Imprinting on Characters

The other day, I was discussing my creative process to a poor, unsuspecting soul, who, to their credit, seemed content to put up with a bit of a ramble. They had mentioned that they enjoyed the facial expressions of the characters in our comics, (I did mention they were super nice right?) and I went on to rant about how I will sit there and contort my face to get the right feeling I want to draw; no doubt a common practice of many webcomic creators.

But it wasn’t that, that struck me as interesting. Part way through, I mentioned that I caught my characters mimicking my own mannerisms; maybe it was the way they cocked an eyebrow when they did not trust what they were hearing or the direction they might look when asked a difficult question.

I flippantly remarked that it seemed inevitable that the characters would eventually steal some of my traits as well because, well, I was drawing them. But later that got me thinking. How often had that happened?

I began to wonder, was it my characters’ fate to be imprinted on by both myself and my collaborator, even if they begin to take on a life of their own? Advice given to new creators is often, “Draw on real life events or people you know to help ground your story!” So it seems inevitable that your characters will eventually be imprinted on. Is that a bad thing?

I would lean towards, “Not necessarily,”. It is difficult to separate the author from the work as, at least from my perspective, they inextricably linked. The story had to have come from somewhere and that somewhere has its own roots and bias’. But so long as one is aware of the level of imprinting you potentially might lend to your characters, I think that it is okay.

What are your thoughts on characters copying your mannerisms? Let us know in the comments below! And join us on Sunday evening for our Quackchat at 5:30PM(EST) where we’ll be talking about this topic!