Character Suggestions

[SilverSpook]

I've got a bit of decision paralysis trying to figure out where to go with this character's design.  She is supposed to be the daughter of the equivalent of modern royalty.  Like a cross between Chelsea Clinton (Bill Clinton / Hillary Clinton's daughter) and Princess Kate or the Princess of Denmark.  Character traits I'd like to convey are that she's daughter of the super-rich, but with a rebel-streak.  Self-described as "begrudgingly a media personality, a recovering politician, and an aspiring-revolutionary". 

Anyway, I was thinking about what sort of dress she might wear on an average day (not necessarily to the coronation day, her mom's inauguration, the 2033 Academy Awards / Grammys, but just on a regular day).  It should still be something essentially unattainable by the common people, but not trying to blow the socks off the media / paparazzi and potential Neofeudal suitors.



It's super rough, so don't worry about shading / proportion / color issues, just some style tips, or just whatever pops into your head thinking about the character?  Thanks!

[vertigoaddict]

I think the easiest way is to google the equivalents of the people this character is based on, followed with the word "shopping", so "Kate Middleton Shopping" would bring up something like this:

Chelsea Clinton Shopping:

Heck Victoria Beckham shopping:


I picked these outfits 'cause there just seemed to be a pattern here. Personally, I'd imagine if I was royalty or an heiress and I had no responsibilities that day, I'd dress casually (something like all the common people who shower would wear). However, since I knew that I'd have to step outside, I'd accessorize my outfit with something that'll make it more chic, probably a pricey handbag; proof is in the photos. 

[SilverSpook]

Thanks a bunch for the tips, Vertigoaddict.  Shopping pics makes perfect sense.  I'll see about some kind of future-Gucci bag perhaps.  A lot of jeans and light tops there!  It's like the transglobal G-7 leader equivalent of the Sisterhood of the Travelling pants!

[SilverSpook]

I'm still looking into the informal, on-the-street outfit, but here are some ideas for a future-princess in World-Health-Organization keynote speech / runway garb.  The rune-like engravings in the dress are going to be self-illuminating and are going to contain some kind of quantum mechanical magical sci-fi voodoo that may or may not become a game mechanic. 

[Blondbraid]

That dress looks absolutely gorgeous and the patterns look great, but the dress main color is a little bit too close to her skin-color to my liking. Perhaps a more golden nuance?
Anyway, I've found a great, if unorthodox source of inspiration in girl's dress-up games on internet, playing with patterns and colors can really give you new ideas if you feel stuck on a character design! One example of a site with some good games to find inspiration for princess dresses and more is http://www.azaleasdolls.com/. They even have a Cyberpunk Fashion game!

[SilverSpook]

Thanks for that dress up game / inspiration pump, Blond Braid! 

I'll see about making some hue modifications to the dress.

[vertigoaddict]

So I was procastionating and I thought I might give a rough edit a try....just for fun.

"Character traits I'd like to convey are that she's daughter of the super-rich, but with a rebel-streak.  Self-described as "begrudgingly a media personality, a recovering politician, and an aspiring-revolutionary"."

rune-like engravings in the dress are going to be self-illuminating and are going to contain some kind of quantum mechanical magical sci-fi voodoo that may or may not become a game mechanic.



I figured a leather jacket and combat boots might convey the 'rebel-streak', but it might be a bit much, I don't know. I also thought it might be cool to add the rune-like engravings to her belt, since I figure that technology/magic thingy would probably not be easily available to commoners and that could be the 'one thing' that separates the bourgeoisie from the proletariat (instead of just an expensive handbag, or maybe have a glowing handbag, who knows?).



Here's one that's more dressed down and more casual, with a little clutch bag. In case the first one is... well you know, truly...truly out...there.

As for the formal dress, I don't mind the colour, though I'm biased on that department 'cause I actually like wearing nude colours myself. Making the base colour more yellow may end up making it resemble Belle's dress from Disney's beauty and the beast a bit, not a bad thing since that character's quite a tough nut herself.

[SilverSpook]

Thanks for going through all that trouble to make my character look cool, VA!

I like the combat boots concept with the hair back, and the belt containing the runes makes a lot of sense.  Kind of like a "Business-Leia" look, like when she's being more of a military leader than the formal Luke / Han / R2 / C3PO crowning Princess.  No buns though, oh hellz no.  Lol.

Yeah I can go either way with the flesh-tone gown.  On the other hand, a lot of the scenes Princess Sybil is like the ONLY thing in the gold / pink / yellow spectrum where everything else is either variations of techno-utopia blue or dystopia brown.  With the exception of The Throne Room. 

[SilverSpook]

Here's the princess walking.  Man this took three days!  I have no idea how to animate complex gowns / flowing clothing.

[Cassiebsg]

It looks good, me thinks.

[Blondbraid]

Man this took three days!  I have no idea how to animate complex gowns / flowing clothing.

I agree, it looks beautiful and the level of detail is impressive. It's cool that you can sort of see the shape of her legs move beneath the dress.

[selmiak]

her face is really felicitous!
the hair is okay, maybe it even shakes too much. a bit like running, but also the tough steps of a lady...
arm movement is totally fitting.
some subtle bouncy boobsphysics might be cool to satisfy my nerdy tastes.
when she moves the leg to the front I'd expect the skirt to slowly follow the knee and not be ahead before the leg is stretched to the front, but when the leg is stretched to the front her shoes (or naked feet, who knows) would be visible. Did you draw some stickfigure walkcycle below all this lovely artwork? use this and think how the skirt would flow over the legs. Maybe defining 2 slightly different colors for foreground and background (cloth over front leg, cloth over back leg) of the skirt helps to give it more depth. Or work with these black shadows and totally overdo them and work backwards from that and give it the natural color back. It looks kind of alright but also kind of pulsating atm.


after doing this rough overpaint I think using the pleats on the skirt to show the movement can only be an advantage. But this means to draw every frame...
ignore these bright spots, these are gif artifacts from the smudge tool

[SilverSpook]

Thanks for taking the time to do the overpaint!  I'll consider those ideas if I go back and redo this. 

There was no stick figure underneath, although I did get a reference animation sheet of a woman walking in high heels.

I was thinking about more boob physics but I want to avoid #socialjusticecrusades against the sexualization of female characters.  She should be pretty, because she is royalty and a public figure, but also she should be taken seriously, because she can have your head removed / area code nuked at whim.  Perhaps I'll have a secret Konami cheat code to unlock bounciness that you only get by pre-ordering and Kickstarting at the $100 level. 

Also thanks Blondbraid and Cassie for the input.  I should maybe put her on all the Neofeud PR and stuff.