Environment Concepts

With characters established, I wanted to create some environments where they would breathe in.

Forest
This piece captures a scene with Sister and Brother in deer form amidst the forest. The characters demonstrate a connection with each other with a rope leash providing a storytelling element to the piece.

City
This city concept captures a peaceful setting as the King gazes out over his Kingdom.

Some other environment concept sketches

Soldier Huntsmen concepts

The King, along with his huntsmen, initially hunt the deer form of the character 'Brother' before discovering Sister and the truth of events. I explored a range of concepts for the King's huntsmen but unfortunately ran out of time to fully realise and final design.

Video

Daughter character concept

Daughter character concept

As the Stepmother's only daughter, she shares her wickedness and selfish desires. Described as 'ugly as night' with only one eye, I opted for a skinny bony posture with a rather prominent eye piece. With a hooded cloak, I imagine she would place the hood up to hide her face. Similarities in hair and clothing hair once more help establish a connection with the Stepmother.

Video

Stepmother character concept

Stepmother character concept

The Stepmother stands as the champion of evil in this Brothers' Grimm tale, using her tyranny to inflict misery on the two characters Brother and Sister, and vile magic transforming Brother into a deer. Using of purples and fine details help symbolise her sense of power and wealth in contrast to that of Brother and Sister.

Video

Queen character concept

Queen character concept

Similarly to her brother, the character 'Sister' also undergoes a transformation becoming a Queen in her triumph against the wicked Stepmother. Thus, her clothes reflect that of the King while sporting a more mature and refined look from her former self.

Video

King character concept

King character concept

With my own interpretation of the tale, I have made the 'King' a symbol of Good to contrast that of the wicked Stepmother. I have designed the clothing to best reflect the character of the King with qualities such as heroism, determination and wisdom. A dominate use of white, royal blues and golden yellows help distinguish the character from the rest being both noble in rule and a pillar of hope.

I almost lost the video (and the final design) as my computer decided to crash half-way in this piece, but thankfully I managed to recover most of it.

Video

Brother/Deer character concept

Brother/Deer metamorphosis concept

As characteristic of a Brothers' Grimm Tale, misfortune is ever present with the character 'Brother' being transformed in a deer by the wicked 'Stepmother'. For this interesting concept, I attempted to create a horrific mutation combining both man and deer as one, a sort of metamorphosis of the two as inspired by Kafka's novel.

Video

Brother charcter concept

Brother character concept

I felt that the second character 'Brother' would act as guardian to his sister when they set out on their own. Thus, I made sure clothing and colours matched that of 'Sister' to establish a visual connection between the two, along with facial features.

Video

Sister character concept

Sister character concept

From the original tale, I believed the character 'Sister' to be a warm-hearted individual struggling under the oppression of those above her, demonstrated by the worn style of clothing. Unfortunately, there is no video for this piece.

Time

I'm afraid I haven't been able to maintain my blog as of late having plenty to do. It's a shame but necessary for me to focus on the important tasks at hand.

With most of my character designs, I have recorded the entire process when working with each piece. As such, the videos are available to watch here on my blog.