Tips on How To Make a Reference Sheet for Your OCs!
We interrupt your “tips for designing” series for some tips on an important part of drawing your character…Reference sheets! …Huh? You haven’t read the “tips for designing” articles? And you wanna check ‘em out? Well, fear not, for there’s lots to read! There’s tips for designing characters such as…
Have you ever designed a character, only to have trouble remembering how you last drew them? Or maybe they just end up looking different each time you draw them! If either of these are the case, it might be time for a…drumroll please…reference sheet!
So what is a reference sheet? Having a reference sheet is a good way to help keep the art of your character consistent! Oftentimes, they’re used for animations or comics, but they’re also just nice to have in general! It can also be helpful if other people want to draw art of your character. A reference sheet usually includes things like your character's outfit, and how they look from different angles! So how exactly do you put together a reference sheet? Let’s talk about it!
If creating a reference sheet sounds too difficult since your OC has a lot of detail, you might want to try simplifying their design! If you need help with simplifying, check out this article here!
Focus on your OC’s full design!
In my opinion, the most important part of a reference sheet is showing your character’s full design! This will ensure that you’re able to draw your character, regardless if the art you're doing is a bust shot, or a full body piece. Without a full reference of your OC, it might get a bit frustrating when you want to draw your character in a new pose or view!
With the main part of your reference sheet, you’ll want to focus on what you’ll need most for drawing your OC! How do you want to draw your OC in the future? Thinking about how much you’ll draw your OC and how you’ll draw them can help you with designing a reference page for them! You can include things like…
- A full-body front view of your OC
- A full-body back view of your OC
- A full-body side view of your OC
- An alternate outfit for your OC
- A reference for things like your OC’s scars or tattoos
Depending on what you need the reference sheet for, you can add more or less to it as well! For example, if you need the reference sheet for a comic or animation, you might want to include more than what’s listed above! Some extra angles, or a few poses might be helpful additions! If you don’t plan on doing a lot of diverse art of your character, you might be able to get away with just a front and back view!
A good example of a reference sheet with art that covers the character’s full design would be Bug’s OC Xero! Xero’s reference sheet has a front and back view that shows off the full design!
Another good example would be Tommy’s OC EE Tommy! EE Tommy’s reference sheet includes multiple different views and alternate designs!
Have a reference for expressions and angles!
Another important aspect of a reference page is drawings of your character with different facial expressions and angles! Often, the face is the main focus of art pieces! The eye often moves to faces first when observing art. Therefore, it’s good to have different references for your OC’s face!
While it’s fine to have your OC with the same expression in different drawings, drawing different expressions for them will help them feel more alive! The same goes for the head of your character as well! It can be pretty limiting to only have an idea of how to draw your OC in a front view. Having references for different head angles will help you in the long run! On a reference sheet, you can include different things such as…
- A front view
- A 3/4ths view
- A side view
- A neutral expression
- A happy or excited expression
- A nervous or sad expression
- An angry or annoyed expression
Just like with the main part of your reference sheet, you’ll want to consider what you’ll need most for your character! You want to draw expressions you know you’ll use for your OC. If you have a character who doesn’t get excited, you might not need a reference of them with a super ecstatic expression! Taking into consideration expressions you’ll use most for your OC will be helpful for deciding what to include on your character’s reference page, and same goes for different angles as well!
A good example of a reference sheet with different angles would be Jadepi’s OC Ezra! Ezra’s reference sheet includes multiple angles for the face!
Another good example would be Rae’s OC Jackie! Jackie’s reference sheet also includes different angles for the face!
Have a reference for your OC’s color palette!
Colors are another good thing to include for a reference sheet! When doing art of your characters, it’s easy for the base colors to get lost among all the shading and lighting! Colors often look different next to other colors too, (which is a part of Color Theory!), so you’ll want to keep that in mind! (Don’t have a color palette for your OC just yet? Check out this article here for some tips!)
Having a reference that shows the base colors alone will be helpful for keeping the right colors each time you draw your character! For having color references you could add things to your reference sheet such as…
- A colored piece with shading and lighting
- A colored piece with no shading or lighting
- Color swatches of all the colors used for your character
Thinking about the colors used for your OC and what their base colors are will be helpful for drawing a reference sheet for your OC! A color reference will help you keep the character’s colors consistent across multiple art pieces!
A good example of a reference sheet with color references would be FaTaL30’s OC Ajax! Ajax’s reference sheet includes all the different colors used for the design, including colors some for shading and lighting!
Another good example would be Odd’s persona Odd! Odd’s reference sheet includes all the base colors of the design alongside the art!
Add your OC’s tools and accessories to their reference sheet!
Characters usually have different accessories or tools they keep with them! Having a good reference of their most-used items can be a fun addition to a character page! Including different things your character has or used will help you draw your OC with those objects in the future!
There’s lots of different things you can include on your character’s reference page, so you’ll want to pick things you think you’ll use most when drawing your OC in the future! Does your OC have a weapon they use throughout their story? You could add it to the page! What about a character who journals often? Try adding their journal and favorite pen! For a reference sheet, you can include different items such as…
- Their signature clothing accessory
- Their favorite object
- An object their seen with often
- Their best weapon
- Their most useful tool
Adding different accessories or tools to your reference sheet will be beneficial for drawing unique poses for your OC in the future! Not only will adding important objects be helpful for future reference, it’ll also just make your character page more interesting to look at!
A good example of a reference sheet with tools or accessories would be Space_AlienArts’ OC Remy! Remy’s reference sheet includes accessories like a leaf bag and a journal!
Another good example would be Salamander’s persona Alexandra! Alexandra’s reference sheet includes the different rings she wears!
Add some fun details to your OC’s reference sheet!
Finally, one more thing you could add to a reference page is some fun little details to create some extra interest! While reference sheets are usually used for more practical things, that doesn’t mean you can't have some fun with it and some cool things to it!
There’s all kinds of different things you could add to make your character’s reference sheet more fun! Adding some extra details will make your reference sheet more unique and visually appealing! You could add little things to your character’s reference page such as…
- Some cute doodle-style drawings of your OC
- Some of your OC’s favorite things
- Some fun shapes or symbols
- A cool border around the reference sheet
When adding some decorative designs to your page, you can take into consideration your OC’s personality and character! A villain could have a dark and spooky border, while a hero could have some shining sparkles on their reference page! It all depends on what you think would be a fun addition and would make their page more interesting.
A good example of a reference sheet with some fun details would be Lordie’s OC James! James’ reference sheet includes cute little doodles of him and other fun shapes!
Another good example would be Mayhaps’ OC Ames! Ames’ reference sheet includes different doodles and some drinks on it!
Creating a reference sheet for your OC can be pretty daunting if you’re not sure how to go about it! Thinking about things like your character’s full design, common expressions for them, their color palette, and accessories will help you decide what you’ll need for their reference sheet! A reference sheet can be as simple, or as complex as you need it to be! It’s all up to you, and remember to try and have fun with it!
Having trouble creating a reference sheet because you need help designing your character? Try checking out these articles on outfits, hairstyles, and shape language!