Last Updated on February 14, 2023
A lot of D&D enthusiasts love creating characters almost as much as they love actually playing the game. The entire process is such a blast, but at the same time, it can be tough to find the right inspiration for your D&D character art.
If that sounds like a problem you run into, then have no fear! We’re looking through some quick ways to bring you all the artistic inspiration you need!
Google Images
Going to Google is definitely the simplest way to find inspiration, and while it might seem like a bit of a throwaway option, you shouldn’t underestimate the power of this search engine. If you just start typing in some basic information about your character, you’re sure to find something that sparks the old imagination.
It’s easy to forget just how useful some good search parameters can be. Typing in your character’s race, class, and maybe even background can bring up a lot of options. Since Google is basically access to images from across the internet, you’re technically using some of the options below.
From people’s OCs to official characters in fiction you might not have heard of, there is truly so much to be found. Of course, this is just a jumping-off point. Whenever you find an image you like, remember the features that stand out to you.
After a bit of searching, you might find that instead of just a dwarven artificer, you want a red-haired dwarven artificer with an ornate hammer. The best part is that you can repeat this process and slowly hone in on exactly what you want. Even if you only start with a race, you’ll definitely leave Google with the start of an idea.
ChatGPT
Artificial intelligence has really taken off in recent years. Just in 2022, a new open-source AI called ChatGPT was released that is absolutely amazing for sparking creativity in just about any artistic field.
We asked the AI to give us an artistic description of a high-elf wizard and we got this:
“A high-elf wizard stands tall, their pointed ears casting shadows over their angular face. Their eyes, a deep shade of blue, sparkle with intelligence and otherworldly wisdom that has been gained from centuries of study and practice in the arcane arts. Long silver hair, styled in an elegant manner, cascades down their back, its strands reflecting the dim light of their wizard’s tower.
They wear a simple, yet regal, robe of white, adorned with intricate golden patterns that symbolize their mastery of magic. Their gait is graceful, almost float-like, as they move with quiet confidence, their presence commanding the attention of those around them. In their hand, they hold a staff, its gnarled wood a testament to the years they’ve spent honing their skills and harnessing the elements to bend them to their will.
They are the embodiment of power, mystery, and beauty, and their very presence fills those around them with a sense of awe and reverence.”
I mean, how incredible is that? Sure, this will definitely play toward stereotypes of the characters you ask for descriptions about, but if we start with some variety, we get even more out at the end.
With this great imagery, we can pull out the defining characteristics and use them with a search engine to really refine our results.
- Tall
- Angular face
- Deep blue eyes
- Long silver hair, elegantly styled
- White robe with golden patterns
- Aged wooden staff
If we’re struggling to find exactly what we want, we can take these characteristics into our next inspirational option.
AI Image Generators
We have an entire article devoted to AI image generators and creating amazing art for your DnD campaigns, but we can’t under-emphasize the utility they have in inspiring your artistic side.
Since these generators are basically random images with some parameters, you can think of them as random character generators!
You don’t have to be super proficient with this kind of software either. Most of them have community galleries you can scroll through, such as Midjourney’s discord server. Just a quick jaunt through the images you’ll find there is enough to give anyone a spark of creativity, especially since the choices are just so weird.
Once you have an understanding of how these images are created, you can start messing around with different prompts to start “rolling up” different versions of the character you’re trying to create. Just hitting the variations button can often do the job, but you can also try switching up the style, adding new feature parameters, or anything else that can modify your query.
Deviant Art
Deviant art has been around longer than Youtube. Heck, it’s almost as old as Google! This website is one of the largest art communities on the internet, and there are so many incredible fantasy characters to be found there.
Sure, the process is the same as it might be for a larger search engine like Google, but Deviant Art brings you directly to the source. If you find something you like, you can click on the artist’s profile and see what else they have to offer.
Plus, Deviant Art does an excellent job of recommending similar art based on what you’ve been looking at. In our experience, the website’s use of tagged content means you will get much better similar results than you might with a search engine using some complicated algorithm to match general colors and shapes.
Final Thoughts
Coming up with unique characters can be difficult, but we live in the modern age! With the internet at your fingertips, you can easily pull up thousands of options to start turning the gears in your brain and take you from a vague concept to fully fleshed-out character art.
As a kid, I was often told to get my head out of the clouds and to stop living in a fantasy world. That never really jived with me, so I decided to make a living out of games, stories, and all sorts of fantastical works. Now, as an adult, I aspire to remind people that sometimes a little bit of fantasy is all you need when life gets to be too much.
