OC creation - Kings Journal

In Kings Jornal I write about bara topics.
Today I write about the creation process of original characters.
Have a look backstage on my work.

Most bara artists have their own original characters. These characters have some advantages compared to fanart. I can not get into conflict with any mad fans (and believe me there are some evil ones out there) and I hold the complete copyright.
OCs are also a nice way to capture your own drawing interests and to express your art style.

I created three OCs so far: Baelohr the oni, Karr Guldar the orc and Detective Joar Farkason.
I also created a Pokemon Gijinka based on Incineroar quite a while ago, but I am not sure if that counts as OC or not. I think yes and no.
How to start the creation?!
I think everyone would love to have those hot guys in their minds drawn.
You pick a piece of paper or open your drawing software and you start sketching... Wait... Is it that easy?!
My answer is: No. For me it isn´ t.
First I analyze where those hot guys in my mind come from. For example:
Gladio from FFXV. He has long hair, a beard, nice muscles... All the stuff I like. So I make a note on a sheet of paper or in my mind about the look and traits I like about him. I do this for all the guys I like automatically, because I like them.
Just ask yourself why you like one guy and than you will find your answers.

At the end (and there won´´ t be a real end ever) I try to focus on what I would love to have as a look and traits for my OC. There is that misty shape of him in my mind, but the more I have to focus the more questions come.
I can not simply put Gladio, Geralt, Bigby, Nathan, Noctis, Chris and so on in a cauldron and *magical sounds* the perfect guy appears.  
Too much detail on a single guy can ruin him. To little, too.

Find your freedom
After all those analyzing and what I want and what not I feel like I built a cage around me. That´ s the special moment when you just should start drawing. Draw all the basic things you want and give a shit about the direction. You want a huge body. Draw a huge body! You want an athletic guy. Draw him!
Draw all the body parts, because those are easier than what comes at last. Try to stop thinking and let your hands do rest.

The head, the traits, the story basics
The head is the hardest part to create for me. The face, hair and eyes will determine how your OC will be seen. I noted traits of the guy before and now I test different hair styles and beards and compare them to my trait list.
Do those hair styles fit with my imagination of him. Would a guy like him look this way?!

Have a look above at he heads "A" to "R" and "2" to "5".
For my tiger OC I found the "direction" very fast. He is shy, owns a diner and he is tall. It felt very clear to me what he looks like.

For my human OC I tested lots of different looks. How does a former elite soldier look like? A soldier who was moved into a lonely reasearch center, because he refused to follow orders and a soldier who decided to pretend his own and his "brothers" death to escape into the "Wildness".
Someone who was used to/forced to act very strict and then becomes free.

My method
My method to decide for my favourite(s) is either to sleep one night and decide later or to sort out, what I do not like. There are a lot of heads above to sort out. Try it yourself.

I also think about the colours. Skin colour, hair, eyes. That´ s fun and not as hard as the creation steps before. I drew 4 colour versions (with a random head) for my former soldier. My tiger OC will have gray fur.

At last
When I am done I look at my OC and think of a name. I am super bad with finding names to be honest. It took me a very long time to even create my artist name and finding names for my OCs is also a challenge for me.
If I find a few names I wonder if I will like them later - in a week, a month, a year and for most of my ideas I do not even like them anymore after a few seconds. XD

Now I gonna try to find a head for my new OCs and names. The finished image will be released at the "Jingle Balls" special.

Don´ t be shy and use the comment section to tell me your favourite heads and colour versions. Or name ideas. This is about fun and nothing firm.
You can also tell me about your experiences with creating OCs yourself.
Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is just hard.

I hope you enjoyed this Kings Journal issue.
- Greeny