We will discuss a new method of producing equations for representation and character varieties of the canonical component of a knot group into PSL(2,C). Unlike known methods, it does not involve any decomposition of the knot complement, and uses only a knot diagram. In many cases, it can be applied to an infinite family of knots at once. The idea goes back to computing the complete hyperbolic structure from a link diagram by Thistlethwaite and the speaker, but is generalized to yield the variety. This is joint work with Kate Petersen.