Did you know this was a thing? I definitely did not.
Let me give some context by telling a story. On Instagram, I’m participating in an event that asks authors to share details about their characters–physical appearance, likes and dislikes, secrets, etc. My characters all have a fantasy twist (like being green or, I don’t know, a talking dog) so I always have trouble when it comes to physical descriptions or finding look-alike actors or stock images for them. My one attempt in the past to commission some unique art depicting my characters didn’t go well, either. (As a side note, I bet most art commissions go much more smoothly than that one did, and it’s a really cool thing to do!) So when I realized that I had to share details about my characters on Instagram this week, I thought, “well–maybe I should just try creating images myself!”
Cue lots of looking on Pinterest for advice on drawing chibis. 🙂
A “chibi” is a particular style of character with a really big head, huge eyes, and rounded proportions. It’s generally meant to be a cuter version of reality, in the way a puppy is a softer, more adorable version of a dog. If you read manga or watch anime, you’ve probably seen a chibi character at some point.
I’ve always been a doodler, but I know my limits, and drawing realistic people is definitely one of them. So if I can’t draw precise detail, I thought, why not try for simple and cute? 😉
When I put my little chibis up on Instagram for the event, I didn’t expect much–as always, my art did not quite live up to my expectation. But the response so far has been very warm: turns out, when it comes to envisioning characters, any doodle is better than no doodle, as far as most people are concerned! And in making my post, I stumbled across the hashtag #authorsdrawingcharacters. So, apparently, this is a thing. 🙂
I have to say, I think it’s a neat way to share not only physical appearance but something of the tone of your work–for example, with mine, goofy and cute chibis match the light-hearted, fantastical nature of my stories. I may even draw more characters! After all, practice makes perfect, right? 🙂
