idea that their character has to be ultra-unique, inserting ideas that are different… just to be different. It can end with confusion and frustration even before you’ve figured things out. But why?

When we make art, we want to make something that makes us feel satisfied. Or at least, something that can help us get some expressions and inner emotions out. One way to form those connections is to make your own character. It’s fun to start thinking about what kind of character that would be, and for a lot of people, it’s starting with something familiar that we like. At some point you might start thinking of how to make that character unique. Maybe you’re adding some horns onto a human. Or, the popular furry approach of an anthro animal-humanoid character. These are nice! What can start to really mess things up is when you want to make a character a little too unique. “Why should art just be about humans, or animals?”, you wonder. “I’m going to make something completely new. My character is from a universe where things don’t have faces or limbs.” You might run into trouble.

Imagination has basis in reality. As people, the things that we find cool and inspiring are things that we can relate to. They start with what we know, and turn it into something even more interesting. (Why do you think furries are popular?) Like anime characters with horns and cat ears. Or mystical plant people. Heck, even minions, yellow pill-shaped objects but with familiar faces and limbs. These are the things we remember, we recognize, we relate to. These are things that we can see emotions in because they have things like a face!

If you make a character that starts from reality, you can use what you’ve been learning: humans, plants, animals, objects. You have references to draw from, you have a mental library of what you’re familiar with. If you imagine something up from nothing, you don’t really have much to pick from, and you’ll struggle figuring out what abstract appearance they’d have in different situations or poses. What does a pose even mean to an amorphous being? How can you communicate expression?

Now, don’t get me wrong, if you like the character you’ve made, that’s all that matters. But… I’ve seen people think they want this, but later get upset when they realize that others don’t like it or are confused by what it’s supposed to be. Then they realize they felt confused about it themselves. It can still be art, but is it art that helps show your feelings? Your expression? Does it communicate? Don’t mix this up: a character doesn’t have to be real to have a basis in reality. Dragons are popular throughout history. They’re a mash-up of lizards, snakes, bats, magical powers. They’re believable in art and help that art communicate.

Don’t worry if your character doesn’t feel original enough. It’s OK! What makes your character unique is how you bring them to life in your art. If you want to change their appearance later, nothing’s stopping you! Just… get a feel for the character first. Let them come to life and evolve naturally instead of trying to force things together. Heck I’ve changed the design of my own character a few times over the years. Nothing wrong with it. Let it come together. Get comfy making something familiar – I think you’ll like it.