References
Silhouettes
Process
Final
Character Design
While Abyssal’s concept would have multiple playable characters, I decided to focus on just one of them. Character design is something I had explored in my art before, so I wanted to take this opportunity to push myself to do something sci-fi, which was not an area I was too familiar with beforehand.
Nuwa’s character is based on the ancient Chinese creation goddess of the same name, and I wanted to include some of that same visual imagery into my design. I referenced snakes (an animal associated with the mythology) and ancient Chinese clothing, as well as modern and sci-fi elements such as spacesuits and modern Chinese fashion.
One of my weaknesses in character design is lack of variety in silhouettes, and I took this assignment as an opportunity to push myself. Taking the inspirations from my reference board, I incorporated silhouettes from ancient Chinese clothing, using long ribbons and tassels to mimic a snake’s body. Unusually shaped sleeves and footwear echoed the shape of spacesuits and mech suits I referenced, and some of the silhouettes - particularly #2, #6, and #10, incorporated larger-than-life companions and weapons.
After getting feedback from my professor and classmates, I decided to combine the top half of #10 with the bottom half of #7 for a final silhouette.
From the finalized silhouette, I created two sketches for the details within. Sketch #2 was deemed most successful, so I finalized the lineart and moved onto color studies.
#1 was too monochromatic, and #2, while effective on its own, would have been too close to the color palette of the UI and environments. #3 was the final one I went with, as it balanced the bright color palette I wanted with a cohesive color scheme.
