Traditional Notebook Chronicles | Just sketches, but also looking for some advice!

[Phoenix.]

Hello! I just wanted to sketch more consistently so I’ll try to update this when my drawings don’t look too cursed.

There’s actually something I was wondering if people could help me out with. How do you draw older characters? What key features should you focus on? I decided to try and sketch what I wanted one of my older OCs to look like, but they ended up still somewhat youthful, I think? I actually don’t know if it comes across as they’re in their 40s. What do you think?

I’ll post the sketch below. I’d appreciate any insight or constructive criticism!

 

[Nihilum]

Eye baaaaags. Eye bags, the corners of the mouth and cheek wrinkles (affectionately termed jowls ) and if you're feeling particularly mean you can throw in a forehead wrinkle or crow's eyes. You sort of have to be careful with those last two though because they can look messy if you do them wrong.

But eye bags and jowls will instantly kick a character from "eh, he could pass for being thirty" to "oh god who hit you with the late forties brick?" You want to avoid making the actual eye part too...open and wide, if that makes sense? Young characters have that bright-eyed, wide look. People in their mid-life crises have angry squints because it's 4 PM and they want to go the fuck back to bed. You can play around with droopier top eyelids too. I like to emphasize those on my cranky old characters.

The bottom left looks the most accurately old to me. I like to think of the three images as a chronological tale of a man who forgot to have his cup of coffee this morning...

 

[Phoenix.]

Thank you so much! It helps a lot and your description made me laugh! The order was kinda just the way I drew them, but I prefer your narrative instead. It’s not often that I see older characters being played in an RP, at least, within my experience so far. So I don’t tend to draw people with age, but I’d like to explore it - life beyond youth.

I focused on the eye bags and the jowls. Let me know what you think. I really appreciate the advice so I can improve!

 

[The Great Sage]

I love your style. What medium are you using? Graphite?

 

[Phoenix.]

Thank you! It’s a working progress - transitioning from cartoony to something a little more realistic.

Actually, it’s just a fading crayola marker and the line work was with .38 mm gel pen. I’m not much of a fan of brands, I just use what I can find. XD

 

[The Great Sage]

It's fucking awesome whatever it is. If I saw something of similar quality inside some graphic novel I wouldn't think twice about it.

What is that paper and why are there dots on it?

 

[Phoenix.]

Ha ha. Funny you mentioned graphic novels, I was really more inclined to change styles because of Charlie Adlard, the artist for The Walking Dead. I think the gritty and more imperfect lines suits the character I want to portray.

 

[Nihilum]

It’s not often that I see older characters being played in an RP, at least, within my experience so far. So I don’t tend to draw people with age, but I’d like to explore it - life beyond youth.

Older characters are underrated. A lot of people are scared to break that comfort zone because most younger writers only want to play with characters that are spry and youthful, but once you get over that? Oh boy. There's nothing more entertaining than some bitter ass geriatric patient having to deal with a ""kid"" who has far too much energy and optimism for them. I have an entire section of my cast devoted to "Angry Old People Who Don't Have Time For Your Shenanigans™" for that sole reason.

I focused on the eye bags and the jowls. Let me know what you think. I really appreciate the advice so I can improve!

Looks solid to me. If you want to explore more of drawing older characters in the future, I highly recommend trying some pencil drawings; for whatever reason it's a lot easier to make those aging features more pronounced that way. I think it's because some of them (wrinkles, bags) depend on shading - you can really whomp somebody with the old stick just by making their eyes sunken in or greying out their undereyes. Wrinkles are also easier to get used to when you can learn them by shading it as part of the skin, as opposed to pen where you're more or less confined to having to draw them as a harsh line.