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What makes an original character unique, and exciting? Is it their story, their design, or maybe their personality? What makes them special to you?

Artists:
-Do you prefer drawing Original characters? Why?
-What qualities do you hate most in an OC you're drawing?
-What about a character can immediately make or break your decision to draw them?
-What do you enjoy most about your own OCs?

Art collectors:
-Is there anything you hate seeing artists do with your characters?
-Are you particular about how your characters are drawn?
-What do youi enjoy most about creating an OC?
-What do you look for in an artist?
-What do you tend to notice most about thread layouts/ thread titles?

I like drawing OC's however I rarely draw them. I think whats appealing about them is their story however I'm a lazy artist as well so usually if the descriptions to long I loose interest in reading it to find out more : ( *taps my hand for that one* I do enjoy seeing really well drawn pictures of the characters as well... its some what an inspiration when I see really good art of an OC character. My decision to draw OC characters is largely based on theres enviroment. For instance, I don't like cowboys ._. I'm sorry if some people love them but I don't... I'm not a western lover, and when I see OC characters that take place in a western enviroment, I quickly loose interest. I do however have a huge love for drawing angels and demons, elementals and fantasy type beings like that. I don't really know why but its something I like drawing or seeing.

What I enjoy the most about my OC characters is the story I developpe around them. ^-^

XD you baffle me with your different way of thinking... its intriguing but soooo unexpected at the same time XD

OCs that I've created I just make because they stand out to me personally... I think I've tired to draw someone else's OC once (a friend's, I did it for free and all), and without in depth understanding of the character's personality and moral, it was hard.

When I get a feeling for a character, I can generally display it how I want to, but understanding how other's see their characters... It's tricky for me.

Interesting point of views so far. Myself personally, I can go several directions when choosing an OC to draw. Im one of those types that likes to see the commissioner put aq lot of heart into their character, so an interesting personality, or story is always a plus for me. Also since I especially enjoy character design myself, seeing an OC with a fantastic overall design is generally a good motivator whether theres a story to go with them or not. I like drawing things that I can relate to as well.

I can start off by saying that I rarely draw fanart... Maybe once every third year or so, and then usually if I was forced to by a friend or if I absolutely love the characters in my current book or so.

Anyway... I find OCs much more interesting. I create my character, I create their world their culture and story. I know things about them that no one else does and can incorporate that into the art. AND, and this is the defining factor here, whatever I draw them doing is CANON. I don't use someone else's creation to tell a story like a lot of fan artists and fan fiction writers do. Any character I put them with (that is my own or my friends' creations) are canon, any environment or clothes or stories are canon.

I think that is what I like about drawing my own characters.

And I am perfectly fine with fanart as long as they keep the story to the canon plot. Sure ship all you like, but really, be respectful of the characters you use because they are NOT YOURS.

Sorry... issues.

as an artists:
-Do you prefer drawing Original characters? Why? - I personally prefer making my own characters beucase it means that I can pull them in which ever direction I want, but I can also insert myself into the characters and work with them as apposed to beside them (I like to think)
-What qualities do you hate most in an OC you're drawing? - my OC's tend to fight back, once I fully create them I tend to have this one factor in them that is so challenging to duplicate time and time again
-What about a character can immediately make or break your decision to draw them? - their height, sounds weird but I have the tendency to draw them tall and lean so short stubby characters (though really cute) are so hard for me to do well.
-What do you enjoy most about your own OCs? - I like how I can call them mine, how when I feel like I'm in the dumps I can create this BA chick who will say her mind, be all tough, while I try to get better.

I really enjoyed thinking about this one, I actually never really understood why I like my own OCs so much hahahaha

I prefer constantly drawing my own characters because I like figuring out what they wear, their faces, etc. It's fun taking these concepts in my head and very literally having them take shape --- oh, she would have a big butt, round face, and snub nose, but he would have a long face and scars all over his hands, etc. Getting those patterns down, telling a story, and successfully communicating all that to an audience is terribly exciting for me, though I think I would still feel similarly without the audience.
As for others' characters, I like drawing ones I know and am very fond of and that creator knows very well, too, not going blind on some vague description or non-specific picture. Oh my god, I can't stand when people just put a tektek or generic animu picture as a reference for a character -- it just immediately turns me off from any desire to draw. neutral A character's defining features should be a sum of many parts, like body/face structure, style, how they carry themselves, and expressions, not some silly pair of horns, a hairstyle, or an outfit.

@Mea: Arguably, that might not be entirely the case (the whole 'with other people's charactersz). I have my own personal stance of 'you put it out there, you ought to accept whatever consequences that happen;, but even outside of that, I feel like there's a certain amount of 'character creation' that goes on, even in fan-works -- I think the Ace Attorney fandom's a good example, where there's portrayals of Phoenix that are more dom-ish, others that are super mischievous, others that are more perpetually tired/snarky, etc. that go along with taste, experience, and the like. I suppose, in that sense, that there's never any true departure from original characterizations?