Concept art dump: Development of Azazel/Ling
I've posted most of the these before quite a while ago, but I thought it would be fun to compile the concept art journey I go through for a lot of my characters. I've chosen Ling here because she's probably the character I drew the most before actually putting in the comic.
Part of that is about getting the design just right, but another element is that I find I don't really understand a character until I've drawn them quite a bit. Her story was mostly in my script, but her personality didn't really gel until after I drew her so much. It's a fun process, if time-consuming.
Above are most of the concept sketches that led to her introduction in Dark Science, with the images posted chronologically. I think you can see the broad strokes of Ling's character taking shape as I went on.
Comments (7)
I find fascinating the process of discovering your character through repeated sketching. Would you say that subconsciously you know what you want/need in a character, and drawing them again and again that thing comes out of you into the drawing, "informing" you so to speak?
It really depends. Sometimes I have a pretty strong idea for a character, but drawing them a bunch upturns some of those ideas and I take them in a different direction. Other times drawing them a bunch just reinforces my image of them and makes me more confident
Ling has quickly become one of my most favourite characters in DS. I love how much her ears (?) add to her expressiveness. Really enjoy seeing her in comics and interacting with our protagonist :)
The progression from hardcore to cute is very obvious. Her final design is definitely the best one, but I like the eyes on image 9 best.
When she was introduced, I thought she looked pretty cool but wasn't really sure what to make of her. But once we started seeing more of her personality, expressiveness, vulnerability, she quickly became one of my favorite characters :)
it's so cool to see this process!! also, the height marker that just says 'tall' cracked me up
Thanks! It's funny, looking at them again in order, one thing element that definitely developed through drawing Ling is that kind of melancholy vulnerability. Initially she was more boisterous and rough, but I think that more delicate, withdrawn component of her character comes through in the final sketches.