Gale | Lycan Character Illustration & Deveopment

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Gale, concept illustration process.
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There is constant evolution in the monster-fantasy genre pertaining to Lycanthropes (or werewolves). With each new take on the monster's story, new character dimensions and gradations between Human and Canine emerge. My character of Gale is also a unique take on the classical monster.

With each illustration I make, her story and appearance is evolving. You can find Gale's previous concepts, and read more about her origins in my older post: Gale | Lycan Character Concept.

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Though I try to render my sketches as accurately as possible, I don't worry too much about mistakes, because later I will correct them in Photoshop and clear all my drawing sins.

_{pencil sketch}

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The next step is to breathe life in to the character with some color and more details. Instead of scanning the original sketch, I took a photo of it with my phone, and applied some warm and cold colors using several photo filters. Then I uploaded the image to the computer and started adding some details using Photoshop.

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_{phone filters and details in photoshop}

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Adding lighting to my character is something I absolutely love doing. It adds another dimension both to the character's appearance and mood. Designing backgrounds, on the other hand, has always been a challenge for me. However, they are essential to the storytelling aspect of the illustration, and plus, its important for me to push against the boundaries of my comfort zone. I cant say that the result is great, and a few corners were cut, but it's much better than not even trying.

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_{adding light source and illumination}

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Sometimes the eye gets used to seeing an image in a particular way, that's when I like to drop another layer of color to see the image in a different, more dramatic and unifying light.

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_{changing the color scheme}

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Flooding the scene with blue, made it necessary to bring up some of the warmer colors for contrast. Here I also made some major revisions to the original sketch:

• _{The ear design was bothering me all along - it looked too cartoon-like and threaded too close to the fury and anime territory.}
• _{The anatomy of her feet was pretty bad (it was one of those drawing sins that I planned to remedy with Photoshop).}
• _{I decided to cloth Gale in rags - I think it adds to her character and past connection to humanity.}
• _{Also I added more fine detail to the face and hair, making Gale appear more feral and also deeper in thought.}

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_{final rendering}

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Pale orb in sky,
It reminds me of him say:
"Do you know what that is? Its called 'Moon'... tonight is a full-moon night."
He was good to me... he taught me things and names of things...
'Moon'... 'full moon'...
Many full moons ago.
Before, other people hurt me... they put me in box... called me monster...
But not him... he said I be like his little sister, wear dress and live in a big house
He made drawings of me and fell asleep next to candle and books.
Then strange things happened... strange people... no, not people...
And I saw he changed... he was afraid... and I was too.
Then I was alone next to river... my dress was bad... no moon then
I looked for him... and got lost.
Did he look for me?
For many full moons I live in forest alone.
My hair is long and my nails... I forgot many words.
Go back to find town? No, people will put me in box again.
At night I see big shadows move, I hear screams and smell fear.
He said monsters don't exist.
But they do.
Stay here... away from them... and wait for him.

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_{process animation}

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Thank you for reading.


_{A N K A P O L O}

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