I'm looking forward to where this character design and illustration path is taking me.
At the beginning of this year 2026 I privately announced to my (mostly not nerdy, mostly pragmatic, strategic systems-interested early stage business owners) email list that the upheaval in my personal life was making its way into my professional life, and that I’d be shifting things quite a bit into the artsy fartsy nerdy space.
It was a big move for me: the kind of thing where you take the first step even if no one knows about it, or even if only a few people know about it but you know no one will respond (because people usually don’t, and that’s okay!)
Except someone did - and that was Marie Parks, an old friend from my early entrepreneur days. I had been part of her mastermind and attended her retreat in ABQ and we had kept in touch over the years.
I've been following along with Marie and Jes' writing adventures. I recall having a zoom call with Marie in the early isolated era of the pandemic and talking about how she's writing a heist book.
(I remember because I'm pretty sure I may have spoiled Oceans 8 for her and was horrified, but she was super nice about it!)
Marie contacted me about my commissions and asked me to draw out the characters in her crew for Flightless, her debut solo book that's a heist fantasy story with an aro/ace main character set in a world with her original humanoid species.
It was such an easy yes.
And such a nice process to work with Marie that I fear I'm spoiled now as far as my expectations with future illustration clients!
Marie filled out my commission form for each of the 8 characters she wanted me to illustrate. There was no existing artwork except for early stage sketches describing the anatomy of Marie's original species she created for the book and the actual cover of the book, created by John Sumrow (which are all fab, by the way!).
Marie graciously shared an abundance of information both as direct clips from the book and also additional descriptive material she kept in mind for the characters but didn't necessarily include in the book.
I think that was the biggest honor for me in this process: being able to sit behind the scenes and read through almost "secret" transcriptions that some characters would use to describe the others, with some character relationships going back further than potentially the real-life timelines that these people have even existed in Marie's creative mind.
I went through each character profile carefully, envisioning what I imagined for each character but not yet drawing them because I was missing some details. On a call with Marie and asked for missing elements that I couldn't quite glean from the provided excerpts. We clarified what the different humanoid species actually look like, how their clothing works. How do they hug? You know, important stuff!
Marie and Jes have an awesome Patreon where Marie shared some of the behind the scenes steps that were taken with each character. I'll recommend you go over there for some fun behind the scenes excitement!
My preferred tools
I always start with pencil sketches on good ol’ physical paper. My drawing background started back in community college when the modern idea of a "tablet" didn't exist and we were using either mice or "pen tablets" that are less known among non-artists these days.
Back then, the process was a BIC #2 pencil and digital (non-phone) camera and a whole lot of patience coloring in my drawings using whatever free software came with the family computer or my first laptop.
When I first got an ipad, I tried lots of nibs and screen covers to mimic the feel and control of a pencil on paper, but nothing really worked. So these days I draw with the same cheapo BIC#2 pencils with 2H lead in a sketchbook, scan them at high resolution on a flat bed scanner, and then use Procreate to do my linework and rendering.
Designing an Ensemble Cast on a Tight Timeline
Putting together an ensemble of chracters was really interesting! Usually if I'm given a project or a commission request for a character, I can go all in and not be overly concerned about how the character fits into the imaginary world of the person who commissioned me.
But in this case, I was creating a cast of characters that need to exist in the same universe, complement each other, and also exude the unique individual personality that the author had written into them.
This entire project took place over a few weeks, because Marie had come up with the idea for a sticker sheet in anticipation of her book launch. We had to keep a tight deadline in mind for design, approvals, and sending in the order to the printing vendor in time for her to do the fun pre-order swag promos before book launch.
Early Sketches Versus Final Render
Riff
Riff’s design evolved into a more steadfast, serious, rounded face once I learned that he is a bit younger than the men I tend to draw for my D&D characters. I enjoyed designing the leather hood update that was given to him by Tam, that would go over his roughed up, tattered poncho underneath.
I loved the diverse cast of this story. It doesnt take place in "our" world but there were mentions of race and ethnicity and of course skin colors, physical builds, physicality (personality and how they move and carry themselves) in the descriptions that Marie provided. Not to mention the new species! But I didn't have to worry about that much because most of these characters would only be seen from the shoulders and up.
Designing characters based on their stories and personalities (and not just for visual, aesthetic contrast) is SO. MUCH. FUN.
It can feel overwhelming sometimes, but I actually enjoy all of the different things that swirl around in my brain while I’m sketching, drawing, and rendering.
How do you make a male and female look like siblings but keep their very different personalities visible?
How do you make the would-be, slow-burn "couple" of the book project chemistry with each other when you're only showing one character per portrait?
What does tilting their head this way change about their facial expression?
What happens when I change where this character is looking? Does that imply something different about them? Does it make them more authoritative and confrontational? or is it just eyeballs and I'm overthinking it?
Also, how the hell does one draw angel wings?
Darrigan
I had originally proposed a serious look for Darrigan, imagining his portrait next to Riff's, and showing them as a "we'll take them down" pair. Darrigan's look changed into more of a dashing, playful expression to reflect his mischievious plans.
Vada
Vada didn't go through too much editing. I changed her eye gaze so that she and Darrigan would be making smirky eye contact on the final sticker sheet layout.
Rasaria
I admit I don't have a lot of expertise drawing flirty-girly-girls, so it was fun finding a way to depict that in Rasaria. Her original sketch didn't quite have the "glow" of being THAT GIRL but I was happy to find it in her final render.
Ori
Ori's main edits from sketch to final render were a decrease in eyebrow size and a subtle but still intimidating head tilt.
Sal
I got lucky with Sal's design. I had his face in mind when I read his character description, and my hands agreed. A kind face, bronzed skin, smile lines, and a crooked nose.
Sarai
Sarai's edits ended up being the most challenging because I knew her wings would take up most of the attention in her portrait, as well as the fact that she is older than the other characters.
Tam
Tam's design was the most fun for me. Illustrating a non-binary character allowed me to play with masculine and feminine features in character design: how do I play with roundness vs. angles? What about harsher, side lighting versus a front-facing glow? What happens if I put a lil' bit of blush on them?
Line Art and Shading
It's always an exciting time to see the characters come to life on my ipad with flat colors and then bringing them fully "online" with shading and linework adjustments. I like to keep a Disney-vague element to my artwork, with enough detail to imply a fully fleshed out character design but not so much that I feel responsible for specifying hair texture or clothing details.
Changing the color of the linework is always one of the very last steps in my process, and also one of my favorite steps overall because of how much it changes the drawing from "I drew a guy" to "This is a living, breathing character with rich history, relationships, and life experiences that cannot be replicated or possibly even fully understood by anyone other than the author and me." (And even then, that's giving us a lot of credit.)
And I'm lucky enough to have been asked to do that eight times for this project!
What an awesome time to do creative work with people you admire. :) Even in the darkest of times when drawings and pixels don't seem that important, I hope you find time to nurture your creative appetite and make things.
Tell stories.
Encourage your friends' creative projects.
Let's keep making awesome things in this world.
It's the only way to continue to claim it.