Fantasy Genesis Characters: A creativity game for drawing original people and creatures

I have been waiting FOREVER for something like this! This book is AMAZING if you are feeling in the creative mood, but you want to move away from your own typical ideas. In the different games that this book presents, there are a TON of exercises and creativity mash-ups that will help you grow and succeed as an artist. There are also plenty of step-by-step tutorials for beginner to intermediate students. I have been able to create new characters, and give more life to characters that I have already created. If you need a creative jump, look no further!!

Not really what I was looking for but seems like a good product.

A good reference book for any fantasy creator.

Lo primero que diría de Fantasy Genesis Characters es que no es un libro para principiantes, para eso mejor busquen los de Loomis, es para quien maneja el dibujo a un nivel medio tiene buen equilibro entre el texto y todo lo que necesitas saber para crear un personaje mostrándote el desarrollo paso a paso con muchos ejemplos a cargo del genial Chuck Lukacs, muy recomendable para todos los interesados en el desarrollo de personajes.

TL:DR:
– If you struggle with accurately depicting emotions and personalities, this is the best book I have seen so far.

– It is presented as a game (but you don’t have to play to use this book, you can just learn from all the info), if you like RPG and drawing, get out your dices because you will use them here.

– Great for art students and those interested in character design in any field, for fun or as profession (games, comics, visual novels, book illustration, fanart, etc) where you need to come up with original characters or original expressions/ moods/ actions. Whether you know exactly what characteristics to give to your character or prefer to randomly choose them, this book will teach you how to portray them without ambiguity (no more “oh he looks angry, is he angry?” “no! he was supposed to be holding back his tears!”)

-Keep in mind that this book focuses on humans and humanoids, if you want to create creatures, I would rather suggest Fantasy Genesis (same author, also a game and drawing advice) or MangaMatrix (just a system to generate human/humanoids/creature characters, no drawing advice, not a game)

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This book is meant to teach you how to create original characters (humans and creatures), paying attention to emotions, facial expressions, behaviors, archetypes, age, costume design, cultural background, profession, etc. Every page is filled with drawing lessons so that you can conveying attitudes, emotions and overall make your characters more interesting and accurate to what you want to transmit. (For example “Villain’s resting features tend to be tighter, more articulated, their irises sometimes smaller, more beady and intense, and often shift in contradictory directions”) It also has mini lessons on drawing basics: human anatomy, folds and fabric, drawing from life and reference, silhouetting and exercises to hone your skills.

What makes this book special is that it incorporates gaming!. There are boxes all over the book with themed, enumerated lists (for example, emotions, expressions, actions, occupations). Each one says the type and number of dices you will need for each given box and by combining different boxes you can create random characters that will challenge your creativity and make you explore new possibilities. For those of you who have enjoyed role play games and want to create original characters, you are going to love this approach. It can be a great way to have fun and create drawing challenges with other people while at the same time develop your skills.

I also have MangaMatrix book, which is also for creating original characters, but that one focuses on the physical appearance and more meant for humanoids and creatures (and it is not a game, just a matrix system) without any drawing lessons or tips. Fantasy Genesis Characters goes beyond the appearance, it focuses on creating rich, all around characters that tell a story, not just a static, expressionless figure on the paper and it is full of drawing instructions. Keep in mind that this one focuses on humans and humanoids, if you prefer only creatures and humanoids, I would rather suggest Fantasy Genesis (also presented as a game) or MangaMatrix (but be aware that you are on your own when it comes to drawing advice)

This books is an amazing resource for someone who wants to get into character design/concept work, or wants to push their character development chops. The author’s years of experience, both in teaching and creating art, are distilled into a short but information-packed lessons that teach and entertain as well.

These are not step-by-step “how to draw” instructional tutorials, but clearly break down the many layers of considerations that make for interesting and engaging characters, from physical forms to gestures to costume.

Working from the “you have to walk before you run” standpoint, Lukas starts with the basics – talking about expression and gesture, and works up to some of the more complex principles behind character design. Lessons are followed up with exercises (using gaming dice) to deliver randomized combinations of traits and emotions as springboards for unique character design.

These exercises translate well into any style or technique, whether it’s traditional or digital 2D illustration, 3D modeling, or traditional sculpting…the principles are universal.

This book and your energy to practice will give you a near endless variety of character descriptions to use to hone your skills.