faithful to the mark.

in the end it's very much like an dnd server on discord! except it's public and usually very short term (7-30 days)

essentially a commu is like a tabletop rpg with as much dice as you want, the admin team is the dm/npcs, and you recruit members based on their character sheet that they submit based on the template you make

so the foundational pillar is the admin team, which:

aw thanks!! i'm glad you like him!

he was an oc for an rp community (near-future setting with superpowers+dungeons and the characters were all gathered to do an apocalyptic dungeon crawl where if they fail to clear this particular set the whole world goes boom) and his superpower was to basically turn into a giant, 10' tall wolf (he was a tank role)

hi anon! thank you for the compliment

i do use references as a starting point in the actual design itself, and rely on a knowledge base; i follow a bunch of fashion blogs (i’ll put up a list when i have the time) and absorbed a lot from concept art books, what other media gets reblogged onto my dashboard, and the artists i follow

a lot of design hangs on what effect/look you want or what you think is necessary for the character/their role in any plot, but once you have that it’s really important to go look at refs and use it to give believability to your design while incorporating what you like personally + what you liked from other designs you’ve consumed from other media

example:

there’s usually a lot of research involved especially in designing a fandom oc, because you have to look at the existing visual language and adjust your oc to fit (e.g. overwatch and destiny are different flavours of futuristic armour that rely on different shapes and structure/layering to communicate different things)

basically it’s best to look at what already exists and use it to communicate your design to your viewer. a shirt is a shirt and only has so many variations in structure/shape, but the way you drape it, whether you add a print or physical extras like beading/etc., where the seams are/aren’t and what materials it uses will affect what effect it creates by affecting how it plays against what the viewer is willing to accept as a shirt/their suspension of belief. and you’re not limited to just clothes for this either! you can look at architecture, you can look at shoes and bags and other non-clothing fashion items, you can look at nature, you can look at household objects, etc.

hello! i’m guessing you’re talking about the art nouveau kind instead of the generic one

the most important thing in art nouveau is long, graceful lines and a very intentional, calculated placement/shapes of concentrated detail to create airiness while avoiding clutter, wrong shapes and boring empty spaces; so you really have to think about:

alphonse mucha released a book called Documents Décoratifs, which includes a whole bunch of art nouveau design elements, trims, compositions, silverware designs, etc., which will definitely help you familiarize yourself with the kind of curves and shapes that will help your work fit with the aesthetic (a bonus composition exercise might be to block out the general areas in white, grey, and dark grey depending on the level of detail to see how he separates the page; honestly the cover itself is a good example)

i think you might also notice though that usually visual artists don’t use a whole lot of filigree (alphonse mucha’s poster styles tend to rely more on sweeping lines and strategic placement of detail, usually via flowers or drapery, as well as careful division of the canvas into certain shapes); if you look at art nouveau furniture or architecture though you’ll find better, much more clear examples of the kind of stuff you’re looking for

good luck anon! art nouveau depends a lot on subtlety and you’ll find that even a small change can make things look better or worse, which might sound intimidating but also it means that the more you experiment the more you’ll be able to nail down the mood you want in one go in the future!

eta: i have an art nouveau tag

hey anon,

hello!

there are two general things that i usually consider, that is to say shape/lines that i want to use in the character design, and the effect/mood i want to achieve.

it’s easier to look at things with shapes and lines if you start with a silhouette, what i usually end up doing is blocking in the general body shape and then adding shapes/elements(lapels, belts, etc.)  to it until i find something that i like

it’s also easier to kind of get the effect you want that way, whether you want someone that is stately and imposing vs light and agile vs very decorative vs simple efficiency, etc. since a lot of that is dependent on shapes

once you have the shapes / cut of the clothes/accessories/etc. down, i guess consider the texture and material – since fabric have differing weights, it’ll affect the way it drapes (= the way you draw your lines to show folds/gravity). texture will affect the way light hits the fabric (= the way you shade/render), and can also have an effect on the mood thing mentioned above along with print/patterns on the fabric (e.g. a dress made with velvet is very different in feel from one made with taffeta, brocade, chiffon, wool, etc.)

eta: i forgot to mention! please consider motifs and colour as well ;u;b if you want to associate a character with particular symbols/shapes or colour, that is also something you want to think about and something that you can establish with design in terms of clothes (e.g. my inquisitor always wears a set of leaf pins and that makes it easier for me to incorporate it into other clothes he might wear, one of my ocs really likes stars and circles, etc.)

and obviously you need to look at some real-world examples to get an idea of what you like / what looks good / how fabrics work ;u; i follow a few lolita/ouji fashion blogs and some general edwardian/victorian blogs, but 130186 / agameofclothes are some for haute couture i generally recommend and mensfashionworld is more contemporary male fashion (though sometimes it gets pretty weird tbh). i’m also subscribed to /r/malefashionadvice and they often have outfit posts that are more useful in modern/contemporary settings, but there isn’t a really big variety and it’s mostly focused on western street fashion so keep that in mind i guess

i hope that helps!