Tips on Designing a Cowhand OC
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw!
Howdy there partner! If you’ve been keeping up with this ‘ere town’s local paper, you may have read my co-writer’s article on artist safety tips for the online experience. If ya haven’t read it, you can find it here! Ya might’ve also noticed the nifty PSAsona tag to help spread the word, with the challenge to dress yer sona or OC up as a cowpoke or defender! Well I’ve got a special article for you folks today, ‘cus today we’re talking about designing a cowhand OC! Before we get started, if ya need a few other ideas for yer OC designs, you can try one of these ‘ere articles!
- Tips for Designing a Valentines Themed Outfit for Your OCs!
- Tips for Designing a Werewolf OC!
- Tips for Designing Your DND OC based on Their Class!
Now, back to the cowpoke designs! Yeehaw! Cowhand characters are a mighty fun type of character often seen ridin’ horses, wranglin’ cattle, or maybe even having a shootout! So how do ya go about designin’ one of these cowhand characters? Well, get yer horses at the ready, ‘cus we’re ‘bout to talk about it!
What kind of cowhand is your OC?
First off, ya wanna keep in mind what kind of cowpoke your OC is! Usually, cowhands are people who tend to cattle, but there’s also plenty of other characters you might categorize as a “cowpoke!” Maybe there’s a space cowboy fighting off aliens, or a monster hunter taking down critters in the wild west! When you design your cowpoke, you’ll want to consider…
- What’s the setting of the world?
- What’s the genre of your story?
- What’s your OC’s job in the story?
- What’s their role in the story?
- What’s their personality like?
- Are they good, morally grey, or evil?
Thinkin’ about what kind of cowhand character you’re creating will give you an idea as to how you could design them!
The personality of your cowpoke might impact how they dress! A more extravagant cowhand might dress a little more flashy than a shy one. Other factors could like the setting and their specific job could influence their outfit as well!
Give your cowhand a cool outfit!
Cowhand characters are most often known for the distinct style they usually have! The outfit of your OC will tell the audience your cowpoke is, well, a cowpoke!
Try adding a nice motif to your cowhand’s design!
Quite a few cowpoke designs have lots of details or patterns in them! If you want lots of details, or even just a few, on your cowhand’s design, you could use the opportunity to incorporate a motif into the design!
The motif could be of something like a plant or animal that might be common in their area, or it could be something that might represent their personality! If you need some ideas for motifs that might work for a cowpoke character, you could try…
- A floral motif
- A cow print motif
- A vine motif
- A leaf motif
- A sun motif
- A star motif
- A cactus motif
- A skull motif
- A pattern motif
- A feather motif
- A fire motif
- A gun motif
The motif could be incorporated into embroidery on your cowhand’s shirt, the design on a cloak or poncho, or it could be included in the different accessories your OC might have!
If you need a fun example of motifs within a cowpoke design, check out Demiglint's OC Sonya, who has a cool flower motif!
Another fun example you could check out would be FarFarOut's OC Smokey, who has a cool rose motif!
Give your OC clothes fit for the cowhand role!
Since cowhands are often out in the wild wilderness tendin’ to their duties, they usually dress in clothes that would be more practical. Practical clothing isn’t always what a cowpoke might go with, especially if they have a more extravagant personality, but useful clothes will help them get the job done.
There’s some types of clothing that are pretty common amongst cowpokes too! When you think of a cowboy character, clothing that might come to mind are button-up shirts, or bell-bottom pants. If you need a few ideas to think about, you could consider…
- A button-up shirt
- A snap-button shirt
- Denim jeans
- Leather chaps
- A vest
- A flannel shirt
- A T-Shirt
- Bell-bottom pants
If you want to show off different aspects of your cowhand’s personality, you could play around with how their clothes fit as well! A more confident character might wear clothing that’s a little tighter or more form-fitting. A different character who’s more shy or not as confident might wear looser fitting clothes or clothes that seem a little too big for them!
If you need a fun example of using clothing for a cowhand design, check out Seaweed's OC Dakota, who has a cool vest along with other fitting clothes!
Another fun example would be Dragón's OC Gabriela, who has a button-up shirt as well as other fitting clothes!
Give your cowhand nice accessories or weapons!
Another fun part about cowpoke designs is the accessories they have! Accessories often have a practical function, but that doesn’t mean they can’t look cool too! How over-the-top your cowhand’s accessories will also depend on factors like their personality. Some cowhands might prefer something less fancy.
That being said, a lot of cowpoke characters have flashy accessories, like a big belt buckle or a colorful poncho with a fringe on the ends! If you need some ideas on what kind of accessories you could add, why not try…
- A poncho
- A belt with a large buckle
- A cowpoke hat
- Cowpoke boots
- Wrist cuffs
- A lasso
- A pistol
- A gun holster
- A large cloak with a fringe
- A tie
- A shiny badge
- Leather gloves
With accessories, you could add as many or few as you want! If you decided to add a motif to your cowhand’s design, you could incorporate it into the accessories you give them as well.
If you need a fun example of utilizin’ accessories for a cowhand design, check out Keegamonsters' OC Safrole, who has a cool bandana along with other fitting accessories!
If you need another example, check out Dror Nitzan's OC Avi, who has a cool hat and other fitting accessories!
Hm…What ‘bout a cowpoke hat…or a sheriff's badge!
Can you use the appearance of your cowhand to enhance their design?
Another thing you could consider when designing your cowhand OC is their appearance! What do they look like? What kind of hairstyle would they wear? Are there extra details you could add?
Could you give your cowhand a build that suits them?
The build of your cowhand character can tell your audience what kind of character they might be. If the character is faster, they might have a thinner build. A cowpoke who’s stronger might have a larger build!
You could also utilize shape language in your cowpoke OC’s design. Sharper shapes in their design might mean they’re more dangerous, or that they’re a more action-based character. If you need a few ideas for the build of your cowhand OC, here’s a few ideas to get ya thinkin’!
- A bulkier build for an intimidating cowhand
- A softer build for a friendlier cowpoke
- A sharp build for an action-loving cowhand
- A build with a combination of different shapes to show the varying traits of the cowpoke
You could also consider giving your cowhand physical traits that wouldn’t seem like it fits their personality! Maybe you want the appearance of your OC to mislead your audience. You could give them a build opposite of what would be expected for their personality!
If you want more tips on using shape language in your OC designs, you can check out this article on the topic here!
Give your cowhand a fitting hairstyle!
Since cowhands are oftentimes very active individuals, they might wear their hair in a style that keeps it out of the way while they’re working. If they don’t want to fix their hair up before having to work, a character might opt for a shorter haircut instead!
There’s plenty of different ways a cowhand character might wear their hair! They might choose something that’s quick and easy, or if they enjoy styling their hair, they might choose something a little more complex. If you need some ideas for styles and haircuts you could give your cowhand, you could try…
- A high ponytail
- Thick braids
- A short half-up half-down hairstyle
- A pixie cut
- A wolf cut
- A jellyfish cut
- A pair of pigtails
- A loose bun
- Asymmetrical parted bangs
There’s a lot more hairstyles than what’s here on this above list as well! Try out different styles on your cowhand OC, and see what you think works best for them!
If you need some more ideas on picking out a hairstyle for your OCs, there’s an article on the topic here!
Add some extra details to your cowhand’s design!
Lastly, you could incorporate some extra details into the cowhand character’s design as well! The details could be used as a way to help your cowpoke OC stand out amongst other characters.
The details could also have some significance to your character! A tattoo might have a specific meaning to it, or the way a character got a scar might be tied to an important part of their backstory. If you need some ideas for details you could add, you could consider…
- Tattoos
- Scars
- Heterochromia
- Vitiligo
- Prosthetic limbs
- A birthmark
- Ear piercings
There’s lots of unique details you could add to your OC’s design! If your OC’s world has more than just humans in it, you could try adding more fantasy-style details to their design too!
If you want some more ideas on unique details you could give your OCs, check out this article on the topic here!
Get yer cowpoke boots on and yer lasso at the ready!
Cowpoke PSAsona posts from the awesome folks on Unvale!
Remember at the start of this ‘ere article when I mentioned the PSAsona tag? Well, it’s time to see some of the cowpoke-themed PSAsona posts the community came up with! Look here, and check out…
- Epic Cowboyiest, by Beaniest!
- Strange's nifty PSAsona post!
- Jude's cool PSA post!
- Awesome Safety shout out, by TheSilentBanshee!
- Scarlet's cool animated PSAsona post!
- Awesome "J" Boone, by JesterOnUnVale!
Be sure to take a look at the awesome posts! If you want to find more PSAsonas, be sure to check out the tag! If you make yer own PSAsona, use the tag in your post or character page to help spread the word! Stay safe out there folks…and have fun creatin’!
Bring your Cowpoke designs over to Unvale!