CHARACTER DESIGN 1: THUMBNAILING 

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Even when you say "aside of kim jung gi, every artist use references" Kim Jung Gi said in his facebook livestream that he spend good time studying references. He doesn't use them while he's drawing, but that's because he already studied them before. Great video btw.

He's trippin those floating masks were FIRE

Rob Sevilla is the artist of the second sketch. Great video James!

I've never seen someone work outside-in. That was a treat to watch since I was really struggling with stiff poses.

I think way back in an interview, kim said that he starts each day by consuming a large collection of reference.

Best line: try to channel your inner Bob Ross.

Absolutely LOVED the floating masks idea!! Nothing "cheesy" about it, absolutely genius!! Spectacular work, as always! 👏🔥👏

“In hindsight I thought the floating masks were cheesy.” ...I liked them pff- lol

I went through a pretty bad burn out after quite allot of stress from school and stopped doing art for a few months. I pushed through and started a portfolio for a local games publisher, though noticed my art now looked stiff and wonky. Thanks to this video I relearned why and am now on my way to creating concept art for 505 games, thanks! (I mean work experience, I’m not quite at the stage to properly start any career)

watching you always makes me want to draw. Even if I've just spent hours drawing and I feel like I should go and relax a little on youtube. If i come across your latest vid I usually just end up going back to draw. Been following you for so long now and you're always improving. keep it up james!

Once again! This is gold, love your tutorials and I like the dynamism of your gestures. I will love to see how much groundwork and exercises have you done to get those dynamic lines and line weights

James you're work here on this channel is top notch !! Every single info you through is worth a gold mine! It almost feels unfair to learn all this for free!! Thank you so much for your hard work.

This is incredibly useful info, very helpful. Thank you, James!

Thanks for these! I'd also like to hear more in detail about shape language. Triangles being action, danger, circles being friendly, etc and techniques to apply in character designs. Lighting seems to be integral for storytelling and character design but it is hard to learn!

so precious guidelines for the character creating process. thank you so much for sharing

Thank you soooo much. I needed this so bad

MDJ -Well done. It was entertaining in a 'this is how I do it' kind of way even if one is not an artist. Very insightful. The way you can just fly through your process shows many years of effort.

This was really useful. I have a hard time keeping forms loose and it tends to make the end result awkward and not what I meant at the offset. This video gave me a better idea of how to use thumbnails to my advantage. Thanks.

Bro thank you, the whole thing is so practical and applicable. It really gave me direction for my own process! If I find a part 2 on the channel I’m subbing:)

I liked the floating masks tbh

Love it!! Thank you for guiding me into concept art!

Your art has gotten so much better. Your gesture also has improved a bunch

See how refined your skills are always inspires me

Please make a part 2!! I love your videos, thank you!!

Thanks MDJ! Really helpful, and inspiring. God bless you.

Great video, the background music is just perfect

I love how Kim jung gi is universally described the same way. Lol

Flippin THANK YOU, this helped me figure out my big issue: trying to "construct" the body armature before doing anything else and my figures/gestures all coming out boring and flat.

I am very happy that I come across with this channel. I like it and I get a lot of tips and techniques for my craft. thank you.

Hey I don't really have anything of substance to say but I really like your videos and I thank you for providing so many people with such high-quality videos! Holy shit I just realized that 90% of this video's comments are saying the exact same thing oh nOOo now I'm a BORiNG perSON

Me just enjoying the process cuz it looks dope

Omg so dynamic so coolll!

Thank you

I like to draw super neutral poses when making character sheets

This is incredible. Thank you. :)

Its amazing watching your art evolution , most of people decide to make videos of their work only at the stage where they are already profesionally doing character designs , your channel showed the fundamental steps of learning first before reaching this level ,so we can all trace the steps of what it actually takes to do this , very inspiring !

very nice! I would really love that pencil brush and smudges ! are u working on PS or do u use some different softwares for sketches/thumbnails? Cheers

This is so damn cool, I going one day to be able to do this too!

Very Useful.

Thanks alot.You have really cool content I love this tutorial !!!!

I’m so glad you said what you said about cheating, I’ve been feeling like a fraud for some time🙂

Hi James, have u got in gumroad any tutorial about digital color painting? Than u so much. Your job is amazing

the floating masks are fucking cool... why do you think they were "cheesy"?

Is there a part 2?

very beautiful thanks for sharing 👍👍👍

Bad idea? I find floating masks is brilliant.

How long should you spend on the thumb nailing process?

I'm gonna try character design in June 2021 because I'll know anatomy by then. 😊

It sucks that I was shooting in the dark for all this year and finally derived some of the tips you put at the very beginning. That's the way of learning for free I guess. You'll have to search for the answer in a sea of information. Nobody there to show one where the best fishing locations are.

Yay, youtube class 😗

Wow. It is nice to use thumbnails for character design like that. That is very helpful. Thanks a lot :) I am trying to design a dragon character. It is really difficult. It is tricky trying to get the anatomy and proportions right. I am going for some kind of dinosaur-pterosaur hybrid with a snaky build. I am finding that thumbnails can be very helpful. It is more efficient if I sketchout different body forms repetedly until I am satisfied. Then I can move on and devlop details. Details are things like scales, claws and facial features. Dragons are traditionally depicted as terrifying monsters of folklore. However I am going for a different approach. I like the anatomy and look of dinosaurs in modern depictions. I would like to incorperate that. The dragon character is a companion for the woman protagonist. The woman rides the dragon while traveling for adventure. The dragon is a misunderstood good guy. He also turns into a beautiful man, and becomes the love interest. So I would like to make a dragon look as natural and attractive as humanely possible. That is a huge design challenge. I like to have a snaky appearance with long skinny neck and tail. It gives a nice touch of masculinity to the character. It also makes the dragon good for riding on during travels. It helps me go where I am aiming.

About how long do you spend on a thumbnail?

Wait what program do you use

I wanted draw like you.. Please how did you end up in this road.. Teach me!!

when you go into detail like this whats the differance between a sketch and a thumbnail?

Can you tell us please what are the books you've mentioned that covered folds? Thanks

I LOVE BOGLES

Will this video have a part2?

Is this series only available for 2 days?

I notice you "flip" your drawings through out. Is that so you can see mistakes that you otherwise might not see on the original direction? NM you answered my question at 10:30 LOL great stuff!!!

Cool content. You could talk about Alex Toth, he was FIRE.

Amazing vid as always. Keep up the good work and hopefully I'll try to keep up :p

Hi, what programa you use for your sketches?

Hey what's up here to support dope video

What is the brush you are using?

Your voice is lovely

как же красиво рисуешь

I wanted to subscribe but then it turned out I was subscribed

Ugh, why is he so good

i really like to download that thumbnails and try to breakdown

By the way, what is the name of the software that you are currently using please let me know know in the comments section thank you.

What program was this done on?

❤

Does anyone know what drawing program he’s using

Question, when do we use static poses and dynamic poses when designing a character?

Use

what if my focus is not so much on how something looks but on how something feels,it can be through color,shape language or line quality?

Hello , Do you have your website?

Can I take character artist as my career?

creative

Me: Oh I like this thing he's doing with the masks MDJ: Excuse this cheesy, trash - it was in poor taste Me: Dies a little.

What is the name pf this pencil?? ❤️

I think you could do more than tree thumbs. It's like you stressed to get to the next stage. I think there are some issues with the one you picked and it doesn't pop. It's not a confident pose, it's a weak and "old" pose. like you are at the end of your life and carry all the weight of it on you. I think for an example like this you should have gone for a more fresh and "young" pose. You have a great artstyle though and I love it.

I wish i could be as good as you

Check out draw like a sir

make a how to draw eyes vid

Lots of soup, but no fish, as it were.....

What software?

Pls PT-BR legend

Do u draw with mouse??!!!!

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The artist you mentioned; Jesper, Yesper...Esing, Icing?

Can you make video on proportion... Please

Nice video,great sharing so beautiful friend👍❤️👍.

lucky me I've taken a class on it

i am not good at drawing people or characters based on a video game .?

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I think the masks aren't cheesy, but rather predictable. If it has an actual function and isn't just for aesthetic then I believe it can be used well and be beneficial.