MPG brief - Thumbnails Continued [Week 2]

 I looked at some more asymmetrical designs for the shackled tree that the princess lies within, I really love the idea of a split tree with lighting/magic still coursing through it, i think this makes for a really interesting visual and makes it much more unique than just a simple princess trapped within a tree. I ended up liking design 5 the best and so decided to go ahead with this as my final choice.

Here is a more detailed sketch of my thumbnail

And some colour iterations

I asked some of my peers which of these designs they liked best, the answer ending up being a mixture of 3 and 4. The black and red certainly works well to show that this character is a dangerous being, and the greed combined with this provided contrasting colours and draws the eye better to the lighting from afar.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/guide-to-heraldry

I had a look at how medieval suits of arms were designed and decided to try out some designs that would be representative of the princesses family crest. The purpose for this banner was to mark the tree separate to the other trees in the orchard so even when the princess had fully rotted away, passersby could still identify the corpse. This banner is something that does make the princess quite upset, she sees it as an icon of shame, that people are encouraged to feel distain towards her and even in death she cannot get away from the things she did.

I also looked at some materials for the pendant that lies on her hip, which i go into more detail about in the following drawing. I think i will stick to a silver material just to keep within the darker colour pallet. The pendant matches the same shape on the banner, which is comprised of a lot of sharp points. Although it represents a sun, it looks more intimidating than welcoming, its shape looks more like a mace or a Morningstar, referring to her false appearance of a loving and caring royal turned vicious tyrant.

Here is a description of what her pendant does, as well as a sketch of her spirit. I used her withered form as a reference to imagine what she would have looked like when alive, she keeps her conical shaped head and strong cheekbones, but now has a full head of hair, clothing, and her pointed ears.

I wanted her to look quite ghoulish, i hope the shading and colours i have chosen reflect this.

Here are some more detailed dress iterations

Character details