Character Design - Adeline (The Captain) for Tugboat Comic

Hey guys!
This is the first post in a series of how I designed the characters for a comic I'm working on. I hope you enjoy!

Tugboat is a comic that can be read from the beginning here: https://zserbin.wixsite.com/tugboat/home/category/chapter%201/page/14

The comic is a collaboration between myself and writer Hailey Koart. Adeline is the main character, the captain, and very near and dear to our hearts. She's also a bit of a human disaster.

This post shows some of the work done to develop her character properly so that I have plenty of consistent reference while working on the comic itself. Usually this designing happens before any production begins.

First, here is how Adeline looked in the very first drawing of her - the drawing that inspired the entire comic!

Not super exciting, sort of a boring pose with no expression. I was happy with the colors, but she felt too serious. We wanted the captain to be goofy, and her design should reflect that.

And here's how she looks now, after a year of practicing, playing, and perfecting her design:

The final design is rounder, more stylized, and allows for more expression. She looks a lot sillier, which is the most important part.

After that, I draw a turnaround - a 360 view of important angles. In this case, I drew front-facing, 3/4, profile and back-facing poses (her design has actually changed a bit since her initial turnaround was done).

And then it's just practice! Throwing the character into different expressions and action poses to find out what's working and what isn't.

So that's about it! Mostly just practice until it feels right - which is easier said than done, but it's the most fun in my opinion.

Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed checking this out, and I'm happy to answer any questions!