Honestly, not everybody can draw. Don’t get me wrong. You can go from terrible to being a lot less terrible, but some people will just never be great. It’s no different than learning a musical instrument or performing surgery. You can teach somebody the mechanics of these disciplines and they can pursue it endlessly. However, not everybody can be equally good at everything. That’s just life.
When it comes to learning 3D, you’re correct. Learning how to draw absolutely helps. It’s not strictly necessary though. You can be an amazing sculptor and still only be able to draw stick figures. What matters more is that you can absorb the lessons from traditional 2D and apply them to the third dimension. You need to understand concepts such as composition, complementary colors, anatomy, perspective, proportion, etc and so on. Whether or not you can draw, a strong grasp of traditional art concepts is essential if you want to do 3D. Otherwise, you’re just a soulless button pusher, replicating stuff without interpreting.
That said, personal style takes time to develop. Style is all about knowing the rules, being able to apply them, but also knowing when to break them. If you’re going to create a stylized character in the spirit of “Overwatch” and such, you really should be at the top of your game. For example, if you can’t tell the difference in shape or location between the sternocleidomastoid or trapezius muscles then you might not want to dive head first into stylized character modeling.
I’m not saying that you should know every muscle, but knowing the key ones and how they inform a character’s shape, weight, and motion will only make your work more believable and cohesive. Anybody can extrude out some basic shapes to make a 3D stick figure guy. There’s no form or definition beyond exaggerated proportions. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have comic artists such as Art Adams, Chris Bachalo, Mike Allred, and Jack Kirby. Their art is all highly stylized. However, they all share a common working knowledge of how the human form should look.
If Jack Kirby’s Mr. Fantastic looks the way he does then it’s because Kirby made the very conscious choice to have him look that way. Style is never by accident. Not really. You grow into it. If you look at early art by Todd McFarlane or Bryan Hitch, it looks nothing like their current stuff. You can see hints of who they might become, but it took time to get there. Style doesn’t happen overnight.
The artists working on these games know their anatomy and they know it well. It probably took them years to cultivate that signature style. More than that, to get to that look, all of these characters went through phase after phase of concept design. There were probably a LOT of rejected designs along the way. Once they had one or two that looked good, they undoubtedly refined it over an over.
You don’t necessarily need to be able to draw well to do that, btw. However, you should be able to know how to convey your ideas in a way that’s intelligible. You need to know enough about design to be able to identify what will look right and what will look wrong. You will need to be able to identify what elements and color schemes will work together to create a harmonious piece and what will throw everything out of balance. That is exactly why having SOME traditional art background helps.
You don’t need to be a Leonardo da Vinci. Few artists are. However, you must need to be able to communicate your vision. The creators of “South Park” are very good at this. Nobody would mistake Cartman for the Mona Lisa, but his design is so distinct and unique that it is also unmistakable. There is a clarity of purpose all throughout.
As far as reference material goes, the classics never get old. Get a good anatomy book or two… or three. When you go into the 3D realm, you’re likely going to be building up your key forms that define your character with the primitive shapes that make up the musculature. Stylized or not, every character has anatomy. If you don’t understand it, you won’t be able to create it. For me, I keep a few anatomy figures on the bookshelf next to me. I also love to refer to books such as “Cyclopedia Anatomicae” and “Anatomy for 3D Artists” when I need some refreshing on that odd muscle or bone.
Google is good for reference material, but it can only take you so far. Keep a camera on hand. Your phone will do in a pinch, but a traditional camera is easier to mount on a tripod and has far more options for taking professional looking reference shots.
When developing your own style, don’t emulate. A lot of great artists, classic or otherwise, have started that way. However, you won’t really ever break out and come into your own if you’re just copying somebody else. Being able to emulate is fine if you need your piece to fit into that world. If you want to create a style all your own, think differently.
Prioritize features. Do you want bigger/smaller hands? Do you prioritize sharp edges? Do you want hyper-musculature where everybody looks like the Hulk? Are you into busty ladies with big cartoon eyes? Gigantic feet? Do you want your work have more of a loose, graffiti street style? Are you into cartoons like Bugs Bunny? Identify what appeals to you and why. There’s a good chance that somebody else will like it too if you do. Style is personal, but style executed well can be enjoyed by all.
Again, you don’t have to be able to draw well, but knowing the core concepts and being artistically minded is absolutely 100% essential. You can be taught to emulate a style, but creating a personal style takes time. You can’t break the rules until you know them and know them well.
FWIW, if you’re looking to emulate the “Overwatch” style, I’m sure that there are some behind the scenes art books that show you how they were made. Stuff like that almost always includes a plethora of concept art. Check Amazon.
