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The Handy Dandy Guide to Commission Reference Sheets from me
8 years ago
Hey all, you're probably here because you want to commission a reference sheet off me!
Or this appeared in your inbox and you're here hunting for The Salty CatsDesire Rants™ in which case, you might be in luck! Sorry if I sound passive aggressive here, by the way. The reason this exists in the first place is because I have a hard time getting the correct information out of people who want ref sheets.
So let's begin!
You want a reference sheet: There are several things that can happen here and they all depend on what you have in terms of information.
1. You want to get an updated reference sheet, you either already have a fully updated character look or you want minor changes to the character.
- This is the type that I have the least amount of trouble with. You already have your character, or you have a base form and want to add stuff, pretty straightforward, I usually don't need extra info for these types of reference sheet commissions.
2. You have drawings of your character, or several, and they're pretty accurate.
- depending on the angles we have I may need information on certain sides of the character, or you might want to update the look a bit. These are also pretty straightforward, usually there's enough visual information that I can work from it without the need of too much extra info.
3. You have no artwork at all of your character. Sometimes you don't even have a concept.
- This is where I encounter the most amount of problems. Most people don't know what artists need in order to create characters. I've had this happen a few times, and honestly? Vagueness will do you no favours, and telling me to "use my creative freedom" is a dangerous thing to say when making a character. I have a very specific aesthetic so if I use that I may create characters you guys don't like.
I need some visual imagery. You can't escape this. I have to have visual imagery if I'm to get your character right. I need imagery for the following things, or a very good written description for the following things. Luckily, you don't need a picture of your character! I just need a bunch of pictures off google, yahoo, imgur, whatever.
A. The Species of your character and it's colour schemes. I want to know what animal you want your character to be, or what humanoid/monstruous/demonic/whatever race they are, as well as a chosen colour scheme. Please note, if your colours clash, or they're retina burning neons, I WILL CHANGE THEM. I want characters to have an aesthetically pleasing look even if they're an Eldritch Tentacle Monster from The Rainbow Realm of Unicornia. As a designer, I have a good understanding of colour, how it works, and how it clashes, If you give me the most saturated green and blue to put together on a character, trust me, that doesn't look great on a screen and it will blind you if you see it, and I want to avoid those casualties. You'd be amazed how a small shift on the colour wheel can make a character look 15x better, still sort of have the same colours, but not blind you.
B. The Body Type. I need an accurate image of the character's body type. Just telling me the height and weight doesn't mean squat. Someone can be the same height as me but be buff as heck whereas I'm a vaguely blobby entity. Some reference images of the chosen body type are ideal.
C. Leg Type. Most Anthros/Furries have either DIGITIGRADE (standing on the toes, like a cat or dog) or PLANTIGRADE (walks with the entire foot touching the floor, like a human) feet. This is an important distinction to make, as it affects the entire construction of the character sketch. You don't need to send me the images, but let me know what leg type you need.
D. Hairstyle. For the love of god get me a ref image for the hairstyle. Please. The amount of times people have said "oh I want X to have long hair" without specifying what they want is too dang high. And considering my skewed perception of hair length, if you say "long hair" I immediately think of butt length hair whereas in actual reality long hair is... to your shoulders and past that?? Either way, I need a hair reference. You can tell me a character who has the same hairstyle, or send me a few pictures that kind of have a specific feel (so for example if you want a character to have dreads and braids but you can't find it exactly, send me the closest examples and tell me what you want to change.
E. Tell me your character's personality. This helps immensely with designing them. A character's personality should shine through their design, and a sneaky villainous thief will not have the same feel as a nerdy acolyte, even if the species, body type, hairstyle, whatever else, is the same. You don't have to tell me their life story but a general outline of who they are, what they do, what their personality is like will greatly help me.
F. Accessories. If your character has accessories, get me references. If they wear clothes, get me some refs. Again, if doesn't need to be exact, but get me images that give me the feel of what you want. Also, if you ever don't have a reference, don't tell me to give a "cool" accessory of some kind. This isn't meant in a mean way but simply because certain terms are very subjective. If I think Sophisticated, I think elven jewelry, or medieval dressed that nobility would wear, whereas someone might think sophisticated is modern day "rich people" styles. Point is, everyone has different ideas of what cool, cute, awesome is, so to avoid me just going ham on your character and making something you might not like, just get me references.
G. Give me a sense of setting. This is optional, most people just want a fursona or character to use in multiple settings, so this isn't viable, but if you have a specific D&D type setting or whatever, let me know the setting your character will be in! It helps the design process.
So this is the gist of it. If you want a character, and you have no visual references, please get me things of each category, where applicable. This will literally get your character as close to your vision as possible. Creative freedom is fun, but the more information I have to work on, the better! If you give me something vague to work with, it can be very lackluster, since I won;t have any good ideas to work from.
Also, lets take a very vague description, and you'll understand why I need all of these references:
"black and white female cat anthro, with long white hair, and green eyes. Muscular"
Ok, we have a very vague description, here are some character designs I cam make from this, and this is without references, or context, or personality.
1. A sleek and toned looking cat lady, with a suspicious looking face that you wouldn't trust, her deep green emerald eyes glint like the gems she has in her sights. She carries herself in a way that would suggest grace, but also silence. Probably a thief or assassin, either way, capable of getting herself into and out of trouble. Her white hair is slicked back into a tight braid to keep it out of her eyes. Her black fur only has a small medallion of white on her chest.
2. Very muscular, almost top heavy. This cat lady has almost a pure white coat, where it not for the "socks" on her hands and feet. She has a very casual and friendly manner, but something about her has this heroism. She has a very square jaw, one could almost mistake her for a lion. She can lift heavy things all on her own and enjoys showing off. Her white hair is kept in a messy bun, and when you find out that she's a firefighter, it doesn't surprise you. She has bright yellow-green eyes that look honest.
3. She walks hunched over, and through the matted masses of black and white fur, you can't tell how strong she is, but if her sheer size and wild forest-green eyes were to be any clue, you'd suspect you wouldn't want to pick a fight with this feral goliath of a cat beast. Her manners are entirely barbaric, and were it not for the tone of her growls, you wouldn't have even been able to tell that she was female.
These 3 are absolutely not the same character, but the extra information really brings flare to that initial description, doesn't it? This is why adding to that initial description and giving me references is so important. Instead of having a really boring character you might get tired of, why don't you add to it, and make a much more memorable character?
Just an FYI, I don't hate the phrase "I give you creative freedom in this design", but as stated above, it doesn't make me particularly excited to make a character out of nothing, when I have no context, or personality. HOWEVER. If you give me a character prompt with a basic description, but a very fleshed out context, that will give me a better idea and I might be able to design something truly memorable.
For example. "Elven Rogue, for a D&D setting that takes place in a very fae-heavy realm, where trickery and subterfuge are a necessary skill to learn in a world that appears flamboyant, but in reality is deadly to those who can't keep up to the whims of those who rule. The character has a noble background, but is very comfortable in dealing with unsavoury customers that they may encounter. An important Quest Giver NPC that will later be seen in an underground Thieves Guild and confronted for their treachery towards the group."
This is a very vague description of the character itself, but the purpose of the character is clear, and the setting is made clear. I can go as wild as I want so long as the character fits the context. Also, this makes me excited to design a character with a purpose!
Or this appeared in your inbox and you're here hunting for The Salty CatsDesire Rants™ in which case, you might be in luck! Sorry if I sound passive aggressive here, by the way. The reason this exists in the first place is because I have a hard time getting the correct information out of people who want ref sheets.
So let's begin!
You want a reference sheet: There are several things that can happen here and they all depend on what you have in terms of information.
1. You want to get an updated reference sheet, you either already have a fully updated character look or you want minor changes to the character.
- This is the type that I have the least amount of trouble with. You already have your character, or you have a base form and want to add stuff, pretty straightforward, I usually don't need extra info for these types of reference sheet commissions.
2. You have drawings of your character, or several, and they're pretty accurate.
- depending on the angles we have I may need information on certain sides of the character, or you might want to update the look a bit. These are also pretty straightforward, usually there's enough visual information that I can work from it without the need of too much extra info.
3. You have no artwork at all of your character. Sometimes you don't even have a concept.
- This is where I encounter the most amount of problems. Most people don't know what artists need in order to create characters. I've had this happen a few times, and honestly? Vagueness will do you no favours, and telling me to "use my creative freedom" is a dangerous thing to say when making a character. I have a very specific aesthetic so if I use that I may create characters you guys don't like.
WHAT I NEED FROM YOU IF YOU HAVE NO VISUAL IMAGERY FOR YOUR CHARACTER.
I need some visual imagery. You can't escape this. I have to have visual imagery if I'm to get your character right. I need imagery for the following things, or a very good written description for the following things. Luckily, you don't need a picture of your character! I just need a bunch of pictures off google, yahoo, imgur, whatever.
A. The Species of your character and it's colour schemes. I want to know what animal you want your character to be, or what humanoid/monstruous/demonic/whatever race they are, as well as a chosen colour scheme. Please note, if your colours clash, or they're retina burning neons, I WILL CHANGE THEM. I want characters to have an aesthetically pleasing look even if they're an Eldritch Tentacle Monster from The Rainbow Realm of Unicornia. As a designer, I have a good understanding of colour, how it works, and how it clashes, If you give me the most saturated green and blue to put together on a character, trust me, that doesn't look great on a screen and it will blind you if you see it, and I want to avoid those casualties. You'd be amazed how a small shift on the colour wheel can make a character look 15x better, still sort of have the same colours, but not blind you.
B. The Body Type. I need an accurate image of the character's body type. Just telling me the height and weight doesn't mean squat. Someone can be the same height as me but be buff as heck whereas I'm a vaguely blobby entity. Some reference images of the chosen body type are ideal.
C. Leg Type. Most Anthros/Furries have either DIGITIGRADE (standing on the toes, like a cat or dog) or PLANTIGRADE (walks with the entire foot touching the floor, like a human) feet. This is an important distinction to make, as it affects the entire construction of the character sketch. You don't need to send me the images, but let me know what leg type you need.
D. Hairstyle. For the love of god get me a ref image for the hairstyle. Please. The amount of times people have said "oh I want X to have long hair" without specifying what they want is too dang high. And considering my skewed perception of hair length, if you say "long hair" I immediately think of butt length hair whereas in actual reality long hair is... to your shoulders and past that?? Either way, I need a hair reference. You can tell me a character who has the same hairstyle, or send me a few pictures that kind of have a specific feel (so for example if you want a character to have dreads and braids but you can't find it exactly, send me the closest examples and tell me what you want to change.
E. Tell me your character's personality. This helps immensely with designing them. A character's personality should shine through their design, and a sneaky villainous thief will not have the same feel as a nerdy acolyte, even if the species, body type, hairstyle, whatever else, is the same. You don't have to tell me their life story but a general outline of who they are, what they do, what their personality is like will greatly help me.
F. Accessories. If your character has accessories, get me references. If they wear clothes, get me some refs. Again, if doesn't need to be exact, but get me images that give me the feel of what you want. Also, if you ever don't have a reference, don't tell me to give a "cool" accessory of some kind. This isn't meant in a mean way but simply because certain terms are very subjective. If I think Sophisticated, I think elven jewelry, or medieval dressed that nobility would wear, whereas someone might think sophisticated is modern day "rich people" styles. Point is, everyone has different ideas of what cool, cute, awesome is, so to avoid me just going ham on your character and making something you might not like, just get me references.
G. Give me a sense of setting. This is optional, most people just want a fursona or character to use in multiple settings, so this isn't viable, but if you have a specific D&D type setting or whatever, let me know the setting your character will be in! It helps the design process.
So this is the gist of it. If you want a character, and you have no visual references, please get me things of each category, where applicable. This will literally get your character as close to your vision as possible. Creative freedom is fun, but the more information I have to work on, the better! If you give me something vague to work with, it can be very lackluster, since I won;t have any good ideas to work from.
Also, lets take a very vague description, and you'll understand why I need all of these references:
"black and white female cat anthro, with long white hair, and green eyes. Muscular"
Ok, we have a very vague description, here are some character designs I cam make from this, and this is without references, or context, or personality.
1. A sleek and toned looking cat lady, with a suspicious looking face that you wouldn't trust, her deep green emerald eyes glint like the gems she has in her sights. She carries herself in a way that would suggest grace, but also silence. Probably a thief or assassin, either way, capable of getting herself into and out of trouble. Her white hair is slicked back into a tight braid to keep it out of her eyes. Her black fur only has a small medallion of white on her chest.
2. Very muscular, almost top heavy. This cat lady has almost a pure white coat, where it not for the "socks" on her hands and feet. She has a very casual and friendly manner, but something about her has this heroism. She has a very square jaw, one could almost mistake her for a lion. She can lift heavy things all on her own and enjoys showing off. Her white hair is kept in a messy bun, and when you find out that she's a firefighter, it doesn't surprise you. She has bright yellow-green eyes that look honest.
3. She walks hunched over, and through the matted masses of black and white fur, you can't tell how strong she is, but if her sheer size and wild forest-green eyes were to be any clue, you'd suspect you wouldn't want to pick a fight with this feral goliath of a cat beast. Her manners are entirely barbaric, and were it not for the tone of her growls, you wouldn't have even been able to tell that she was female.
These 3 are absolutely not the same character, but the extra information really brings flare to that initial description, doesn't it? This is why adding to that initial description and giving me references is so important. Instead of having a really boring character you might get tired of, why don't you add to it, and make a much more memorable character?
Just an FYI, I don't hate the phrase "I give you creative freedom in this design", but as stated above, it doesn't make me particularly excited to make a character out of nothing, when I have no context, or personality. HOWEVER. If you give me a character prompt with a basic description, but a very fleshed out context, that will give me a better idea and I might be able to design something truly memorable.
For example. "Elven Rogue, for a D&D setting that takes place in a very fae-heavy realm, where trickery and subterfuge are a necessary skill to learn in a world that appears flamboyant, but in reality is deadly to those who can't keep up to the whims of those who rule. The character has a noble background, but is very comfortable in dealing with unsavoury customers that they may encounter. An important Quest Giver NPC that will later be seen in an underground Thieves Guild and confronted for their treachery towards the group."
This is a very vague description of the character itself, but the purpose of the character is clear, and the setting is made clear. I can go as wild as I want so long as the character fits the context. Also, this makes me excited to design a character with a purpose!
