Character Design: Final Presentation
Tag: Year One
Envy: Colour Variations
Using the final lineart, I have now tried four different colour combinations that I think would work with how I would like to portray the Sin of Envy.
The first one (top left) is the most realistic one – I wanted to create a character that would look similar to how many women looked in Ancient Greece. Thus, she has a tan complexion, with dark brown hair, as the climate in Greece is very warm and sunny. There are some small highlights in green, as it is the colour most associated with jealousy.
Much like the previously mentioned first combination, the last one (bottom right) had a similar aim; the only difference is that this is a much more striking and sinister version, as her himation and mask are a darker colour, almost as if presenting her as an omen of demise.
The second version (top right) is a somewhat fantastical idea of mine; I wanted to experiment and see if I could bring her physical look to an even greater fox-like resemblance, hence the vibrant orange hair. Her himation is also the most realistic one of all, but I do not think this version shows my aims well enough to be considered as a final outcome.
The third combination (bottom left) is what I came up with by thinking of creating a more deathly, almost sick-like appearance for this character. Her skin tone is much more pale and lifeless, almost grey, and her himation is dark like in the last version. I ended up not particularly likeing how this turned out, as the whole idea of my research is that the character should look alluring form the outside and then monstrous under the mask, rather than monstrous off the bat.
Envy: Final Lineart
Envy: Refined Concepts
I chose this design to refine as I thought it showcased my research the best; a woman, seemingly fitting the social beauty standards impeccably, but with a disfigured, fox-like face hidden underneath a mask, as well as a physical sign of envy through a rough sketch of a collection of faces stored in a box.
I wanted this character to show that the sin of Envy might not be as visible as other sins, such as Lust or Greed. Thus, I kept the physical features of the woman mostly human. My aim was to show that the real sign of Envy is what lies underneath the mask the woman holds in her hand – which is implied to have been a once beautiful face, now disfigured and changed into an almost manic fox-like grin.
The box of faces is there as an idea of a stronger emphasis of the destructive force of Envy. I wanted to imply that the character, who was once supposedly beautiful, now takes her revenge on fate by stealing other beautiful women’s faces. I want it to be more subtle, however, as I do not like how the box fits the composition.
Research: Bulgarian Traditional Clothing
As I looked into the stories about Kuma Lisa, I thought it would be interesting to try and incorporate the more traditional look she has into my character.
In many of the folk stories in which she features, Kuma Lisa wears a traditional Bulgarian dress, called a nossia (or носия, in Bulgarian). There are several types of dresses, depending on the region one is from, and as I am from the capital city, the above pictured black dresses are the ones often worn in my region.
Traditional Bulgarian clothing, as in many other Eastern European countries, includes a lot of embroidery and colour. The primary colours used are white, red and green, as they are the colours seen in our flag.
I was curious to see if I could recreate this traditional and colourful look in one of my refinements, as I would like to try and make it seem almost sinister in its use as bait.
Research: Kuma Lisa, Bulgarian Folklore
“Kuma Lisa is a fox character from Bulgarian and Russian folklore, who usually plays the role of the trickster archetype. Many Bulgarian folktales as well as authored works use the character of Kuma Lisa. In many tales, Kuma Lisa is encountered with another character known as Kumcho Vulcho – a wolf who is opposite to her and very often suffers from her tricks.”
(Source: Trickster Folklore. (n.d.). Trickster Folklore. [online] Available at: https://tricksterfolklore.tumblr.com/post/91392034769/kumaliza-kuma-lisa-is-a-fox-character-from [Accessed 9 Nov. 2020]. )
Brief English Summary of “Лисана-преструвана” (eng: the Faker-Fox) by Joardan Stubel:
Kuma Lisa (sometimes translated as Godmother Fox) tricks a Hedgehog into helping her by pretending to be sick and weak. The Hedgehog, taking pity on her, leads her to the Rabbit, claiming that he can help her feel better with his friendship. Kuma Lisa then proceeds to attack and eat the Rabbit, as she was actually faking her illness to find him.
(Source: Стубел, Йордан, 1879-1952. Ĭordan Stubel and Ilii︠a︡ Beshkov (1975). Листило клонче : стихотворения, поемки, весели истории / Listilo klonche : stikhotvorenii︠a︡, poemki, veseli istorii. Изд-Во “Български Писател”, Sofii︠a︡: Izd-Vo “Bŭlgarski Pisatel.)
How Will This Help Me?
As Kuma Lisa is known as a trickster character, as well as being a fox, she further enables me to explore the idea of foxes being related to envy, as I have established a clear theme of envy being two-faced and mischievous.
Moreover, the fact that she is a lady fox nicely links to the Japanese Kitsunes, who were mostly said to be women, as well. This is an interesting discovery, as it seems to create an image of Envy where the Sin is, undoubtedly, a woman.
Research: Ancient Greek Clothing
After my research into Arachne’s tale, I decided to also look into the clothing trends in Greece during that time. This could potentially be useful when creating the outfit for my character, as I aim to show that Envy is a much more hidden Sin than the rest; thus, I want to create a rather alluring, and frankly, normal looking outward look for my character.
Women in Ancient Greece used to only use loose pieces of fabric which they then tied and secured around their body with rope, creating very intriguing and interesting flowing patterns in their dresses. This would be very interesting for m to explore, as it would be challenging to recreate in a drawing.
Envy: Rough Sketches
As I began to explore the different characters I could create using the research I have done, I decided to try and explore as many of the more intriguing silhouette ideas as I could to try and broaden my design ideas.
One of the first ideas I had was directly related and taken from my research on Kitsunes, and the idea of (usually) a woman luring her human prey to steal their knowledge, power, etc. I thought this would be a good base for me to also begin to brainstorm on ways I could feature the idea of a mask to symbolise the two-faced and untruthful nature of Envy.
As I have mentioned before, to me, Envy blooms where Pride has been taken away; so, I decided to try and explore the idea of beauty being taken away, and then hidden by a mask, possibly closely followed by a thirst for revenge (driven by envy) . This resulted in the creation of the two women in the top and bottom corners.
I also wanted to explore the possibility of more animalistic features and structure, all the while keeping close to the idea of Envy driving the character to hurt those who have something they do not anymore. I quickly thought of various motives, including lost eyesight, which stood out the most and drove me to create the more humanoid fox characters in the above picture.
The rest were experiments to try and see if I could have the reverse of the humanoid characters: a fox-like body wearing a mask. I did not like how these turned out, so I decided against developing them further.
Envy: Extended Ideas
As I continued to explore the relationship between Pride and Envy, I found that my attention was too scattered to really find an idea I could follow wholeheartedly. Thus, I decided to focus on Envy, as I thought that it had the potential to let me go much more in debt into my research and exploration of ideas.
The more I began to brainstorm, the more I realised that Envy stemmed from a feeling of insecurity; so, in reality, Envy blooms where Pride has been taken away.
I’ve decided to keep this idea at the forefront of my mind as I start to refine my ideas so that I can relate this to the overall design of my potential character. Envy is hard to show on the outside, as it seems like a very private feeling, but I want to make sure that I find a way to really emphasise the character’s nature, even from an outside perspective.
Some of my initial ideas include:
- using a mask
- using disfigurement
- small stature, low on the ground
- idea of ‘luring victims’, inspired by research on Kitsune
- fox-like features, inspired both by research on Kitsune, and knowledge of Kuma Lisa, a fox character in Bulgarian Folklore usually presented as a trickster
Research: Iago, ‘Othello’
Overview:
Iago is a character from Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ who is very well known for being an envious and vengeful character. He is the one who orchestrates the main character, Othello’s, downfall, and it has been heavily implied within the text itself he did so because of his envy for Othello’s power and influence.
Quotes:
- “I know my price, I am worth no worse a place.” : Act 1 Scene 1 – pride is very obvious from the beginning; sense of self-importance is high
- “I am not what I am.” : Act 1 Scene 1 – Idea of deception is presented; Iago is putting up a front for Othello, but is in reality seeking his own goals; parody of Moses’ ‘I am what I am’ – Iago has a corrupting influence
- “We cannot all be masters, nor all masters/ Cannot be followed.” : Act 1 Scene 1 – Iago sees himself as more worthy of power than anybody else; LINK TO SLIGHT GOD-LIKE POWER (manages to kill many people); Othello might be powerful, yet his followers (ie Iago) do not actually respect him because of it.
- “a wife for a wife” : Iago thinks Othello slept with Emilia (his wife); relates to idea of ‘an eye for an eye’
How Will This Help Me?
Iago’s position as Othello’s right-hand man directly relates to Beelzebub’s position as Satan’s in Paradise Lost. They are both hungry for power and revenge, only with one fundamental difference: whilst Iago craves to take away his own leader’s influence, Beelzebub wants to help his to defeat and rule over a common enemy.
I think that Iago’s deceitful nature links well with my exploration of Envy as a masked sin. During the play’s events, Iago is seen putting on a mask of loyalty to Othello countless of times, whilst sharing his plans for his downfall with the audience. This portrayal of Iago’s envy as a sly and mischievous fuel to his revenge further merges well with my exploration of foxes as an animalistic representation of Envy, as foxes are often seen as scheming characters in folklore.
(Source: Trewin, A., Shakespeare, W. and Euan Cook (2018). Othello. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.)