Nanomango '10: Character Design pt. 2

Not as far along as I'd like, but just like the hurricane season, so starts Nanomango tomorrow. Due to real life events like vacations, deadline crunches for work, and just plain procrastination, I wasn't able to get as much designed for the comic as I would have liked. That means the rough pencils for a lot of the characters are going to be more ambiguous than I'd like. I'll probably do some designs mixed in with actual work on the pencils, and some characters won't need designs for a few more days.

I was able to get designs done for two characters though. I was able to pretty much finalize Maleen's design, first. I continued from the general costume thumbs to hair thumbs. I needed two to three designs, one for the early appearances, another for her escape after seven years and as a servant at the Prince's castle, followed by her hairstyle when disguised as the Bride and her happily ever after. One thing I was glad to turn to was an older hair magazine I'd kept up with, providing me with a lot of bases for hairstyles, and used in the thumbs. After I got her hair figured out, I moved to the structure and features of her face. I split it up so I wouldn't rely on the hair to define her appearance, and could finalize her face and expressions. I wanted an exotic look to Maleen and to break from traditional appearances (aka, my default faces for females), so a long nose that gives her a handsome look. I then combined the parts to create the overall look, and you can see her in her original princess clothing and her later tower clothing.


I also hashed out some designs for the King. The goal was someone who could look imposing and still regal, and make it clear that he is her father. In other words, I kinda kept her nose and eventually managed to incorporate the stripes/slashes on the arm into her father's clothing and crown, a sort of royal symbolism. The pants will probably be tweaked when I get to the actual comics' pencils.

In the near future, will try and hash out the Prince and the Maid, moreso the Maid because she will be part of Maleen's story for about half of the story, if not more. The Bride only needs an ugly face.