Pictures of characters

I like to search online to find pictures of eyes, hair, and sometimes actual people who look like my characters (or similar to them) to help me visualize better when I'm thinking up certain scenes.

Anyone else do this?

I once searched pictures to try and slap together a book trailer…it didn't work very well. Usually, I make a list of details in my head or on paper, and then stick to them. I don't have an exact character image in my head, so I imagine them as humans with approximate eye and hair color, height and clothing, with nothing really distinguishing in their face. When I play them through the story, I can "see" them in my mind's eye, but if I try to focus on the face, I lose it. So…I have a good image in there somewhere, it's just hidden. Which is probably why the pictures I find never seem to match well enough. If it's satisfactory, it's almost always a drawing…manga style. (I think of my characters more in terms of animation--like with big eyes. I'm weird like that.)

I know exactly what you mean about trying to focus on a character and then it disappears! I'll use pictures like this:

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To help me get an image for someone's eye color. I'm a visual learner, so in general I like pictures to help me...well, visualize! But when it comes down to what they exactly look like... I just sort of KNOW. Especially with my boys, there's no exact face that can match theirs.. but it's in my head somewhere.

I love how you think of them as drawings! I often draw my characters and favorite scenes. When I can't draw someone's face I'll leave it blurred, turned away, or dark. ^^ I totally relate to that too.

I never really thought about Googling eye colors or how a certain character should look. But I have Googled outfits lol.

@Lizzy That eye is so pretty! I want pretty, blue eyes lol.

@Renee That's really cool how you think of them as drawings.

I think I do the same when I picture my characters. If I concentrate too hard their faces fade away. But I can picture their body type or the way they walk. I know exactly how their hair & eyes look but no faces.

I think it's always that way with faces. Unless you specifically based them off of someone you saw or already know, it's hard to get a clear image of a face you thought up yourself.

That's cool how you look for outfits! A lot of what I have written in the past was set in another world or time so I usually am pretty non-descriptive on the clothes.

I can see why that would be hard to describe lol. I'd probably do the same thing. But I think I put TOO much detail into what my MC is wearing so I'm trying to cut down some.

I can invent description for people I have created from everything I know as well as places that don't exist and objects, I could make a film in my head of a story, the places and the people before I even write or tipe a word (this is not boasting xD)

Stephen wrote:I can invent description for people I have created from everything I know as well as places that don't exist and objects, I could make a film in my head of a story, the places and the people before I even write or tipe a word (this is not boasting xD)

That's cool! And that's talent. ^^

It's like photographic memory only you make a video out of different images

Really!? That's awesome! It must be so handy when you're thinking up stories!

Lizzy wrote:Really!? That's awesome! It must be so handy when you're thinking up stories!

Yes, especially when my pen runs out of ink xD