kradeelav

    bright eyes x #zihark ~ (fire emblem oc/canon selfship)

finished sketchdump! more context on the ship at dreamwidth . character design workshop thoughts below ~

i was telling my doujin circle recently it's been neat finally getting the confidence to tackle my body type as a cool character design puzzle to solve since the combination is so rare (coughnonexistent) to see.

(also with the rancid villain vibes that "I" want. because it's hot. /send tweet.)

something a lot of artists underestimate is good character design is always problem solving  -- you want them to be not just cookie cutter copypasta original character 2044223 but unique in a way that they're tangible, iconic, have quirks of body language that tells volumes about how they live, and so forth.

for example, few things I was thinking of:

* every character i design (since the iron crown days and before that) has some sort of intentional raw sleazy sex appeal and this was no exception. :3 along with this inspiration board i was pulling from yzma as a good example of said appeal; extremely unique body type (same knobby fingers as me, villain vibes even), great range of comedy and drama, also Would. it ain't even a 'hear me out' with her ~

frankly i also wanted low key masc-ish vibes for bright eyes; it annoys me to no end about the stranglehold of femme presentation in character design for chicks. i've joked before my favorite way of presenting is leather drag king, and folks with eyes and a nose for history probably see more than one allusion here ~

* there's no reference out there in terms of designing younger(ish) characters with a hunchback so you have to start from scratch in a lot of ways, or reference the elderly characters. (the grandma from mulan is one of the few professional character design sheets that that alludes anywhere near the "physics" of the shapes.)

likewise naturally with the height, clothes ain't gonna fit right, and i can absolutely see the summoner robes lookin' oversized over the shoulders, the centre circle sagging /less circle-like, etc. i figure the bottom of the robe is hemmed off as well since that's a hasty easy fix. there's also a subtle concealment of the larger joints.

* one of these days i'll probably animate a walk cycle for the lulz b/c it's so fucked :D

* there's also an intentionality with bright eyes feeling off, somehow. (greyer skin, all of the above because Society is still unfortunately Like That so might as well lean into it, the regeneration/body horror/spirit charmer lore, the ridiculously villain coded color pallet of purple/red/bright yellow). i get very annoyed with character design that's obviously softballing representation in a way that sacrifices iconic qualities; it's one of the reasons i love hellsing's whole cast ~ legit the one cast i can see myself sliding in with zero changes.

* still, there's some harmonization here; bright eyes could theoretically slide into FEH's cast like this with minimal tweaks; the coat's still there. details like the arm bandages are common in the series. the purple top is straight up stolen from zihark :3