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**Originally Created On:** April 2nd, 2021
Hey, here’s another revamp of one of my oldest characters! Some of you who have seen my work for long enough may remember this one, but for those who haven’t, this is Irada, a dragon shapeshifter I’ve had for over a decade now.
Her name and dragon form have existed since I was a kid (circa 2005/06), and her human form and last name have existed since around 2013 or so, back when I first started developing a story for her. The last time I actually drew either form was about 5 years ago though, so it’s been quite the journey. I had not approached this character with my improved design sensibilities that I’ve obtained since college, until now that is!
Something I hadn’t always needed to consider prior was how exactly one goes about designing a protagonist that doesn’t really look like one, at least compared to the others I’ve made thus far. Even a character like Snowy who, personality wise, is more of an “every man” by design, still has visual quirks to both him and his costuming that elevate him to the status of protagonist instead (see: white hair and wings). I don’t think every story necessarily needs to have a main character that “looks like a protagonist” as it were, but in Irada’s case, remaining inconspicuous is done more out of necessity rather than desire. Even her dragon form isn’t as complex as many others I have for the same reason. I guess Irada lives a pretty ironic life; imagine being a dragon shapeshifter that’s not supposed to stand out!
But that begs the question, how do you design a character that is interesting enough to carry a story, but doesn’t necessarily stand out in it? Of course the whole dragon thing helps, but I feel like both parts of the character need to stand on their own regardless of their connection to one another. Based on the general impression of the character I’ve had over the years, this made me think more practically about her design in comparison to some of the others, like what someone like her would wear if she’s constantly hiding or on the run in some way. Yes purple is one of my favourite colours, but it serves a dual purpose of blending well with black, grey and other shadow colours, as well as hinting at a bit of quirkiness to her human form that otherwise may not be inherent until her dragon form is revealed.
Not sure if I completely answered my own question here as far as threading the needle of simplicity and detail goes, but I’m quite happy with the result nonetheless. I’ve gotten more comfortable with harnessing that lately, to the point where I feel I have more control over how much I use or don’t use on a design, and that decision is more informed than it was before. I’ve also gotten much better at creating interesting designs for the “regular humans” of my story casts too. As much as I love designing animals and monsters, designing humans is something I never thought I’d be able to do, much less do well, so this is growth I’m proud of.
Hey, here’s another revamp of one of my oldest characters! Some of you who have seen my work for long enough may remember this one, but for those who haven’t, this is Irada, a dragon shapeshifter I’ve had for over a decade now.
Her name and dragon form have existed since I was a kid (circa 2005/06), and her human form and last name have existed since around 2013 or so, back when I first started developing a story for her. The last time I actually drew either form was about 5 years ago though, so it’s been quite the journey. I had not approached this character with my improved design sensibilities that I’ve obtained since college, until now that is!
Something I hadn’t always needed to consider prior was how exactly one goes about designing a protagonist that doesn’t really look like one, at least compared to the others I’ve made thus far. Even a character like Snowy who, personality wise, is more of an “every man” by design, still has visual quirks to both him and his costuming that elevate him to the status of protagonist instead (see: white hair and wings). I don’t think every story necessarily needs to have a main character that “looks like a protagonist” as it were, but in Irada’s case, remaining inconspicuous is done more out of necessity rather than desire. Even her dragon form isn’t as complex as many others I have for the same reason. I guess Irada lives a pretty ironic life; imagine being a dragon shapeshifter that’s not supposed to stand out!
But that begs the question, how do you design a character that is interesting enough to carry a story, but doesn’t necessarily stand out in it? Of course the whole dragon thing helps, but I feel like both parts of the character need to stand on their own regardless of their connection to one another. Based on the general impression of the character I’ve had over the years, this made me think more practically about her design in comparison to some of the others, like what someone like her would wear if she’s constantly hiding or on the run in some way. Yes purple is one of my favourite colours, but it serves a dual purpose of blending well with black, grey and other shadow colours, as well as hinting at a bit of quirkiness to her human form that otherwise may not be inherent until her dragon form is revealed.
Not sure if I completely answered my own question here as far as threading the needle of simplicity and detail goes, but I’m quite happy with the result nonetheless. I’ve gotten more comfortable with harnessing that lately, to the point where I feel I have more control over how much I use or don’t use on a design, and that decision is more informed than it was before. I’ve also gotten much better at creating interesting designs for the “regular humans” of my story casts too. As much as I love designing animals and monsters, designing humans is something I never thought I’d be able to do, much less do well, so this is growth I’m proud of.
**Originally Created On:** April 2nd, 2021
Hey, here’s another revamp of one of my oldest characters! Some of you who have seen my work for long enough may remember this one, but for those who haven’t, this is Irada, a dragon shapeshifter I’ve had for over a decade now.
Her name and dragon form have existed since I was a kid (circa 2005/06), and her human form and last name have existed since around 2013 or so, back when I first started developing a story for her. The last time I actually drew either form was about 5 years ago though, so it’s been quite the journey. I had not approached this character with my improved design sensibilities that I’ve obtained since college, until now that is!
Something I hadn’t always needed to consider prior was how exactly one goes about designing a protagonist that doesn’t really look like one, at least compared to the others I’ve made thus far. Even a character like Snowy who, personality wise, is more of an “every man” by design, still has visual quirks to both him and his costuming that elevate him to the status of protagonist instead (see: white hair and wings). I don’t think every story necessarily needs to have a main character that “looks like a protagonist” as it were, but in Irada’s case, remaining inconspicuous is done more out of necessity rather than desire. Even her dragon form isn’t as complex as many others I have for the same reason. I guess Irada lives a pretty ironic life; imagine being a dragon shapeshifter that’s not supposed to stand out!
But that begs the question, how do you design a character that is interesting enough to carry a story, but doesn’t necessarily stand out in it? Of course the whole dragon thing helps, but I feel like both parts of the character need to stand on their own regardless of their connection to one another. Based on the general impression of the character I’ve had over the years, this made me think more practically about her design in comparison to some of the others, like what someone like her would wear if she’s constantly hiding or on the run in some way. Yes purple is one of my favourite colours, but it serves a dual purpose of blending well with black, grey and other shadow colours, as well as hinting at a bit of quirkiness to her human form that otherwise may not be inherent until her dragon form is revealed.
Not sure if I completely answered my own question here as far as threading the needle of simplicity and detail goes, but I’m quite happy with the result nonetheless. I’ve gotten more comfortable with harnessing that lately, to the point where I feel I have more control over how much I use or don’t use on a design, and that decision is more informed than it was before. I’ve also gotten much better at creating interesting designs for the “regular humans” of my story casts too. As much as I love designing animals and monsters, designing humans is something I never thought I’d be able to do, much less do well, so this is growth I’m proud of.
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