I have been active on this here site for a while without adding incentive for you to sign up or subscribe…
And for that I apologise. In truth, I’ve been trying to figure out how on Earth to produce a satisfactory product. I figured it out, to a degree. So here’s the first inaugural Notebook Session!
The purpose of this is to introduce the idea and show off a pair of characters I have drawn up. My ideation process is dependent usually on some kind of sketching phase, one which I’d like to share. I’d like to share my sketches and walkthrough the influences I drew (heh) upon as well as the ideas that sprouted from each.
I hope this will be enlightening or entertaining!
Let us begin!!
What started this train of thought and ideation was this idea of a dark avenger of the night. This is a rather archetypal hero concept, popularised by Batman, but has many variations in Image’s overtly supernatural Spawn to Marvel’s Man without Fear: Daredevil and Astro City’s very own shadowy protector, Confessor.
I like these characters and I wanted to try my hand at creating such a hero, that made sense to me.
So I pondered, and after a while a raven haired fugitive warped into my mind.
Corvo of the Dishonored games I thought was a fantastic place to start. It didn’t feel satisfying to lean too far in either direction, the gadget slinger or the spellbound protector. So with Corvo as an example, I decided to balance the scales.
Someone capable of limited, but versatile magical feats, but is skilled enough without them to be a threat.
(Warning for those who obsess over legible handwriting, I don’t have that skill.)
Thus I took to sketching. Pen in hand, I doodled a portrait of Corvo as an anchor for my ideas, always referring back to it.
An initial idea was I wanted this character to have a mask could be easily concealed or replaced. Goggles and a scarf or bandanna across the face seemed like an easy solution. But it was quite boring.
I kept at the idea, continuing to put ink to page, unsure what was missing. The above suit was envisioned as an impromptu, casual look.
I took the pose and idea of an emergency hero outfit from the cover and contents of Daredevil issue 10 of the Zdarksy run.
Although I was unsure, I allowed myself to continue with the ticked mask idea. Forgoing the scarf for a hardened gas mask like appearance.
Afterwards, I took a stab to the costume.
I did like the look of a dignified sparrow tail coat instead of say a cape, for dynamic posing. The asymmetry of the breast was also nice.
However with the mask it did feel very much like an alternate costume for Corvo. The uniquely Dunwall like garb didn’t help dissuade that steampunk aesthetic.
So I focused my attention on trying to nail the mask.
Above you can see different experimentations with mask. Some better than others.
The final one was inspired by another videogame about an assassin: Deadbolt
The Reaper character in Deadbolt has this very nice skull look. Noticeably lacking the lower jaw or any teeth, just a shining skull on a black void that seeps through the eyes and nose.
I attempted to recreate something similar, although making it more clearly a mask.
While my attempt wasn’t all that great in my estimation, design wise, it did lead me to an interesting path!
That of skulls!
After a few experimentations, I recalled an old school project where I created a cultist character who wore a deer or elk skull, so…
I asked myself, “Who said it had to be a human skull?”
Remembering the ever dapper mage of Ancient Magus Bride, Elias, I continued to sketch up different animal masks.
Starting with an owl mask that felt far too much like that of the Court of Owls of Batman lore,
I went towards a sleeker elongated skull. Shaving off the antlers as I felt the idea of a vigilante having easily grabbable horns would be pretty dumb. Even though the impact of a huge antlered man in the night would be impressive!
I hit a road block as you may be able to read.
“Honestly I don’t have to finalise the design, I’M NOT THE ARTIST”
This was an affirmation that it was ok to take a break.
Which it is reader.
I had a nice cup of tea and afterwards thought of a human skull Venetian Mask. Which I was proud of.
Although I did not walk down that path, I still think its a nice look.
Instead I began to write what this character was like:
A Swashbuckler. A teacher. Skilled swordsman and sorcerer. An older hero. With a sword bound to him, that can be summoned to him, or him to it.
With all that, I drew up Thorn. The name came from Ancient Magus Bride, Elias is referred to as Thorn or Child of Thorn, to indicate his origins.
Originally I had intended for the magic sword to be called Thorn, so that became a part of the story. The hero is named after the sword.
Another key aspect of the character was his role as a mentor to another hero, an acolyte. I took inspiration (and the poses) from a piece of art for Dishonored 2…
Because well frankly, its badass and I love it
The design for the protégé, Bird was simple. Now that I had the base design with Thorn, I merely had to alter them to fit a femme presenting character.
The design of the pauldron on Thorn was meant to indicate well…thorns of some kind. But for Bird it was changed to something resembling feathers. Thorn had his sword, so I gave Bird a dagger. Thorn was standing, Bird was sitting. So on and so forth.
Also once finalising the name “Thorn”, “Bird” was a no brainer pun, which is half of character creation.
So that’s it!
The first Notebook Session, available to all! Subsequent sessions will be for paid subscribers only, however!
But with that business out of the way, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this look at my sketches and ideation process.
Thank you for reading.