Hi! I'm absolutely in love with your art and it has given so much inspiration that it helped me try drawing in more of a carefree way again. Just one question, how do you go about designing your hollow knight gijinkas?

ahhh, im so glad it was able to inspire you! hope you have lots and lots of fun creating art again!! :’D

and oughghh... the tldr version is I Just Overthink Stuff, but if you wanna hear more about my thought process, then... buckle up, cuz this is gonna be sort of a long one

first and foremost, i decide on what kinda aesthetic(s) i want my design to have. in this stage, i Think and i gather references or even make somekinda moodboard to get a better feel for what i wanna incorporate into my humanization

then, i look at the character and pick the features that make them recognizable

to make you understand what i mean by that a lil better, lets break down my monomon design:

as you probably already know, i usually Try to keep the characters’ body types and the shapes used in their designs as close as humanly possible to the originals bc my style allows it!

i follow the same philosophy while designing faces/heads. little ghost, for example, has a square-ish head, so i gave them sort of a bowlcut to achieve the same shape in my gijinka! and, as you can see, human quirrels face is a lil longer than og quirrel, but i kept the chin + the head covering stayed the same:

i also like to get creative with various head coverings and hairstyles to represent non-human features like horns:

no shame in just sticking their mask onto their face and calling it a day, though-- masks play a somewhat important role in the lore, after all!

the coloring part is pretty straightforward-- i try to keep it as close to the originals as possible, too

lots of hk characters have black limbs, so a thing i like to do abt that is to give my designs dark gloves/pants/shoes/etc as a substitute:

actually, i think that lots of the bugs’ features can be represented in their clothes’ detailing too!

clothing details are also a neat way to add a personal touch to their outfts! luriens, for example, features a banner (?) found in the watchers spire! and the pattern on herrahs shirt is made out of silk thread/spiderweb and looks like... well, spiderwebs :p

*edit: ah i should also mention that postures/mannerisms/expressions/etc play the biggest role in conveying a characters’ personality, so give that a thought, too!

and thats.... all i got atm. i might be forgetting something, but thats the gist of it! hope this was somewhat helpful! (or at least comprehensive sidhfiohsdf)