Continuing my artsy mood, here is a pen drawing I’ve been working on. It’s actually a drawing of the 3 protagonists from…my novel (no, no, no, I did promise to be more open with my own writing). It’s still a work in progress, as you can clearly see the bridge on which they’re standing is unfinished.
Things I am terrible with: backgrounds, perspective, and details. This is the most “background” I’ve ever put into a piece of art, and if you peer closely at it, you’ll realize exactly how sketchy I’ve left things. Oh, and this is supposed to be London. That’s St. Paul’s Cathedral in the back. Because it’s probably not recognizable.
I don’t actually sketch my characters that often, and this isn’t a scene that takes place in my novel. But sometimes art functions a bit like a Pensieve for me: a way to siphon out excess thoughts, images, moods, and feelings so I can step back and observe at a remove.
I don’t actually put a great deal of thought into the way my characters look, any more than do in my writing. I have basic sketches in mind (race, sex, hair color, build, eye color–in that order), but don’t actually know until I put pencil to paper what other subconscious details will emerge.
Raphael Ferreira (left): Of Indian descent, boy, dark hair, muscular in an I-am-a-labourer sort of way, green eyes.
Eva Pryce (middle): Mixed Japanese and English, girl, dark hair, slim but athletic, dark eyes.
Alasdair Crawford (right): Scottish but more nebulously “Anglo”, boy, fair hair, slender, brown eyes.
I discover things as I draw that don’t necessarily translate to something visual that I file away and store for later. For instance, Raphael is quite literally rough around the edges: he doesn’t always lace his shoes, his hair is ragged, there is always dirt in his fingernails. This makes me realize that he is somewhat reckless and careless in other areas of his life. He slouches and he leans because he is casually arrogant, and his high status back in the East End leads him to believe he can get away with whatever he wants. This is what I mean by subconscious details that start to emerge.
Other things I’ve discovered about my characters include the fact that Eva apparently never wears trousers, despite her practical nature, and that Alasdair’s clothes that look fashionable–although upon closer inspection, they are seen to be machine-made and of cheaper materials.
What does that tell me about them? Despite the fact that her best friend is an urchin from the East End, Eva is a realist. She’s a girl, and a girl who tries to change things by working with the system. Alasdair’s entire life is composed of a carefully maintained facade, keeping people at a distance despite yearning for their acceptance.
So that’s it. What about you? Do any of you draw, sketch, or “cast” your characters while you write?
I don’t, but I wish I could!
For a while I subscribed to Seventeen so that I could clip out any randoms who fit the look of my characters. But really, my mind’s eye is so much more accurate that the pictures sometimes just frustrated me.
Love this sketch and your explanations. Can’t wait to (hopefully?) hear more about your WIP. :)
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Yeah, “casting” books I read is always tough for me because the actors never look like the characters in my head. (For example, every time I read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, I envision Lizzy as a dirty blonde.) The only actor to ever physically embody a character in my head was Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby.
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Love your sketch! Especially love the atmosphere–and I did recognize St. Paul’s. :)
I tend to draw my characters before and during writing about them, too. I’m a very visual person (despite having horrible nearsightedness), so I can’t quite describe them until I can see them on paper and get their details right.
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I usually don’t bother describing characters in detail (and I prefer not to read it either, actually) aside from basic sex, race, hair/eye color. It may be because I don’t really describe people in real life, even to myself, so why would I care to see it in a book? (Unless it was somehow relevant to what was going on.)
I too, am a visual person with debilitating nearsightedness! Hurrah! (I cannot function without corrective lenses of some sort. I have an impressively large prescription. And by impressive, I really mean depressing.)
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Haha–probably not as impressive as mine. >:D My prescription is large enough that when I go to most eyewear stores, my prescription contacts are the highest they stock in store without custom ordering. That’s never a good sign! Fortunately it hasn’t changed since I was in high school so at least I’m not like, spiraling into completely blindness. :)
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Mine are pretty bad too! I also have to special order my contacts. :( And my prescription is STILL changing. :(((
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I love your cartoons! I used to sketch a lot of my characters and worlds (especially when working on a fantasy). That being said, I cannot draw. I can copy decently, and I can paint, but my eye for proportion in humans is awful. I’ve since bought a book to start practising from.
Any new developments on Elijah’s Chariot?
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I can’t draw at all. Wish I could. You say your backgrounds are bad? You should see mine.
I build long, detailed backstories for my characters while I search for that perfect name. That is always interesting since names are very important to me. I’ll scour foreign newspapers or search baby name lists to find non-US names. Then I’ll usually scour the internet for pictures of faces. Anything to give my characters more reality in my own head.
It is amazing how much more fun and rewarding this is than my day job. Any guess what that might be???
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I love this!….
I like the sketch you did of me better, it captures my :::ahem::: ample backside perfectly :)
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