Milo is a 7-year-old character created for a personal character design project focused on expression exploration and stylized facial consistency. The goal of this project was to create a character that felt resilient and emotionally expressive despite his injury, while balancing humor, frustration, and vulnerability throughout the expression sheet.
The primary focus of the project was improving facial expressions, stylization, and maintaining consistency across different angles and emotions. I wanted each expression to feel distinct while still keeping Milo recognizable from every perspective. A major challenge during the process was keeping the facial proportions and profile structure consistent while pushing a wide range of exaggerated expressions.
The design itself was intentionally kept simple to allow the expressions and personality to remain the focal point. I chose softer, childlike colors for the clothing to reinforce Milo’s age and playful energy, while the bright cast was designed to contrast the outfit and stand out as an additional primary visual element. Originally, the character was not designed with a cast, but adding the injury helped strengthen the storytelling and personality behind the design.
This project was created in Clip Studio Paint EX using the G-Pen tool for linework and rendering.
Throughout the process, I learned more about facial construction, head angles, and how clothing and visual design choices can contribute to storytelling. The aspect I am most proud of is the overall facial consistency across multiple expressions and the way the smaller design elements came together to support the character’s personality.
