Character design one; Circus theme.
It should also be noted that Monster high uses a heavy reference to the theme and Pop culture icons such as Dracula, Franken Stein and The Mummy. Each design is thought out heavily but with a bright fun take on the dark origins of their inspirations. I intend to add the same flair to my own design using colour to make the French reference new and intresting.
For my first concept, I was heavily inspired by Skullgirls and thus will be referencing that a lot; however the one thing I find missing from skullgirls is a theme that the characters share. Though each character has their own theme I wanted each character to be a cohesive group. I was inspired by the story of Cerebella and her roll in Cirque Des Cartes (French for Circus of Cards). The group is a circus which acts as hitmen for a higher up company. I've seen this theme used once before in the "book of circus" from the series black butler. I wanted to use a similar theme in my own work.
I have always found heavy inspiration in the pageantry of a circus and have found many wonders in the costuming and design of each performer. I have found the French have the most interesting designs much like burlesque performers. Each costume has intricate detail and a fun colour story
I did a lot of visual research on French circuses and freak shows and decided I wanted to have at least 4 solid character designs with the theme of Juggling (ball and hoop) Tightrope walking, and Corde Lisse and background character designs. The design process for the characters was extremely extensive. I found it hard to create original designs for something so Iconic and simple as a clown or ringleader. Below are a some of the concepts for my ringleader style character.
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For my in-depth process analysis shall be focusing on a character I named Odette, I decided upon the name Odette as I wanted a link to the old French roots I so deeply fell in love with. The name Odette also means wealth in French and I wanted the character to have the most fans in the piece. eg. The biggest "wealth" of fans. I began by looking at clown reference and fell in love with the style of Siirkis on Instagram and her mime original character Albanette.
I was also extremely inspired by the 2007 Christian Dior by John Galliano with its pastel Harlequin look. The use of pastel colours and the striking silhouette is something I wanted to mimic in my own design. I began creating concept art using a base from Ryxner and began to draw my own interpretation of what I wanted my character to look like. Below are some of the concepts I went through.
To the right is my original concept, I realised that parts of the design I wanted to mirror too closely the design of Blanche her sister doll and I wanted them to be more different from each other to add variety to the pieces. the outfit consists of a top that is inspired by the 2017 fashion statement of cold shoulder and billowy 2018 sleeves, I decided to base this on a modern American fashion as it would aid in keeping her cool whilst performing and also in not hindering her from movement. The trouser portion I wanted to be big and goofy much like vintage clown dolls (pictured below) I finished all edges with lace to keep a feminine look but also because its a preference of mine. I feel that if I make a product it should want to see made. finally, the"shoes" were a nod to the original idea I had when she was going to be a game character. I originally was going to make Odette a phantom-like being who could disappear and reappear at will making her able to avoid attacks. I made the hair a contrasting black to the pastel. In conjunction with creating her as a stand-alone character I wanted her to be a contrast to her sister doll Blanche.
Blanche's design was more reminiscent of the French idea of the circus and clowns; I kept her colour palette almost none existent with the exception of red and blue, the red and blue were chosen as they appear both in the French and American flag. she has similarities to her sister as she is also a phantom (her legs fade to a translucent finish) and her hair is black; I also gave them moth moles on their lips. the intention to make them less traditionally beautiful by adding moles and the styles of hair was intentional to show beauty in all its forms; a message I hope will resonate with a general audience.
Iris is a doll I based upon the design of cerebella from the game skullgirls. I loved Cerebellas design and how the use of triangles was really bold yet elegant. The skirt was based upon a skirt worn by a unicyclist from a cirque du soleil amaluna performance and I instantly thought that a snake charmer would find use wearing it as she would be able to become a living snake nest.
I kept in mind that I want to keep to a really close colour story so I decided to use the complementary colour palette of green and red with hints of gold to give her a regal and striking. Her leotard is also a dark shade of blue which complementary to the colour gold.
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These are the final character designs I came up with, they are drawn on fashion figures from a fashion book and lined with a fountain pen as well as coloured with Faber Castell pencils. I'm really happy with most of the designs though I feel I could add more of the American influence to the designs to make them more cohesive e.g. More stars.