So how do you get pictures for your characters ?
Do you draw them yourself and if yes do you prefer them super detailed or stick figures ? Do you simply find a picture you like and then base the character on it ?
Personally I grab a picture with fewer details and minimal amount of clothes like this one and then draw over it to get a few versions of the character: armoured, casual, wounded, etc.
I draw them myself, in some amount of detail.
I browse art sites until I find an existing character who looks similar enough to the image I have in my head (and edit them to more closely resemble that image when viable).
I do this because it grants me a huge library of artwork I can use while pretending it is technically 'my' character, even though I know it's not.
I do lots of graphic design stuff and general editing in PS, so having vast selections of pictures to choose from is very handy for me.
>>46053030
>Do you simply find a picture you like and then base the character on it ?
Pretty much. Can't draw or justify spending my limited dosh on drawings of my imaginary mans.
I ask my sister to draw me one. (Or more like she asks me for things to draw.)
>>46053030
If I get lucky I can get my gf to draw my character for me, or specific npc's in a game. She does a good job, but can be somewhat obsessive about perfection in her drawings.
I normally give her artwork, or actors, actresses, people we know, to give her a direction to go in. Whatever we can do to get some kind of base idea to go off of.
I draw it, and hope to talk my artistic brother into making a better version.
Drawfriends, our awesome drawfriends
Pic related: My rogue trader
I'll start with a vague generic image I got from /tg/ or google.
If I like playing the character, I'll check out the local drawthreads and see if anyone wants to bite. /tg/ is unbelievably lucky to have those guys around.
Been trying to get commissions recently to support them.
>>46053030
Hoping for a friendly drawfriend, mostly. I utterly lack artistic talent and feel like I've done something terrible if I trace.
The downside is that I'm usually so thrilled to be getting anything from a drawfriend that if there are any minor mistakes I don't point them out because to so do makes me feel like an asshole.
>>46056628
On the other hand, sometimes drawfriends *nail it*.
>>46056666
And sometimes, two drawfriends show up!
Draws my own. I'm pretty shit at drawing, but It's better than trying to find existing art for the dumb shit I come up with.
I pitch the idea in a /tg/ drawthread. I've gotten quite a few characters drawn by /tg/. Really as long as you have a half-decent idea there's bound to be a drawfriend willing to do it.
Gelbooru, Pixiv and Sadpanda are the best places to look for.
>>46056823
It fits well since it seems that the charchter tried to draw himself since he is the best artist of his tribe.
Asked a friend to draw this one, i don't usualy come up with pics for most
As a DM I just take a fitting picture and photoshop it around a bit, or I trace a picture, or I photoshop some pieces together and then trace them. I just don't have the time to hand-draw every NPC.
As a player I usually look for a "close enough to get the idea" picture and scribble my character sooner or later for fun.
>>46053030
I attend character art threads whenever they pop up and grab stuff I like. I'm vanilla as fuck, so I usually find stuff that fits my characters.
Sometimes I use them as references to draw my own stuff though.
>>46056229
Is that Vladimir Putin?
>>46053101
Following your blog as of now. You have cool shit, anon.
I throw money at things to solve my imaginary people problems.
>>46053030
okay, but what the fuck is the butt ugly image you just posted?
I work out the backstory roughly in my head, then look on zerochan/the boorus/pixiv for something that just clicks with my mental image of the character.
Most of the time, I don't bother, but characters I really enjoy in long-running campaigns, I tend to at least make a token effort at drawing.
I tend to draw, since while I am iterating I tend to get more ideas for character's personality, motivation, etc.
>>46058649
Oh hey, it's floatRand. Love your art, dude.
>>46053101
>>46058649
There are some decent drawfags on /tg/.
>>46058856
One drew my gnome and her magic gun.
I haven't finished coloring it yet.
I commission them if I care enough, otherwise I use something I find.
>>46058649
>source
Dunno why, but i'd love to buy Joshua a beer.
>>46059028
>Doc D
>no bulge
one job
>>46053030
Well, I have decent image finding skills!
...also, I know how to use photoshop. Kinda.
Mostly, I can't draw shit.
So I have to merely go and find some pic that looks close enough to my character, and stick with that, making some small adjustments where needed.
Drawing character portraits is a great excuse to get my lazy ass to draw in general. Plus I never like the standard ones in most CRPGs.
>>46060751
>>46058414
Do you two ever settle on an existing character whose appearance matches your desired look perfectly, and use multiple pieces of art of that same character?
>>46061884
>>46061824
Nah, that's not Barneyfag. He would have been the third poster, minimum, and posted that same image he does every fucking time, then started whining and talking about gasing bronies when people told him to fuck off and stop derailing threads.
>>46053030
The only time I've ever used an image I didn't find from either a character art dump thread here or off grognardbooru was one time I got a drawfag to color in a picture I found off a dump thread. Character art is usually selected based on the class being played, and then impulse once I decide on the class.
>>46056666
Right you are megasatan.
>>46060884
God, I wish I could draw like you. I can barely draw a clothes on the template (this picture wasn't drawn by me as well).
Gladly I can at least paint my character's mini to use on the dungeon mat.
>>46053030
I draw, but I'm nowhere near as good as any of the drawings in this thread because I haven't been able to practice enough until recently
just had my first ever dnd session and I was playing a mid twenty year old barbarian that wears a black wolf pelt and a great sword, 4x javelins strap to his adventurer pack and two hand axes at his waste, ive always wanted a pic of him since ive been building him.
>>46060925
Sometimes, yes.
Unless I actually know said character and/or is too 'mainstream' so to speak, so that everyone would point it out.
Either way, mostly I would ask the DM if he's cool with it. If he is, that's fine.
If not, I'll keep on searching. On average, I don't miss the amount of pics, unless I am playing something -extremely- particular. (minotaur scholar, pixie pugilists, and whatever else passes my mind at character creation)
Usually though, if I find a pic for my character, I will stick with just one. I don't care about having multiple poses.
>>46062188
I'm not the most talented of artists so that's not too crazy of a wish. Hell I did that doodle on a 3ds when I should have been working.
Most anyone could tell you that the key to any talent is practice but here's an extra tip. Look at a bunch of art and animation. Higher quality the better. It may not seem like it but when you start drawing other peoples works can teach you a lot if you pay attention.
>>46062776
Yeah, reference-drawing is super important. If you wanna concentrate on getting better, drawing 50/50 from memory and from reference isn't a bad idea.
>>46053030
Danbooru, almost exclusively.
>>46062620
Come on, when did we get brony mods....
I draw my own shit...poorly.
I've never really had any classes or even your standard "here's how to draw anime" books, I just kind of have whatever I picked up from folks who can actually do art.
I go into some detail but I'm terrible with faces so my faces are usually either covered or heavily referenced from another face. I tend to go through character art threads and cherry pick pieces, armor, and qualities I like and mixing them to taste.
Pick related I know it's not drawfag tier so don't worry about insulting me
>>46063234
you know I rotated this before I posted it but shit it just decided to rotate right back.
>>46062776
>Most anyone could tell you that the key to any talent is practice
That's the issue as I don't have time for picking up another hobby/practice.
At the moment I got work plus I'm doing 40 hours overtime, learning horseback riding, learning for my driving license exam, painting my 40k minis, trying to get into a game at RPG Crossing if I won't be able to organize a game IRL and trying to get into my gaming backlog.
Well, "issue" might be the bad word, I'm glad I'm able to do all of those and can afford them but I just don't have time when people tell me "do it yourself".
>>46063234
I'd call that art good enough, and the design is nice.
Also, not having had a "how to draw anime"-book means having less dumb shit to unlearn before learning to draw for real. Whether or not you like the anime style those books were usually pretty garbage.
>>46053030
i take an image and lazily doodle over it in MS paint since i can't get my stolen version of photoshop to open up. I've done this a few times. My most recent one, is for a shadowrun game.
>>46060670
Neither do I.
>>46063234
It works for PnP. Having some reference is great, it helps to visualize character, which helps when roleplaying. Keep on good work.
I'd personally recommend all people to at least try drawing their character. Helps build character, not just appearance of.
>>46062633
Some people commission character portraits. Although not all are ready to spend $5-$30 on such. You might also get lucky in drawfag thread.
>>46053030
I exclusively use cropped hentai.
>>46063539
Ok, I'm curious. How obvious are you about this? can you post some examples.
>>46053030
>So how do you get pictures for your characters
I ask the gracious drawfags of /tg/ to provide one for me after about a week-on-average of daily bumping a request.
Pic related, a somewhat recent pic of my Techpriestess. She's changed somewhat during the course of the campaign, but it would be massively uncouth for me to request a redraw after getting this for free.Besides, her main change was certain baleestic implants.
>>46063419
Such is life. I could quote similar reason for why I'm not a better artist lol. Anyone so much energy and passion to go around. At least there's plenty of nice drawfriends around. Goes double for the deviant ones that draw cute pictures like yours.
>>46063443
another project i've been doing. if a kindly drawfag will doodle a quick sketch to get me started i can easily handle it from there.
i just get writer's block on who to start a pose.
>>46063711
That one remind's me of SIR's metatton pic.
>>46063764
Kinda makes sense. That character is a macho women. Metatton is a very feminine man(?)
>>46056687
That looks like Dick Hammersmith.
>>46060686
He is literally a porcelain doll, no genitals at all. He is a simulacrum of John Dee though, which is where the name comes from.
>>46064929
I got two words for you. hydraulic penis.
>>46060925
I generally don't, just because I feel weird using art of existing characters and I've had issues in the past with dumbshits going OH UR CHARACTER IS <anime character>?! I ROLL TO SEDUCE LOL or OH UR CHARACTER IS <anime character>?! GM THEY'RE ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER MUH IMMERSION.
>>46053030
Order of the stick has very simplistic styles, making picture creation quick and easy.
>>46053030
I use character generators from videogames or metaverses where you can design almost everything, then I pray for some drawfriend to draw them, pic related, it's my D&D 3.5 drow psychic warrior on Second Life, that place lets me take some interesting shots
>>46066169
there are some more shots, sometimes I look for interesting animations, lighting and composition
>>46053030
I used to draw pretty good portraits for my characters back in highschool.
>>46053030
I made the mistake of drawing the characters of the party I was DMing. Its honestly much more fun for them to find some loose inspiration online and roll with their imaginations. I'll draw anything not related to them or their personal items/characters.
>>46067505
>>46063419
Though you have to have some talent to even get to a point where practice helps. I cannot draw to save my life, I just don't get perspective and all that. On the plus side I am a good writer and play a lot of instruments.
I think 90% of anything is practice, but you still have to have a natural spark for it to get anywhere.
>>46066169
>>46066194
Second life is actually pretty good for references since it's easy to customize but it does tend to get expensive unless you're using all free shit which tends to look bad. And you have to have the right animations and right areas to take the screenshots in...
>>46053030
>>46062188
/tg/ is either blind or blatantly ignoring the elephant in the room.
>>46068412
We're ignoring it and so should you.
>>46068412
>>46068513
What is it that needs to be ignored?
>>46068412
Because the last person that brought it up got their posts deleted and probably banned.
>>46068599
Character in OP's picture is from an IP /tg/ (or most of 4chan, I guess) doesn't particularly like.
>>46068669
>>46068412
No one cares, you can check the earlier drama someone tried to raise.
>>46068669
I still can't get over the fact that the only people who give a shit are the ones falling over themselves to go THAT'S A PONY I KNOW BECAUSE IT WAS ON A PONY SITE
Like, tone down your power level a lil', bro, the adults are talking.
>>46053030
Typically I just scour character art threads or google images for random stuff and save it.
Deviant Art is actually not terrible for art if you know how to look. You just have to be alright with wading through a lot of sketchy shit (and if you're browsing 4chan that's probably a skill you already have a handle on).
I understand that not everyone draws, but when players or GMs use the most generic art they can find, I get rustled. Like someone using an actor from Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, or the first result for image searching "Half Elf". Like god damn it. Same reason I don't like the draw threads, so many requests are just "x celebrity's face on y video game armor set".
Our group is like, 5 artfags (except for one guy, who we all make fun of)
Here's one character of mine, not for tabletop.
>>46068873
You must be the one they make fun of.
>>46068873
Deiced to play a sad lesbian? What kind of powers do they have?
>I've got +10 to Drive Subaru and +3 dogs.
>>46056628
>I utterly lack artistic talent
Talent is an excuse, senpai.
>>46069137
-2 arms.
>>46069245
Nope, just a glum noble kid.
>>46068873
I'm the worst of the group, so I'm pretty close.
i draw my own
>>46053030
How about them appuls op?
>>46069519
holy fuck that's nice. You have a blog?
>>46053030
Google images usually but /r/characterdrawing did my character justice.
>>46069555
http://roillz.tumblr.com/i'm available for commissions
>>46069631
How much do you charge?
>>46068669
Oh, right. here I thought it was because it might be something pornographic related.
>>46069648
Depends on what kind of illustration you want, for one character like the tiefling with clothes and all that jazz, probably 30-45 dollars.
If you have something in mind you can message me on tumblr and we can work something out
>>46068412
>>46068513
>>46068599
This is honestly how it fucking should be, how it would be if people allowed others to like things they don't.
>>46053030
I look for the most detailed weeb pictures I can find, shit like this or other stuff you see in female character art dumps.
Then I shamelessly borrow those images and make fancy tokens out of them that most of /tg/ will never see because they're all obsessed with blurry and less detailed roll20 instead of based map tools.
>>46068721
This is more about people rubbernecking that someone is walking that tightrope and getting away with it, the absolute mad man, etc. I think most people are just appreciating it in a shocked surprised kind of way, not kicking up a fuss.
>>46053030
Even as a human, a horse is a horse still.
>>46069706
Please tell me retarded facial expressions are free of charge.
Drawing them myself.
In paint nowadays since I don't have a decent program and whenever I use a pencil there is a high chance it doesn't turn out the way I want to and scrap the whole thing.
>>46069910
100% free
![tumblr_nosewydbJL1rn9ge0o2_500[1].gif](https://i.imgur.com/Ccvx27Y.gif "tumblr_nosewydbJL1rn9ge0o2_500[1].gif")
>>46069631
Oh Bloodborne, we need more of you. And a sequel. As much as I love classic fantasy there's something about a setting with dirty, barely grasped medicine full of superstition, horrific experiments involving supernatural and Cthulhu and mindfuckery.
>>46053030
Can't draw to save my life
>>46057659
This works well, but I only do it if it's a side character whose description is not very important.
>>46056229
Otherwise, yeah I ask on the drawthread and the results are pretty amazing..
The picture linked to this post was done in roughly 45 minutes by a dude I don't even know (didn't give me his name) who did this for free.
Pretty much the only problem with that technique is the fact that you have to let the others get their request done before putting another.
>>46056628
I see she prefers to hold her bow ghetto style.
>>46068412
>>46068669
>ignoring the elephant in the room
Or maybe they just don't care. Have you considered the fact that not all of 4chan is /v/?
>>46053030
>Do you draw them yourself
Yes.
>do you prefer them super detailed or stick figures ?
Detailed.
>>46053030
I draw my own. I'm shit with proportions so usually my character's face appears in the margins of their character sheet with various defining bits of equipment. Our encounters tend to drag sometimes so it's a great way to stay in the game without ruining somebody's big moment
>>46068513
>>46068599
>>46068668
>>46068712
>>46069820
Oh I had no issue with it what so ever, I was just surprised I didn't see anyone demonizing it and causing fuckshit. Nice to see them getting their ass handed to them though for causing a ruckus.
>>46068669
>Character in OP's picture is from an IP /tg/ (or most of 4chan, I guess) doesn't particularly like.
Yes, and?
>>46067682
I've been on SL for 9 years, i know some builders and I know some cheap places, I know how to make animations too (And some building basics) along with cool places to take pics, so it's not really that expensive, last time I put money into that was in last years summer
>>46074056
The Dark Elves are hard to see. If you have Photoshop, try out some filters to make it look a bit better.
For medieval and fantasy stuff I usually get character portraits from books on arms and armour or fashion through the ages, then change up the colours as necesary using photoshop. The Osprey books are a real good source for stuff. I'm doing a game right now and almost all the characters portraits are cropped from Osprey stuff or similar material.
For modern, sci-fi and some other stuff I go look for old 80s cartoons and anime and grab background and side characters from those for mugshots.
I draw them because Im not a cuck
>>46071065
That'd be Souz, he's a regular miracle worker. Check his sig in the corner.
>>46074398
>Dark Elves
>being seen
>>46074398
yeah, I should redone that pic entirely, made it years ago, now I have better resources
>>46076737
lol, nice one
