Unlocking Creativity: Exploring Croquis for Character Design

Example of Croquis Templates by Ralph Contreras

Streamlining Character Creation: Embracing Croquis Templates

Character Design is one of my favorite things to do. In fact, I’ve probably created over 100 characters in the past few years. For my comic book, design challenges, and just for fun. but sometimes I feel like I’m spending way too much time just drawing the form. So I decided to give Croquis a try to let the creative juices flow. A Croquis is a figure template you can trace over and add a character’s costumes to.

Character created by Ralph Contreras using a Croquis Template

A few years ago I created a female Croquis for my other blog Comic Book Graphic Design. I took that template and extended it to have 3 figures. Here’s one of the characters I created using the Croquis. A Roller Derby type character with spikes. It was fun just to add the elements of the costume to the character and not have to worry about drawing the form. I traced the figure and added goggles, spikes, and a big “A” on her belt. She has a very 90’s X-Men feel, well at least to me, lol.

I’m happy with the way this character came out. I’ll have to write a short comic story with her in it or put her as a background character in one of my comic book projects. I’ve included a youtube video of me drawing over the Croquis and creating this character.

Faces Unveiled: A Gallery of New Portraits from My Sketchbook

Four Faces Drawn by Ralph Contreras

Sketching Expressions: A New Sketch Book and New Faces

Here are some faces from my new sketchbook. I’m always buying new sketchbooks because they inspire me to keep creating. I have a small stack of unfinished sketchbooks though, lol. I found a nice variety of different faces on Pinterest, which served as a great reference for drawings in my new sketchbook.

I’ve been challenging myself to draw as many faces as I can. A few months ago, I attempted to draw 100 faces as part of the 100 Heads challenge. While I didn’t quite reach that goal, I had a lot of fun in the process. Now, I’ve decided to start again and continue drawing as many heads as possible. It’s not about the specific number this time around, but rather about the practice and improvement.

Each of these head sketches took me about 20 to 30 minutes to complete. I wanted to strike a balance between capturing the essential features and maintaining a sense of spontaneity in my drawings. And I must say, I’m really pleased with the way they turned out. I learn something new and gain more confidence in my artistic abilities.

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions

Copyright © 2000-2024, All rights reserved unless otherwise noted herein.