Future tribes character project

My next digital project is to design and render my own character in the theme of 'Future tribes'. I am really looking forward to being able to develop my character designing skills along with learning some valuable knowledge regarding human anatomy, which is something I do not currently have a lot of experience in. Also being able to challenge my abilities regarding a character design workflow is something that is a new and exciting challenge.

For this brief, I wanted to create a unique and appealing character which would really draw a player in and evoke enthusiastic and interesting combat. I want to come up with an interesting base story and concept for my character and suggest some abilities or traits that she/he might have. Through this brief I plan on challenging my abilities by experimenting with some interesting fabrics and textures along with mixing in some of my own personal thoughts and preferences when it comes to making an appealing playable character. 

I firstly began researching some real tribes from around the world, particularly in Asia. I was really drawn in by some of the bright and beautiful clothing worn by those in the Chinese Miao Minority and also the bold head dresses, hairstyles and make up of the Mongolian tribes. I especially liked the use of face paint and I thought that this may be something that I would like to incorporate into my own character design. The lip paint really stood out to me and also made me relate to Padme, a character from Star Wars. I think as part of my futuristic aspect I would like to do some research on her character design in relation to the Mongolian tribes I had found online. The clothes worn in the Mongolian tribes are mostly red or warm tones with contrasting elements of cooler colours such as green or blue. The sharp contrast between these bright colours, combined with black could be a design feature I could use when iterating the clothing. The environment in which these tribes live varies between harsh snowy climes and vast green tundra and the environment in which my character will be from will play a role in what kind of design elements I will use. So far, I like the idea of having clothing that is a middle ground as the tundra of Mongolia tend to have very mixed climates. Making this board really helped me to explore some tribes from Asia and to gain an understanding of some traditional clothes, makeup and head wear that would be typically worn, all of which I could use in developing my future tribes character. 

As stated in my previous research, I decided to do some research on the characters of Padme and Ray from Star Wars as I am really inspired by their character design. it is clear that Padme has been heavily influenced by the attire worn by the Mongolian tribes. I really like the dark red fabrics used in her dresses and the bold hairstyles she wears throughout. As part of my futuristic aspect, I would like to combine these tribal and space-like elements together to create a completely new and bold character. Padme's long flowing skirts could also be an element that I add in, in order to add a sense of gracefulness to my design, depending on what kind of combat or concept I was going for. 

Before starting any of my actual designing processes, I decided to do more research on a more style basis. I researched some concepts which I liked from Pinterest. I will not be using these as references, more so as ideas and as inspiration for the kind of style in which I will be drawing my character. I looked at some of the basic design features these characters had for some more inspiration before I began drawing. These steps really helped me get to a firm starting point where I could begin iterating my designs and then developing them. I also established that I wanted to make a female character as I really liked the type of clothing and bold hair styles that could fit on her character. I quite liked the idea of giving my character a soft face; however, with harsh and more serious features or expressions. Maybe tying in the idea of gracefulness and strength along with a sense of clear danger based on how she looks alone. As a player myself, I really appreciate strong female characters whose appearance clearly shows their personality and maybe elements of their story as well, to really solidify a convincing and playable concept. I think from all my research one of the main elements that came up a lot is bold hair/ headdresses. I think I can use this as a major design feature which will make the silhouette of my character stand out and be recognisable which is very important in terms of character design.

To begin my designing process, I started by creating 50 different block out silhouette designs. I decided to add some tonal variation to further explore some of the options for clothing whilst I was thinking of distinctive designs. This part of the workflow really allowed me to explore many of the picked out design features I had previously learnt about through my research boards. I really focused on creating a wacky and unique silhouette that stands out, whilst also tying in elements of a space-like futuristic Mongolion tribe theme. I liked the idea of adding elements such as bold sleeves or incorporating the idea of symmetry into the hairstyle as I noticed this was a key factor amongst the styles I saw from my research. For example, I did some designs using space buns or pigtails, making the hair into a headdress of its own. In terms of weapons, I also drew a different idea for each design so that I was able to gauge an idea of the kind of thing I would be bringing forward into my more detailed iterations. I really liked the scythe concept that I did in my first silhouette, along with the oversized sleeves. I referred back to my research often and also picked out elements I liked, such as ornate beading trims along necklines and skirts. I think this part of my workflow was a very crucial part so far as it has really given me a good idea of some ideas which work and some which don't and ideas which I could combine together to make a more visually exciting character. Some ideas I did not like so much from this exercise were the skirts that stuck out quite a lot and the idea of having a more restrictive skirt as this wouldn't be a realistic design for a character which could be a fast and smooth assassin or fighter. When drawing these, I also considered the anatomical proportions of a female figure to better establish designs. 

The image above shows my 5 favourite silhouettes which I will be taking forward and developing in a bit more detail. I chose these as I liked the uniqueness of the hair and how the outfits tied in well with the the futuristic and tribal theme I was given. Before thinking of a colour palette, I will further establish a design. 

From my previous 5 silhouette designs, I rendered some more detailed versions to better establish a design that I liked. I took elements of each one that I liked and mixed them together to create more refined ideas. From this part of the workflow, I really like the idea of having a scythe as the weapon and maybe including a cropped top with quite long, flared sleeves as this really lends itself well to the clothing I saw whilst researching the Mongolian tribes. I really like the top of the 1st design as I think this brings in some very modern elements such as modern day fashion seen on celebrities or K-pop idols. I like the bold shapes that can be created using loops made with the hair. I think that having a combination of designs 1 and 3 will allow me to render in a number of interesting textures and materials, such as metal structures and flowing fabrics. I also tried to establish a definition in tones as I would like to use a range of contrasting tonal values in order to make the character stand out. I have rendered in a variation of greyscale tones to help me establish where the variation could be. I kept in mind a lot of the research I had done in the past weeks. I considered how the pieces of clothing would be structured around the body as this will help me when establishing a back view later on. All the components must work realistically together.

Throughout this process, I was also focussing very much on human anatomy as this brief focuses on how accurately you can convey the human structure through a character concept. Although the sketches above aren't fully rendered, I did try to keep in mind the proportions of the female figure and how the design elements would need to be drawn. I plan on making my character a slim female, therefore before drawing up my final sketch, I will be collecting some references from online to help me establish good anatomy practises. 

Today, I experimented with establishing a colour palette for my design. I opted to research the cyber goth style as I really like some of the bold clothing features and colours that were relevant in the style. I like how neon colours were contrasted with black and how a lot of tubes and pipes were used. This gave me the idea that I could have full shin warmers instead of trousers. This would also give my character more flexibility and mobility when in combat, whilst also being suitable for a range of hot and cold weather which is very much the case in tundra areas throughout the seasons. In this research and on the reference board, I picked out some design features which I would be adding to my final sketch along with establishing a colour palette of neon's mixed with black. This colour palette also conveys quite a futuristic vibe. The silhouette of cyber goth outfits also relates somewhat to my previous iterations. I really like the idea of the clothing and components starting off quite fitted at the top and as you move down the body they become wider and more chunky, such as flared sleeves and the chunky leg warmers. This will also help me to develop my character in terms of the environment that they will be living in. 

In the next part of my process, I established a colour palette for my design. I drew out my basic final design using a few female figure references from online and, referring back to my previous design iteration processes, I combined all the chosen elements together to produce this idea. Using my cyber goth reference board, mixed in with the bold red colours I saw in the designs of the Mongolian tribal wear, I opted for a black, white, red and green colourway. The idea that I had to use pipes as part of the distinctive silhouette also tied in here as I was going to fill them with a contrasting neon green liquid which I would write into my character concept at the end of the process. I already had lots of ideas for what my characters back story was going to look like based on all the design choices I had made over the past few weeks. 

As I began rendering, I realised that I did not like the colour palette of this design. The colours  did not work well together and the concept did not work well with the type of clothing or design I had chosen to draw. I had been using a couple of my material study items for reference for the green liquid in the tubes. I also noticed that I had got some of the anatomy wrong on the character. 

After receiving feedback, I realised that there were parts that I needed to change and rethink before I could produce a finished piece that I was pleased with. The legs and feet were not correctly positioned and the lower leg of the character was too long compared to the thigh. I was also advised to rethink the colour palette which I had already decided to do. In addition, I widened the ribcage where the top is, as it was too thin and did not look anatomically correct. I decided to refer back to some of my first design boards to decide on a nicer colour palette and possibly change the design a little bit. I think it was a mistake to incorporate the cyber goth element, especially the colour palette; however, after referring back to that board there were some design changes with the legwarmers that I thought would make my design tie nicely into both cyber goth and the tribal element. The error I made showed me the importance of having a strong workflow and to not add too many design ideas to a project. I think next time, it will be a better idea for me to stick with only 2 or 3 very strong ideas rather than trying to throw in lots of different extras. My character currently does not look appealing to play so I am going to really work hard to change it so that it is something that I like.

Before moving on to any more rendering, I decided to collect some more references. Instead of having so much black in my design I decided to break it up with the element of fur instead of using such bright neon colours. I collected these images so that I would have a good idea of how to convey this material on my final render. 

At this point, I had really started to rework my design. Instead of having the green pipes, I had replaced it with loops made from her hair, as in my previous iterations this is something that I had explored and liked as a design idea. The purple acted as a nice subtle contrast to the red and wasn't so loud. I also referred back to the cyber goth board and  liked the fur leg warmer idea so I decided to incorporate this to break up the black using animal fur. The colours looked like they were starting to work better together and to not clash as much. I had also decided that I wanted her to be more elegant and less brutal. I started researching white chiffon as a possible new asset to maybe add to my concept as elegance, whilst also seeming unnerving. The face paint has been very much influenced by that of the Mongolian tribes and is something that I will consider tying into her overall ability concepts. There wasn't much white on my design and it looked a bit out of place; therefore, I really wanted to add an element that would start tying all the colours nicely together.  

After some alteration of the design and anatomy, I finally finished fully rendering my future tribes character. After making changes to the colour palette and referring back to some of my previous iterations, I had added a fur shawl, fur legwarmers and some chiffon elements to the sleeves and made an overskirt to tie in the white a bit more. I think this colour palette works a lot better together and still allows me to pick up elements of both the Mongolian tribes and the influence of the cyber goth features, all while using a more appealing choice of tones. I tried to capture the contrasting tones with the red and the purple, rather than having such a bright green added into the mix as it didn't work. The hair element also added a sense of originality and lends itself nicely to the flow and silhouette of the character. There are however, a few features which I might have liked to rethink, such as the fur shawl, as it is not very practical. I added it in to show a diversity in climate; however, I am not sure it really adds much to the actual design. Also, the skulls look a little bit out of place compared to the rest of the design. However, overall, it is a lot better than it was previously. I named my character, 'Inara', as the name suits her design and story which I decided to write a little bit about... 

'Powered by her own blood, Inara uses charged hemomancy to gracefully and stealthily eliminate those who are a threat to her people. Inara is the daughter of the chief of the Giang tribe who dwell deep in the tundra lands of Tao. Inara rebelled against the traditions of her village and used her rare gift of charged hemomancy to fight her way into the renowned assassination unit, ‘Bóng tối’ (translating to ‘The Darkness’), against her father’s wishes. The free spirited assassin is feared by all across Tao as she joined hands with two others on a deadly road to destroy the Taoian senate who forced her people into exile after the Red War.  Around her scythe is tied the skull of Valtiang- the previous tyrant ruler of Tao who fell at the mercy of Inara during the Red War.'

I added a couple of small renders of the back view of my character to show a potential modeller what it would look like. However, I did start to run out of time and I would have liked to have made them a little bit clearer than they are. I tried to make the front view as clear as possible. After some feedback, I also changed the position of the feet, the length of the legs and brought the arms out a little bit to showcase more of the design. 

Overall, I worked really hard on this project and learnt a lot about drawing human anatomy. Even though it could be improved, I am happy with the design concept of my character and think that I gained a better understanding of the character work flow and how this will help me in future projects. I am very interested in getter more into character art so I will be working hard to perfect my anatomical skills.