trilobite terror posted:

Are these all original characters that you’re drawing? I think getting people interested in them when they don’t know who Dillran is or why they should care is your biggest challenge right now.

Consider looking at somebody like Boylei hobby time, who does a lot of arts and diorama projects that are either one-off ideas or his own thing, with the occasional build that is heavily inspired by a popular property if not outright an explicit fan-work (ie his Khazad-Dum Balrog vs Gandalf build is literally just the scene from the book/movie, but he never explicitly comes out and advertises it as such).

His thumbnails/video pitches benefit from having really strong concepts in his bespoke stuff and being just recognizable/compelling enough to fans without being outright “Learn To Model Gandalf!!1!!1” when they’re based on a media property.

In your position I might consider leaning more into

1) narrative. Draw your characters in interesting situations that you can build a title around (“They Thought This Dungeon Was Safe!”) and/or flesh them out more.

Don’t just draw a portrait of Dillran, maybe explain a bit about who he is, what his backstory and personality are. Maybe draw him a few different ways and in different scenarios. Resting, at his job, in combat, smiling, upset, etc.

Consider shifting the focus so that there’s more character-building instead of simply illustration.

Or draw a series of panels and craft a fun narrative over them while still retaining the technical advice.

2) the utility to your audience. Is Dillran a TTRPG character? A Baldurs Gate OC? Is he somebody’s fantasy book character or comic character? Could he be all four? Etc. Frame your presentation accordingly.

This ties into point 1. Instead of just one drawing, make a character bible or D&D character sheet.