Give the Artist Something to Draw

Lana exists. The tool knows she’s a character. The artist still hasn’t a bloody clue what she looks like.

Let’s fix that. Keep the splurge nearby. We’re sorting it, not breeding another one.

01 / Age Before Beauty

\ageRange{Early forties}

This gives the artist her age range. It doesn’t describe her appearance. Forty-year-olds do not all look alike, despite what twenty-year-olds think.

02 / Appearances Matter

Lana looks different at different points in the story. Here’s her present-day appearance:

\appearance{Present day}{
  Petite, with long, unkempt hair full of grey streaks.
  Her skin looks sickly. She wears glasses, but not always.
  She wears blood-red lipstick for its contrast
  with her pale skin.
}

The first pair of brackets names the era. The second holds the description. Two hugs. Different responsibilities.

“Present day” must match an era declared in the document. The tutorial supplies that part already. Her age tells us how old she is; the era tells us when we’re looking at her. Related information. Different jobs.

Her promotions and talent for dead languages aren’t here. Try drawing “repeatedly promoted”. I’ll wait.

03 / Put Some Clothes On Her

\wardrobe{
  Dark, practical work clothes.
  She favours menswear for its useful pockets.
  Her shoes are heavy, wide and square-toed:
  beetle crushers.
}

“Practical” points the artist in a direction. Dark colours, useful pockets and square-toed shoes give them something specific to draw.

We haven’t prescribed every shirt. She can change clothes without applying for a character redesign.

04 / Accessories Sold Separately

\charfield{Equipment}{
  A brass-and-mahogany magnifying glass with
  LED illumination on one side: low heat, bright light.
  The light switches on by twisting the shaft.
}

The charfield command adds a labelled field. First brackets: the label. Second brackets: the information.

We’ve specified materials, illumination and operation. Otherwise, “magnifying glass” might get you Sherlock Holmes’s spare. Perfectly serviceable. Wrong story.

Eventually, this can have its own prop entry. For now, it lives with Lana.

05 / Keep Her Hands On

\continuityRule{
  She habitually wears her watch.
}

\continuityRule{
  She is right-handed.
}

Small details. Repeated opportunities to get them wrong.

We haven’t said which wrist holds the watch. If that matters, decide and record it. The tool cannot enforce a decision still sloshing around inside your head.

06 / A Little Light Reading

\charfield{Art direction}{
  When reading, she is drawn as though light
  is coming off the page and illuminating
  her face from the front.
}

This describes how to depict her. It belongs in the reference because the artist needs it repeatedly.

It also means the lighting instruction survives beyond the one panel where you remembered to mention it. You were going to remember every time, of course. Obviously.

07 / Assemble Your Archivist

Everything goes inside the character entry. The example is already loaded below. Change a physical detail, make a PDF and find the changed row.

The aka command records her shorter name. Lana Lyne remains the full name of the entry. Keep the name and era label unchanged for this exercise; the page handles the surrounding document.

08 / Less Excavation

The artist can now find her appearance, wardrobe, equipment and continuity instructions without excavating a biography.

Her history still exists. So do her expressions, habits and tells. We’ll get to those. Today we’re giving someone enough information to draw the same woman twice.

Rabbit skinned. Put the highlighter down.