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[Concept] Beaumont in Castle Zaleska #2
🕑 Added 2020-07-26 00:28:08 +0000 UTCWARNING: This post contains brief depictions of nudity.
This concept art post is a follow-up to our previous post, which you can read HERE. Thus, it will continue the theme introduced last month, with concepts related to Elayne Beaumont.
Unlike the previous post, which was rather technical, this collection of images is much more of an open visual exploration of ideas. So, it will be less text-heavy, and have less overall direction. It’s a bit more like “key art” to build around at a later point in time.
Thank you for your patience.
Design Iterations
Although there isn’t much technical design work in this post, I still wonder whether our main characters are “finished.” Character design is an iterative process, so I’m still playing with ideas.
Let’s talk about the image above, which features some notable tweaks to Amaranth & Elayne.
I briefly considered giving Amaranth a large coat in an older post, and I revisited that idea here. It’s cute since it makes his body look smaller and creates a distinct silhouette, but I’m not sure that it is necessarily better than our usual design – or the idea provided in last month’s post.
Elayne’s design has seen a subtle addition; coattails! This adds a bit more gravitas to the design, offering greater shape diversity to the area below her pelvis (an otherwise sparse area of space). Her hair has a noticeable pink highlight to it, but this was done before I started depicting her with the blue/red gradient in her hair as of late. Again, I don’t know if any of this is actually “better.”
Of course, I could just commit to making Amaranth look more like a wizard (something I have always avoided) or changing the shapes in Elayne’s battle bikini. Something to think about for next time, I suppose.
Magical Expression
If there’s one thing lacking in all my illustrations of Amaranth – it is the depiction of magic. The prototype comic did a poor job of communicating his magic. I do not have much experience with depicting special effects, but it’s important to visually communicate his magical abilities.
My art lacks actual motion, so I’ll have to rely on particle effects to accomplish that.
An idea which interested me early on was the use of abstract shapes & psychedelic colours. This could suggest a sense of other-worldliness, but it depends on the “normal” expression of colour in my work. If it is too similar to my expression of the mundane, then it isn’t quite so otherworldly. Even so, it still lacks a sense of structure, so let’s not settle.
Although still abstract, the sketches above feel much more grounded in our physical reality.
They also play with the idea of visual distortion as Amaranth’s arm breaks away from his body, leaving a wispy trail of smoke, or fragmenting in a fractal-like manner. Something about it feels self-destructive and unnatural, like reality is deconstructing itself.
We can take the idea of distortion even further by making it less abstract and more physical. So, now his actual body begins to unravel, pulling his flesh away from the bone. That’s badass, and it plays more into the body horror side of the concept… But might also be a bit beyond my skill level, requiring a greater understanding of anatomy & design in order to do this competently.
Character Art
Of course, there are a few additional characters that need exploring besides the main heroes. There isn’t too much to say about these characters yet since they’re still in early development and their designs have not seen much iteration.
These sketches should still help communicate their basic idea, at least.
As an aside, I really like the colours in the previously shown image. The approach is similar to my usual “watercolour” style but feels as if the paper was wet before applying the paint. It has an ethereal, dream-like quality that I really appreciate. Especially when paired with thin, less erratic linework.
Key Shots
Here are some final images without any context to end on.
Don’t forget to eat & sleep.
Comments
Jeff Grey
The one thing that really sticks out to me is that the idea of giving Elaine coattails makes her resemble Alucard and Soma Cruz a bit. Alucard's cape was a big part of his sprite, and to a lesser extent Soma and his longcoat. That's up to you whether you want to make the main character of this Castlevania expy resemble Castlevania characters more or less, I'm honestly not sure which I prefer. Although I do find it a little funny that it makes your Belmont reference character more resemble the Castlevania protags who aren't Belmonts.
ZBL
The Elayne Burning House has big chaotic energy
Gedudrucro
I know it's not nearly so easy as I might make it out to be, but my gut says meddling with the artstyle is the most obvious way to evoke "otherworldliness" - over-saturating the colors, altering or even removing the linework around and within it, or other Artist Strategies (tm) that I don't have the knowledge base to properly conceptualize. Mumble mumble shading?
