Character Process: Villain and Sidekick

Kenna Baker

I started the process with a few initial rules:1. Create two characters.2. Both needed to be either in the fantasy or surreal style.3. One was the main character, the other a beast or sidekick.

Then I worked on some initial brainstorm sketches, exploring both fantasy and surreal. I also worked on story line, weapons, location and interest-ing combinations.

My final idea is that the character and her pet were in a horrible ac-cident, leaving them in need of corrective surgery. For the fantasy characters, she lost her body, leaving only her head and a cybernetic body. Her bunny was completely destroyed so she made her into a mech suit. For the surreal character, they were also in a horrible accident, but instead of cybernet-ics, they took parts from each other and a praying mantis to make new evil creatures.

After deciding on what happened to them, I drew images of each of them before the accident(s). This is to help show the transformation of the character for background story and depth.

I also did research on surreal characters, bug parts, and locations. This was to help bring a realistic quality into the work, despite the surreal aspects.

This was the thumbnail stage; I was still unsure on fantasy or surreal, so both are represented here. I was looking at composition, character, and location.

I was still exploring both sets in the rough stage, but quickly became more interested in the new character experience of surreal, as well as the textures and location. After I made the conclusion to do surreal instead of fantasy, I worked on a character sheet, to get down the specs. Different views, weapons, accessories and notes were included.

Then I did color comps to explore different color combinations and how the piece would work within the frame with color.

I went ahead and picked a view that would showcase both of the unique characters up close, give dynamic lighting, and show off the mystical dark dream world. The color pallet was made to complement with the sidekick. I went with a red/orange fur and purple armor for the main character to go with the yellow green fur of the bunny.

After completing and re-cropping the first image, I started the thumbnail process for the sidekick bunny, Hopper. I wanted the fun playful side of her to offset and highlight the creepy main character and surroundings.

Hopper

Bunny humman sidekick.

I continued working on a view that would capitalize on the character and location and flesh out her face. I did another character sheet to cover all of the basic views, expressions and clothing.

The comps stuck to the complementary color pallet (to the first image) and a clear view of the environment.

The comps were a little too much of a wide view to clearly see all of the small details of the character, so I pulled in, making it more about the character, less about the location.

The final images work together, describing the same location, similar textures, a creepy glowing feeling, and complementary colors.

The End