Going into this module I was quite interested in making some kind of human creature hybrid character. This was both because it would make for a visually interesting character but also I feel as though by using animal part the character will be also interesting when I go on to animate it next term.

Over the summer I read the ‘Numina’ book series by Charlie, N Holmberg. (Holmberg, C.N, 2019), which feature mythical creature like gods. In these books there is a monstrous character called ‘Ispeia’. This character is described as a female bird hybrid, which I feel as though would make and interesting character design and give me many options when it comes to animating the character later.

My first step was to gather the various descriptive paragraphs about this character so I know what elements have to be present within my character design

Descriptive Quotes:

‘she levitated even as she flew toward them on a single crooked wing. Black hair cascaded over her shoulders and bare chest, and her hands, clawed like a falcons feet, reached towards them.’

Charlie N, Holmberg (a) (2019: p.108)

‘The gray-skinned numen stretched out a single black wing and clenched her taloned hands‘

Charlie N, Holmberg (b) (2019: p.303)

‘She hissed when they approached, human eyes flicking from Ireth to Rone.’

Charlie N, Holmberg (c) (2019: p.168)

‘Isepia was obviously female.’

Charlie N, Holmberg (e) (2019: p.168)

From the above quotes, found throughout two of the three book sin the series, I am able to piece together a few details that I will build on for my character. Isepia is described as a grey skinned women/bird hybrid. With long black hair, a single crooked wing, and hands like a bird’s claws. The rest of the character is human in appearance, notably her eyes being described as ‘human’.

ThisThis is a very limited description but one I can build upon. Having read the books, I have a understanding of the character and the world they inhabit. In the books, Isepia is a god, called ‘numen’ in the books, that is summoned into a child as a vessel. These children are treated as slaves and as such wear a kind of slave’s sack, they also have a script branded in gold tinged lettering along their backs which is what allows the children to summon Isepia in the first place.

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The character of Isepia in the books is portrayed as naked, however I feel like merging the character and the child she is summoned into would make for a more interesting visual. I therefore intend to include a kind of tattered slaves’ garb to cover the character, and also show the back script brand If I can. While these don’t match the descriptions of the book I feel as though they will make for a better adaptation of the character to a visual format.

2D Character Design

With the background of my character in place I turned my attention to creating a 2d representation of my character. Firstly, I searched for ragged clothing as my character is a slave in the books and as I plan to cloth them, I felt this would allow me to show my character as sickly without sexualising them.

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I then found a good reference I could use as a base with a nice dynamic pose. Which I did using sketch daily. When I began creating my character I remembered a character with a similar design to my own in the ‘Locke & Key’ graphic novels (Hill, J. et al. 2008). The ‘woman in the well’ character shares many looks which I will be trying to emulate, and I will try to experiment with the proportion of the arms as the extended limbs add to the horror styling, I am trying to emulate.

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The main challenges I predict will be merging the claws of a falcon to the human arms and legs without making them look forced onto the model. I will need to be very careful to make the transition seem natural. I also do not know how well just one wing having is going to work with a 3d character. It looks good on the 2D however I suspect this will look slightly odd when made 3d. If it does give my model an unfinished look then I will model a second wing stump, and make it seem as though the second wing has been broken or cut off.

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:: References ::

[Amazon book cover image] ‘Siege and Sacrifice’ Holmberg, C.N. (2019) Available online: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07MYXJTT8?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_2&storeType=ebooks [Accessed 05/10/2021]

[Amazon book cover image] ‘Smoke and Summons’ Holmberg, C.N. (2019) Available online: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Smoke-Summons-Numina-Book-1-ebook/dp/B07C96XW1D [Accessed 05/10/2021]

(Hill, J.) (Rodriguez,G) (2009) ‘Lock & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, IDW Publishing; Reprint edition

Holmberg, C.N. (2019) ‘Siege and Sacrifice’ 47North; Unabridged edition.

Holmberg, C.N. (2019) ‘Smoke and Summons’ 47North; Unabridged edition.

(Ranum,M) 2013 (AmberG: Model) {SketchDaily} Available online: http://reference.sketchdaily.net/en/view/FullBodies?Gender=Female&Clothing=true&ViewAngle=Front&Time=class (Image Id) 5b95dbd0a6c9914e442feb07 [Accessed 05/10/2021]

Jones,J (2018) ‘TRADITIONAL CLOTHES WORN BY STRADITIONAL CLOTHES WORN BY SLAVES ON PLANTATIONS IN THE SOUTH’ [Online article] Available online: https://blackthen.com/traditional-clothes-worn-by-slaves-on-plantations-in-the-south/ [Accessed 05/10/2021]

Jspoelstra (n.d.) ‘Nukapedia Fallout Wiki‘ [Online Website] Available online: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Tattered_rags_(Fallout_4) [Accessed 05/10/2021]