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Gah, all my characters look so different from their original sprites when I draw them in their CGs. Anybody have some tips on how to keep their characters looking like the same person?

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Well, you could do what the professionals do and create a reference document to refer to, containing important "do not forget this" details, character height, the way they stand and move, etc, etc.

You could also do what I do, and just draw them a million billion times. After awhile, your hand starts to get a feel for how they should look. I would love to make reference documents, but my character designs are still relatively vague. (The objectivity of a reference sheet scares me a little...)

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Umm, try to think about their facial features/hair/etc placement in 3D. Keep note of their little flaws too. Helps out a ton. (*´・ｖ・)
You could also do those character sheets for a reference, with the profile/full headshot/backshot.
(Basically what Sapphi said, lool.)

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Ugh this is a problem for me as well sometimes. While you're drawing, stare intently at the original work. Take in every detail and try to keep the proportions in check as much as possible. I use the sprite in the document right next to what I'm doing just to make sure everything's right. It's frustrating work, but I hold hopes that it'll eventually get easier.

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Well, I guess I feel better knowing others also struggle with this. I guess I'm admittedly of a fan of the "take a stab at it" school of drawing, but I'll probably have to start doing profile sheets because that method has been taking me forever.

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Can you make another sprite of same character? If you can't, then the only way is to practice over and over again.

Tip:
1. Make various drawing of the character before drawing the sprite. Front, side, rear, all 12 diagonal direction, various expression, various poses, etc. That way, you know exactly how that character looks.
2. Reference. Draw while putting the reference side-by-side when drawing the CG.

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I once read that when Adam Hughes draws his Cat Woman, he has a very specific actress in mind and that helps him keep her consistent.

I think I do something similar to that. I think the idea is to not think about your characters as just symbols, but as very specific people. Your characters look different from each other, right? How are they different from each other? How does one's characters eyes differ from another? If you think about your characters as people and focus on what makes that character that specific character, it should get easier to redraw them. If you keep the most important features consistent and think about the feeling you want the character to have, minor differences should matter less because it's not what people pick up. Well, that's my view on the matter anyway ^_^'

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I basically keep the first drawing of them right by the side of the new pic I'm drawing.

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Draw up a reference sheet that has them at different views etc.
Though I just tend to keep a mental note of specifics like head shape and figure.

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I totally do what LVUER suggested! I can never do a reference sheet until I've already drawn the character a hundred billion times (Okay, not that many. But you know what I mean!) And as Auro already said, try to think about your characters like real people! If you were trying to draw two friends you know, you would think "Jenny's eyes are rounder than Colin's, and Colin's jaw is more square..." etc.

But yeah! After you've gotten a "feel" of your characters like you KNOW them, I think it's wise to make a reference sheet with 3-4 full-body standing poses (front, profile, back, 3/4 view, any other views that reveal important asymmetries, etc.) and then a TON of expressions on the side (so you get to know their face). I did this with a couple of my characters before and it really makes you think about the important features and all the stuff you need to remember to keep them consistent xD

Basically it boils down to the most common art advice: practice!

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Thanks everybody. I guess I learned today there are no easy shortcuts when it comes to drawing my characters over and over again. Oof...I have like seven different versions of my MC and none of them look alike...iwarp to the rescue (I'd probably use liquify if I had photoshop...)

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Well easy shortcut is kinda like this so it exists. Something about several amateur mangaka helping draw over for head mangaka but group must be able to draw same characters across different panels. Know nothing about specifics. Think Gantz took it to whole new level by utilizing 3d models and just letting better artists deal with it.

http://mangafox.me/manga/bakuman/v01/c005/8.html

http://mangafox.me/manga/bakuman/v01/c005/9.html

Making a reference character sheet with front and back full body views and front, 3/4 and profile views of the head helps a lot if you're not very used to your own characters.

Thinking of them in 3D helps me figure out how to draw them. that and having the original drawing of them next to what I'm drawing, like others mentioned. When I draw on SAI I have a window open with the first drawing and then the window of the new drawing right next to it. Both zoomed in a way that the elements in both should have the same size (for example the head).

To draw differed angles, this is what I usually do:

http://dejinyucu.deviantart.com/gallery ... 4#/d2mkdae
http://dejinyucu.deviantart.com/gallery ... 4#/d2mkp7n

When trying more complicated angles, I look at references of characters that look similar to my character on those angles (:

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When drawing something, anything, USE REFERENCES!! Use your Google-fu!

Don't trust your memory, and don't blindly trust what other people teaches you either.

Research, observation, analysis, experimentation and practice is the key! (:

That is amazingly helpful, Deji. Thanks so much.

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