In depth Manga characters
Procreate, Clip Studio Paint & Photoshop
Our cover artist Julio Cesar explains how he created a colourful character that melds classic Japanese style with Brazilian flair
I want to give you a little glimpse into my personal process for character creation. I like to mix the surreal with the vibrancy of manga and use cultural references from my home of north-eastern Brazil.
We’ll start off with creating basic sketches for my cover artwork, where I experimented with different poses that not only tell a story, but also fit within the layout of the page. From there, it’s about refining the line-art, adding in extra details, and creating breathing room within the complex patterns and shapes.
Custom brushes are crucial to an efficient process, especially when dealing with the unique textures and details that give my style its signature look. We’ll also cover how choosing the right colours in your piece can elevate the character, and how a carefully designed background will serve as more than just noise; a good backdrop should complement and enhance the character itself.
The next steps consist of adding lighting and shadow, using a soft glow for a dreamlike look, and the importance of texture in bringing a character to life. Finally, we’ll add in some last decorative touches to make the character pop.
By the end of this tutorial, I hope you’ll have a grasp of the thought process and considerations that go into creating a character with both personality and a unique touch, and I hope you’ll be inspired to develop some of your own.
1 Decide on a layout with the cover in mind
When creating artwork to a brief like this piece, you’ll want to make sure that you’re on the right path from the beginning. Given that this image was going to take pride of place on the front of a magazine, I began by testing a variety of compositions to see what would work best with the ImagineFX cover layout. I had to make sure that the focal point matched the main area of negative space on the cover, and be careful not to create too much clutter that would interfere with the cover’s masthead and other text areas. You can see three of the options I drew up here, before ultimately deciding to progress with the middle version as my basis.
2 Create the sketch
Once the layout was decided, I started sketching the character in the style of my personal Alleathorium series. It’s a mix of surrealism, the style of Japanese anime and manga, and cultural motifs from the north-east of Br
