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Description
Drawn in Photoshop using a Bamboo Wacom

Basic Model:

At the very beginning I just try to establish a stance/pose and form for the character I'm going to draw. I do this with basic shapes usually circular and square in nature to define the separate elements of the figure.

Preliminary Sketch:

During this step I really just go at it and have fun. As you can see at this stage it’s completely rough and free. I am just trying to get a feel for how I would like the character to look. Once I've begun to imaging the form I move on to the next step.

Building Basic Shapes:

I call this step this because that is what I essentially I build or construct the elements of the character. I often times will refer to photos of the alternate mode or Car in this case during this process. Looking at the whole car in this case can be tough to imagine what you like to create. It’s good to view the vehicle as separate elements making up one form so that you may take apart the car in your mind and use the separate pieces to form the transformer.

It is good to have several photos of the vehicle from different angles to get a full idea of the shapes when drawing them. This is so that you can understand what that element looks like from different viewpoints.

Secondary Shapes:

These elements (in this case the back seat doors) I leave out of the initial Building process because of a few reasons. It is sometimes easier to draw a piece fully on a seperate layer before adding it to the rest of the form. This way you make sure you get the perspective correctly and don’t have to guess where lines will emerge from behind other elements. It is also possible to edit that element using the transform tool to simulate the right perspective.

This technique also helps to keep things clean where detail can prove difficult getting between elements in the forefront. This process could be used for any of the elements but too many layers can become confusing so naming layers is good if using this technique.

Not to mention it is just good practice to draw the individual pieces of the vehicle and study its shape before incorporating it into the rest of your design.

Detailed Lines:

This is the fun part! (At least in my opinion but then again I enjoy it all lol) Now its time to do the details and better define the shapes you previously blocked out. By doing this it removes the roughness to the image and creates a cleaner picture of perspective.

One thing that was done in this step that is not shown above is that the head /face was constructed separately. Fist I drew a circular/oval shape to the location and general size I would like the head to be. Then I copied this shape and drew the actual head on a separate layer using the techniques like I did for the body.

Designing a head is just as important as the whole body, it has to reflect the characters personality and fit the rest of his body. (You wouldn’t put Megatron’s head on Optimus's body would you lol!)

Once the head is finished I take the layer and position it in the correct location. The head fits perfectly because I already sized it and angled it to fit using my oval referance earlier.

The rest is pretty self explanatory.

The final view to this image is just an example of the step process and what it looks like when all the different steps are merged into one. As you can see the figure changed slightly from the first preliminary sketch to the finished project and that’s ok! Sometimes you will find problems with your designs or just things that bug you that you would like to change so go for it! Don’t be afraid to erase and start over with a new design for a limb or other section of your character! Your second design may be better then the first one!

Almighty welp that’s it for now! I’ve never done one of these before but I hope that people can take something from this!

Description
Drawn in Photoshop using a Bamboo Wacom

Basic Model:

At the very beginning I just try to establish a stance/pose and form for the character I'm going to draw. I do this with basic shapes usually circular and square in nature to define the separate elements of the figure.

Preliminary Sketch:

During this step I really just go at it and have fun. As you can see at this stage it’s completely rough and free. I am just trying to get a feel for how I would like the character to look. Once I've begun to imaging the form I move on to the next step.

Building Basic Shapes:

I call this step this because that is what I essentially I build or construct the elements of the character. I often times will refer to photos of the alternate mode or Car in this case during this process. Looking at the whole car in this case can be tough to imagine what you like to create. It’s good to view the vehicle as separate elements making up one form so that you may take apart the car in your mind and use the separate pieces to form the transformer.

It is good to have several photos of the vehicle from different angles to get a full idea of the shapes when drawing them. This is so that you can understand what that element looks like from different viewpoints.

Secondary Shapes:

These elements (in this case the back seat doors) I leave out of the initial Building process because of a few reasons. It is sometimes easier to draw a piece fully on a seperate layer before adding it to the rest of the form. This way you make sure you get the perspective correctly and don’t have to guess where lines will emerge from behind other elements. It is also possible to edit that element using the transform tool to simulate the right perspective.

This technique also helps to keep things clean where detail can prove difficult getting between elements in the forefront. This process could be used for any of the elements but too many layers can become confusing so naming layers is good if using this technique.

Not to mention it is just good practice to draw the individual pieces of the vehicle and study its shape before incorporating it into the rest of your design.

Detailed Lines:

This is the fun part! (At least in my opinion but then again I enjoy it all lol) Now its time to do the details and better define the shapes you previously blocked out. By doing this it removes the roughness to the image and creates a cleaner picture of perspective.

One thing that was done in this step that is not shown above is that the head /face was constructed separately. Fist I drew a circular/oval shape to the location and general size I would like the head to be. Then I copied this shape and drew the actual head on a separate layer using the techniques like I did for the body.

Designing a head is just as important as the whole body, it has to reflect the characters personality and fit the rest of his body. (You wouldn’t put Megatron’s head on Optimus's body would you lol!)

Once the head is finished I take the layer and position it in the correct location. The head fits perfectly because I already sized it and angled it to fit using my oval referance earlier.

The rest is pretty self explanatory.

The final view to this image is just an example of the step process and what it looks like when all the different steps are merged into one. As you can see the figure changed slightly from the first preliminary sketch to the finished project and that’s ok! Sometimes you will find problems with your designs or just things that bug you that you would like to change so go for it! Don’t be afraid to erase and start over with a new design for a limb or other section of your character! Your second design may be better then the first one!

Almighty welp that’s it for now! I’ve never done one of these before but I hope that people can take something from this!