Eyes that are two different colors can be good if they aren’t overdone.

Send this to everyone on DeviantArt right now lol

Pet peeve that is actually used in actual anime and games.... Weak armoer=covers a good amount of the body. Stable and strong against weaponry Strong super armor= covers only breasts and groin everything else is unprotected leaving the character extreamely vulnerable WHAT IS THIS LOGIC?!?!

one time i got bored so i made an oc based off burnt ramen noodles that morning i almost burned down my house because i forgot to put water in my ramen I'll probably go back now and try to re-design the oc to fit better with an "oh darn my house burned down and I almost died" vibe

One of my OC's has an eye patch, I got inspired to draw her when a fly flew into my eye

my friend and I used to write stories together in Middle school, me being the writer and her being the illustrator. We would collaborate together with the plot events and character design and we ended up with a girl wearing a business suit with a few cosplay elements like cat knee highs and a cape because she was the CEO of a "super business corporation" but she had an extreme love of anime and manga. Her struggle was keeping it a secret while also trying to do business stuff. Looking at this video and how we designed the character I had a good nostalgic laugh.

I actually have a self insert Mary Sue character with a design I chose purely because I like it, but I use her as a coping method so I can write about her when I have a bad day. I find it fun to just imagine myself being super powerful, neurotypical and able to cope with anything.

Here’s some tips for people with characters that wear uniforms : Story - - different “rankings” would have clothing suited to that “rank” ( e.g. members in a big cooking club could have typical uniform aprons vs smaller tight-knit groups could have their own custom clothing and aprons ) - consider fabrics and cost. as mentioned in the video, some things may not be accessible to others by location and wealth. so maybe people with less wealth can’t get newer uniforms due to cost so they reuse hand-me-downs - some people might’ve got the wrong size for their uniform. this is in more of a story perspective if you’re trying to introduce more characters. So for example, a new student might’ve gotten a uniform that was meant to be for someone else and they go to return it or something Personality - - think about their personality and how will they wear it to show that. Rebels, charismaniacs, and council members all have varying moods to them and will probably wear uniforms that match with that theme. some people maybe won’t even wear certain pieces of their uniform if they’re inconvenienced ( e.g. if they have a shirt and a jacket, they might just wear only the shirt ) - people with tight schedules might wear things more messily / people with lots of time or have others to help them will wear their uniforms very neatly and tidy. - consider if the place allows usage of different uniforms ( over three main designs is overkill ) with maybe some different colours that still match the other variations. this can also includes adding different pieces to their uniform like light cardigans or different socks to the norm ** You can also take note of a few of these if you’re making a sort of school/camp series. Edits : changed layout so it’s easier ( ? ) to read, grammar mistakes fixed

The first "ocs" i ever made was when i was in 1st grade. They were two rabbits named jake and sarah and they were my only friends. I called them characters because i refused to call them imaginary. My childhood was sad lol

She has big eyes and I like her real eyes alongside the way she draws eyes. Her voice and her hair too.

It's even worse when they make the OC in Gacha Life and just throw on whatever without thought.

When I watch your videos, I feel like I'm in an actual art class learning and improving. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I recently redesigned a character, but now looking back I might need to re-redesign her adding a bit more meaning to what the character wears and how she carries herself.

you can get away with the eye patch thing, if you do it carefully and subtly. in fact that goes for most features of a character. you can make a character thats prEttY EdgY without looking cringy. sublty is key.

I love the fact that you actually show and explain how you fix the character instead of complaining about how awful it is and how it shouldn't exist and should just be scrapped altogether, too many people here do that. I wish we had more videos like this, it's a really wonderful and helpful video!

This is my third time watching this and it’s still helpful. Honestly, her “bad” ocs are still better than most on deviantart

When it said Hot, cold, wet, dry, i thought you were describing her personality

something we should all take note is there must be a why your character is the way they are

I feel like these two could be in a comic as best friends

"Belts that don't connect to anything or don't do anything..." *Tetsuya Nomura sweating nervously*

something to remember: TONS of kids make ocs like the one on the right when they're just getting started drawing. they might be making lots of mistakes, but that's how new artists flex their creative skills!! so it's not appropriate (or very nice) to make fun of people who draw "cringy" ocs. they're probably just starting out and their designs will mature with time & practice! so be kind. also: I imagine the two ocs in this video are girlfriends

You should make colouring pages so people can print them and colour them it would be so interesting to see how everyone colours it

characters 55% hair over one of the eyes 22.5% over coloured 22.0% shipped with sans 0.5% good ones Edit: .....This aged poorly.. I used to have flawed judgement of characters. Take this comment with a pinch of salt.. Edit 2: There is a lot of confusion over 'hair over one of the eyes.' I simply saw it way too often and a small minority of artists used it as a crutch for a lack of symmetry.

I’m gonna add a side character to my story called Maria sue to reference Mary Sues. She’s gonna have all the don’ts and she won’t serve any purpose at all she just talks about her tragic backstory and how everyone is in love with her (they’re not)

Your style is so simple and recognizable and then there's me-

I CAME AS SOON AS I HEARD

"Ask yourself if your character lives in a hot or cold climate and base it off that" (not exactly what she said but you get the point) Me: "k that seems easy" *draws character passed out on floor having heat stroke* Me: Done :D

3:58 *I never think I'd hear LavenderTowne say Warm and THICC in the same sentence.*

“If she’s flying around doing magical girl stuff” *then why is she wearing a dress/skirt?!?!*

The bad design she does in this video might work if the character is just an angsty teen that wants to look cool in her setting. It'd also be a hilarious thing if it completely backfires on the character causing them to look ridiculous and be made fun of. Then the said character could probably bounce of off this with even more angst and thinking that no one understands them. I could actually think of a lot for this kind of character.

I do appreciate videos like this but I'm glad that you're not like directly hating and telling young artists directly NOT to design like this Let young artists draw how they want to draw and let them grow and learn, we all went through that shitty OC phase but like i hate when i see people directly BASH on it because it discourages young artists from drawing and it just sucks yknow? Sure its cringy but its not the end of the world, btw love your art style!

This has honestly helped me so much, I used to have a character that had a black hoodie, fishnet everything, angel and devil wings and cat ears... I cringe when I look back at it...

Hmmm, a cold and wet climate... so... she's from sweden?

The IHE music really caught me off guard.

Watching your stuff: Ohey I know how to do that pfft this won't help me Oh Ohwait Ohno I've learned things

I do lots of eye patches, not for mysteriousness or edginess, but because I'm bad at drawing two similar eyes XD ok since people keep seeing this. if you draw digitally: don't be afraid to use copypaste & flip (edit: or mirror/symmetry tool). those features exist for a reason! (edit to this: usually i mirror/copypaste the sketch, then do the lines without mirror/copypaste. also good for other times when you want things even but not 100% symmetrical!) if you draw traditionally: sorry but idk how to help you :/ gl another edit. i have wisdom from KZfaq user "Duck Is Lord". original comment available in the replies. "If you draw traditionally, try drawing both eyes at the same time. (Example: draw the outline of one eye first, then the next instead of finishing one then doing the other.) It won't automatically make your eyes identical, but it can help!" ANOTHER edit! this time from KZfaq user "Whispence". original comment available in the replies. "My method for getting same/similar looking eyes on paper takes a while, but can help. Trace the original eye on a separate piece of paper, and then trace the eye from the piece of paper that you just traced on onto the original piece of paper where you wish to place the eye. (rotate it if necessary)"

9:05 my names blurryface and i care what you think

you are such a precious bean, such a blessing to this world

I came hear skeptical about what you were going to say because of artists bashing the hell out of young artists but after watching I'm smiling :) You give really great tips and I did not regret watching this xD thanks :3 ps I love both of these designs so much♡♡

"Looks like it either walked out of an anime convention or a hot topic" I friggen love this XD

"they either look like they came out of an anime convention or hot topic" that's a mood

the cold or hot climate thing is a GREAT idea!!!

Me- watches this- - looks at art - ...well - finds out how to fix it- ...THANK YOU!!!

Character: hot or cold? Interchangeable, all season Job? "healer" Cool, cute, creepy? mix of cool and creepy Forest or plains? Forest Feminine or masculine? mix, Me: ok time to draw Me: >looks up fanart of the witch doctor from terraria

When you said hot topic I thought you said hot pocket

Has anyone else never made an edgy OC? The only one I made was a joke XD

your art style is very pretty. it kind of seems like the way you draw reflects who you are. it reflects your personality.

My first actual OC wasn’t too bad... she was a simple pink fox with a flower crown ( she wasn’t really a furry ) But, The only thing I hated about this OC was that the pinks were really bland, the first drawing of her had barely any anatomy. I hated the bland colors because I really love pastel colors. I just need colors that are not too bland and definitely no bright colors !! I hate looking at bright colors..

Cold and wet climate.... WELCOME to the UKKKKKK

I knew I wasn't the only one thinking the OCs by other artists are over done in design. I really don't wanna be mean to them but man there is a thing called Too Much. Like Makeup, it can be too much.

7:40 Is that.... elevator music?

Eyepatches are popular for no reason, and it bothers me because people assume my OC Kora has an eyepatch because it’s “cool”, but she was based off of me and I have a problem with one eye and I thought it would be interesting.

In the world of fandoms and fangirls we call those "Bad ocs" Mary Sues

90% of people's first OC is a mary sue/gary stu or *extremely* plain, there is no in between

Okay, one way I like to build my OC's, which, granted, has more to do with the fact that I'm a writer, is that I give them a group of people they work with, or interact with. It keeps them from being overpowered by having someone they either rely on a lot, or occasionally rely on, as well as some sort of weakness which an enemy or something can exploit. Plus, if you add to much detail into one character, it dulls the rest down, so you have to make everyone balanced out. Even a character that doesn't have a team, or a partner interacts with someone regularly. I mean, yeah, they could be completely alone, but then, try thinking logically what that personality and character design would be like.

One day I want my occupation to be "magical girl stuff"

I create 'characters' like the "don't" one but I don't name them, I use them as doodles and to mess around with unique and/or strange designs (•///•)

I used the eye patch a lot because I can't draw the other eye...oops

I always new that I couldn't put random neon colors, and would use colors within the same range. One of your main points was act as if these were real people. I gave her hair that went to her ankles. I gave her ugg boots. I gave her a thick coat, and leggings. *It was in May. IN FLORIDA* I changed her design so that she wouldn't overheat. Don't worry.

I love your style so much! My art style was anime-ish and it was time for something different... You changed my art style in 1 day! Thanks :)

in the beginning, she blinked 37 times in 21 seconds

Congrats on getting verified!

whoa!! i really like the desert/winter oc's!! you did a really good job with their design. i'd love to see them again!

Man this really helps! Thank you! Also, I just adore your style. It's so cute and cuddly!

Ahhhh this brings me so much nostalgia. This is the first Lavender Town video I ever watched

My OC has an eyepatch because his eye got stabbed out in a battle. Is that bad?

This feeling when both characters are great....

I’m so thankful for the “use limited colours” advice you gave! It’s improved my art a lot I think!!!

btw this really helps because character development is sometimes a huge cause of art block for me, but your little things to make a base from will help. thank you, love your content!

Just when I was struggling with my designs looking too Mary-Suey/Deviantart like, you made this vid. Thank you, helped a lot :)

who else thinks LavenderTowne is BEAUTIFUL?

Black makeup whould only attract heat. But I love you, Lavender Towne!

this is one of the most important videos in my art journey. im a hobbiest OC artist for 3 years now, and this video completely changed my perspective on character design, i mean it in the most positive way possible. every single one of my current OCs follows this forumla, and i love them all :)) thank you so much, haley

i always design my characters before doing their story, sometimes the design itself inspiries my story but hey das jus me

Aa! You finally uploaded, yaaay! A lot of people could really use this advice, tbh. Love your videos!~ Keep up the great work, Haley!!

UGHHH HOW CAN YOU BE SO ADORABLE I love your voice, it's super cute and soothing ;--;

Y'know how my very first OC looks like when I was a kid? Yeah, I know you would all expect some rainbow monstrosity...... Actually it was a guy with blonde hair, yellow eyes, and simply a green hoodie and grey jeabs and black sneakers...... Thats literally it....

Thank you, this will help me fix my old OC. She looks too stuffy in her clothes, she doesn't really fit in any climate, nor does she really look realistic. Not to mention I haven't drawn her in my new paint program yet, and only did small sketches of random stuff. Time to get drawing!

my character is me with a bag on my head :)

i did not imagine you like this, you’re so pretty :)

I have synthesia, which means songs and albums have certain colors that i feel when I listen to it, so i think while drawing OCs “just make him/her look like (insert album/song)”

Haha, it reminds me of my characters back then. Me and my friend were making a story together (we still do, but we are considering our studies as the first priority). She was the writer and I was the illustrator. I literally made characters with Rapunzel-like hair, poofy dresses that somehow defied the laws of gravity and made them wear eye patches, and then cat ears etc. Looking back on it, it was quite weird, but that weird design prompted me to make a better version of the character with shorter hair, considering that they were magical girls (the bunny magical is seriously adorable) and made the dresses less like parachutes. Damn,the old days. Your video elaborating on this made me really look back on my other characters that had overly exaggerated traits and how much thought I had to go about redesigning them and my friend who had written a thousand drafts to make better understanding about the climate and area.

wow i just accidentally stumbled upon your stuff and its amazing

Thank you so much for helping me with this!! i love making OC's, and i always need help on making good OC's and not crazy ones, so thank you SOO MUCH for helping me with this!

This reminds me when I was a gacha life kid and I first discovered my chemical romance. I still like my chemical romance but luckily I’m not a gacha life kid anymore. (PS. It’s okay if you’re still a gacha kid! It’s not hurting anyone and if it makes you happy that’s perfectly valid, but I encourage you to branch out on your creativity. :D)

Noooooo !!! Why your livestream in a few hours when it's already 1am here in France !! Well anyway, love you sweetie

9:03 oh, hello blurryface.

really helpful on suggestions of improving a character. i also like that you didnt just bluntly come out with "you cant do this because it makes a character bad"

This was a very interesting way of looking at character design. I've not seen anyone else suggest a practical approach like this and I think it really makes sense. Thanks for the video!

I'm actually making a really edgy OC, but he is also a ninja, which I guess could be a bit of an excuse for his edginess? idk. He is also a bad guy (like, an antagonistic guy) that goes to night clubs and wears a biker jacket when he is in public. I barely even started on him and I love him so much omg.

Mhh.. I don't get the whole "decide what the character should be before designing!". The only thing I decide is their most prominent personality, like, being superficial and let the character have a position with the nose very high. Then, I will just let them be. I let them interact with other characters in my head and get them to know, but have the design first. My characters are developing for years now and I don't know all of their backstory yet, there is so much to discover.

Aww.... The beginning! Ur so bootiful!!

how you approached the magical girl reminds me of a space character i had a few years ago! it’s “animal” was a classic grey alien :) she’s adorable

Just saying, OCs _can_ have two differently-coloured eyes in my opinion. Real people can also have two differently-coloured eyes. It's called heterochromia.

Most of my characters are a bit too "simple" for some people, not there story; but more design wise. I don't really know if they are too simple, but with designs I like to keep them that way if there not an eccentric space knight or somthing like that, for realism. I really love you're art style and personality design, even if it is the polar opposite to mine, it's really cool! I do really like how you paint the realism character!

I've been wanting to tweak my OCs' designs a little bit, and this video was super helpful! Thank you!

I'm so happy that I watched this video and actually got conformation that the way I am making characters now is so much better then I would 2 years ago. I didn't know for sure if the asking questions before making it was the correct approach, but I'm glad to know that it was! Lovely video, thank you for sharing your knowledge ^^

AHHH THEYRE SO CUTELITTLE LOVELIESI WOULD PAY MONEY FOR THOSE TWO

when I made characters the design was good, not too clusterd, but also functional, but the bio, OHHHH THE BIO!It was basically every Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu mixed together into a horrible amalgamation of cringe.

YOUR CHARACTERS ARE SO ADORABLE OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!