Ever since I was a wee tot on the internet, I, like many middle schoolers, was totally enthralled with doll makers. That has a different meaning online (and is largely a forgotten sport); they are more akin to paper dolls than playing with a Barbie. You are given a base body, and then are able to choose from presets of hair, eyes, expressions, clothing, and more. Some are themed, such as fairies or Disney or from specific historical periods, and many are not. Some allow you to choose color and style independently, and some do not.
Obviously, for baby creatives on the internet, this was like crack to me and many of my brethren.
There have always been some form of this online, but the past couple years have seen a sort of renaissance in the form of picrews. Same premise, though rarely are they full body, and they’re always formatted into a square image so they can be used as icons, avatars, and more. (They frequently are.)
But now, as a writer.
As with doll makers of ages past, picrews and similar websites are GREAT for writers who aren’t into drawing. I do like drawing, but my character designs are limited by my skills, and I’m not the only one in this sad boat. But it’s really nice to have a visual reference point for a character—not to mention a pleasant and addictive time waster—both for your personal usage and for references for commissions.
Also, to be clear, I am advocating using these for personal usage only! That is in most artist disclaimers on this site; they can often be used as icons for social media, and can be posted with proper credit. Don’t trace, don’t claim as your own, don’t use for profit, and don’t be an asshole to creative people who make the internet go ‘round.
Enough with the intro! Here is a very non-exhaustive list of some of my favorite picrews with my own cast from How To Kill Gods & Make Friends as examples. I’ve used multiple characters, but there are some repeats, so you can see how style and pre-existing choices can impact how you create a character.
@Nase_Nikyuu’s character creator. Like many artists on picrew, they are Japanese—it is actually a Japanese site. (You can either rely on basic auto-translate in your browser or just hit the pink button until it lets you in. Trust me, you don’t need to read Japanese to make picrews!)
This one is definitely a great one for making pretty boys. It leans toward short hairstyles and a flat chest. There are two clothing layers, but pretty basic options, with base colors only. The art style is pretty, but the options are basic.
@hunbloom’s character maker. This is an English-speaking artist with their disclaimer in full view, so again: don’t be an ass about using this stuff. It’s a free service that you are playing dolls with to imagine your story better. Don’t ruin it for us.
This one is a really fun, really expressive, kind of cartoony style. There are a lot more options here than standard—nonhuman ears, separate eye colors, several face layers, and a lot of background and filter options. Many of the hairstyles trend longer/a little more feminine, so I made a lot of my female characters here.
@makowka OC maker. This is one of two of Makowka’s things I am linking here, because their style is very versatile and they have a lot of options to play with.
This is a semi-rare picrew because it functions very well for making a plethora of characters; there are both short and long hairstyles, so you aren’t restricted to one side of the spectrum compared to the other. There are a lot of backgrounds and filters, too, and some cute clothing patterns if you hunt for them.
@makowka character maker II. This is one of my favorite makers, and also an example of people ruining the freebies on the internet for the rest of us: This is a private-only link, and I can’t even guarantee it will work whenever you read this. You can only access it from a direct link; it is no longer public, because too many people were tracing the art and/or claiming it as their own for profit purposes. DON’T DO THIS.
That said, this is another wonderfully versatile character creator. I think I made about every character in my cast in this one, with varying success, but that’s more than I can say about 99.9% of picrews. (I have a large cast.) This is a simple style, and that is not a negative; it functions very well to cover a lot of options and a lot of bases. Definitely a top tier picrew to play with.
And next week—MORE PICREWS! You thought I was done? Heaven forbid! I don’t want to make any single post on this blog too long, so I’m splitting up my writer-friendly list of picrews into two separate weeks. Look forward to it!
