Role in the story: Protagonist
Physical Attributes: 
  • Tall
  • Thick black hair, almost greasy looking
  • Lanky
  • Agile physique
  • Finely-drawn features
Personality:
  • Popular writer
  • Used to giving out autographs
  • Haunted by what happened in Salem's Lot when he lived there as a child
Described Outfits:
  • Very new plain blue jeans
  • White shirt rolled up to the elbows

Initial Ideas

I began by assigning different shapes to each character, for Ben I thought that an angular diamond shape matched his book description of having angular features. I then roughly sketched out various different hairstyles that I researched, as later shown below. I wanted to make his body proportions narrow and tall. I then roughly sketched an initial idea for an outfit based on one described in the book that I would later elaborate on after doing more research.

Hairstyle

70's Men's Hairstyles
Since the book is set in the 70's and I wanted to keep that setting for my game, I researched popular haircuts for men during that decade in the U.S.A. Most of the hairstyles I found during my research consisted of long, neck-length hair. 
Ben is described as having thick black hair like oil so I wanted to convey that properly in my design as I think that it is a defining feature for him. My main inspiration for the texture of the hair was American actor Joe Keery. I also wanted to convey the volume of the hair so I studied the way the light hit each stand in the reference images in order to include it in my own illustrations.
After sketching out multiple design ideas, I chose one to refine more and make more realistic. I then shaded and coloured the illustration to get a clearer idea of the final look.

Body

Ben is described as having a slim yet athletic build so I kept his design simple for his body type so that he keeps his appearance of an 'average man'. I sketched these using contrasting tones of black and white as it better shows the contours of the form.

Outfits

Researching American fashion from the 70's, I primarily found fashion magazines with outfits wouldn't be typically worn by the general population as they are mostly too dressy and eye-catching. They are more high-fashion than something that would realistically be worn in a small town.
I then proceeded to search for more casual everyday wear that consisted of simpler outfits that fetter fit his character. I then narrowed it down to ones that were in the general ballpark of the blue jeans and rolled up shirt sleeves described in the book to use as a guide for his general sense of fashion.
For the costume illustrations, I wanted to focus on learning how to better illustrated fabric texture especially when put under harsh light. For this I mainly looked at how different thicknesses of denim folded and hung on the body as well as how to create the texture of it.