Clip Studio Paint EXPRESSIVE CHARACTER ILLUSTRATION

Learn how Olga Andriyenko plans out and creates a challenging scene featuring a cauldron of witches

- Olga Andriyenko

There is a lot to consider when drawing a group of characters. But before getting lost within anatomy, character design and fashion choices, I focus on the story that I want to tell.

For this illustration I want to picture a lively moment of witches sharing a broom ride. I like to add some humour to my work, so I often look for inspiration in mundane, everyday moments and apply it to magical situations. Who doesn’t have a memory of squeezing into a tiny car with too many people? How would this play out on a broom with a group of excited young witches going to a magical party?

Sometimes I plan out what each character is doing in my head before I even start drawing. I think about their mood and how they could interact. When I finally start drawing, I keep it rough to be able to move and bend the characters until I find a composition that works for the story I have in my mind.

After this I can focus on the facial expressions, which I find most important for strong character art. For these, practising from reference is immensely helpful, no matter if it’s from photos or movies, or most conveniently of all your own face!

1. Keep it rough

I plan my composition with rough character sketches. I know my background will be a night sky, which is not so rigid in terms of perspective and scale, so I can ignore it for now and focus on the characters and how they interact. For multi-character scenes like this one, I pay special attention to where bodies overlap and touch. During the sketching process I keep all of the characters on separate layers to be able to move them around easily.