As an independent artist, clients often call upon me to help them come up with interesting and innovative designs for creatures or characters. There are almost as many theories on how to create a successful original character as there are artists in the industry but this isn’t a character design workshop, so I won’t dwell on the design process I go through each time. Instead I’ll take you through my own specific thought processes as I generate a creature that I find interesting. I hope that my suggestions will be useful in your work in the future. My main focus here, and on the following pages, will be on how to paint life into your chosen creature.