Art for original stories?

[serria]

Does anyone draw art for their original stories? Anything from character designs to scenes. I'm a visual person, so often when I'm setting up a new character, I'll do a quick sketch to help me think about what kind of clothes he or she would wear, the hair, the height, the expression. Not that I'm a very good artist, but they are for my personal benefit only! I like seeing scenes, too, though that's a little beyond my artistic ability. I was really honored when, back when I wrote a lot of fanfiction, a reader drew me "fanart" of my story - that was so cool, to see what I had written in visual form.

How about you? Especially for characters, I sometimes find it difficult to work with them if I don't have a clear picture of them in my head - even though I don't tend to use a lot of descriptions of people in my actual writing. I tend to like to keep it vague, unless the appearance is particularly important, but I need it in my head clearly at least.

Comments

[siofrabunnies]

I am so, so very bad at art, but I sometimes make Sims of characters, or build the impression of a setting. Bonus points in that sometimes the game's AI leads to plot! Building a set, as it were, can help me keep track of positions, say, at a crime scene, or remembering how a room is laid out, which helps a lot with continuity and consistency.

Usually, I just do thorough descriptions in an outline. If I tried drawing anything, it would just make me more confused.

It is so helpful for a character to have a defined set of physical traits! If they have a real-looking face in my head, I can start thinking about how different expressions would look to the other characters, or about how this one guy's forehead wrinkles when he's frustrated. I end up having a lot more character in my characters when I can picture them clearly.