Character Art Style Guide

General Key Features

• Bold colors
• High contrast
• Cel shading
• Slightly angular
• 4-5 Heads tall (excluding hat)

Characters/monsters can have thin white outlines to help them stand out against the dark environment of the game

Overview

Line Art

• Outer silhouette has a thicker outline
• Areas that are most shadowed are filled in black
• EX: Back side of hair, under the chin, inside of boots etc.

Regarding Angularity

Avoid being too sharp or round aside from actual pointed edges like the tips of the hair, intersections of lines etc.

Arrows are for visualization only, these lines were each drawn as one continuous stroke

Highlights on hair and eyes go above line art

For the most part, lines that are surrounded on all sides by one color should be colored instead of black, ex: nose, mouth, lines inside hair etc.

​

This rule excludes the jaw and eyes except for parts obstructed by hair

These Shiny Diamond Things

Use Them. Abuse Them.

• Looks like there should be a soft light here? Slap one of these on
• There should be a harsh highlight here? Slap one of these on
• This part looks kind of empty? Slap one of these on
• (They are still representative of lighting though so don’t put them in shadowed areas)

• Shading colors can be picked by shifting the hue on the color wheel slightly
• Move the selection on the wheel towards the hue you prefer
• Move the selected color down and to the right

Note: For the most part all the shading colors I chose were shifted towards red but they don’t all need to be, for example warden’s teal was shifted towards blue instead

Color Picking

Tips: Try to stay around the top right of the selection area to keep colors saturated (exceptions exist for lighter colors). Additionally, the shading color should be more saturated than the base color for this art style

Proportions

Think of the face as having roughly been split into thirds

• Eyes are big and take up most of the 2nd section
• Small nose and small mouth
• Mouth can get exaggeratedly large when yelling
• General anime rules apply

Head is very large, shoulder span and head width are quite similar

Note: These proportions do not apply to chibi ingame sprites, monsters or non-player characters

CHIBI & MONSTER

Chibis generally follow the same rules but:

• Less detailed
• About 3 heads tall
• Eyes are quite low on the face

Additionally:

• Monsters will follow the same rules defined in this style guide (excluding the proportion rules)
• You’re welcome to bend the rules a bit, just make sure to get approval from a producer/officer/game lead
• This guide only applies to final assets: you're free to do concept art in any style you like
• Try your best to follow the guide but don’t feel pressured to get things perfect!
• If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to share :))

Chibis will be used for in game sprites

Line Art Brush Used

• Clip Studio Paint Brush
• Link
• Brush ID: 2069743
• The one used for the line art is the 2nd brush in the pack titled “かさなるGペン ｶﾞｻｶﾞｻ”

​

Note that usage of this brush is not necessary as it is exclusive to CSP and I have been unsuccessful in finding one exactly like it in other programs, but for those with CSP, I highly recommend.