Final design

For my initial design I took elements from the researched characters and my own initial sketches and put them together to form this character. I started with a rough sketch that I refined as the design went on. Unfortunately due to lack of time I could not carry out extensive research or development for potential designs. However, I am decently happy with the outcome of this character, although it could use a lot more intrigue and detail to make it more unique. I could have also played around with the colours a bit more. I am pleased with her expression as it gives off a sense of nonchalance and indifference, which I like as there is no clear alliance for this character, it is somewhat obscure whether she is good or bad, but the dark colours and the expression hints more towards bad. 

With extra time I would have done more iterations and worked out a more solid character concerning colour and costume, as well as background and potentially relating it to what is in her hands. 

Initial designs

Below are some rough designs

Research continued

This design is by Tatiana Kirgetova, however the look of this character seems to be more benevolent than evil, as indicated by the light colours as well as the facial expression. Interestingly this artwork features a spell book.

These images above are from Final Fantasy X of Lulu the black mage and Yunalesca a summoner. I find both designs interesting, as Lulu is a quiet character who is dressed darkly with the mass of belts making up her dress and the lace and dark hair and makeup. Yunalesca is interesting because of her wild hair that flows around her.

Sorceress depiction in Final Fantasy.

Sorceress Edea from Final Fantasy VIII. What I like about her design is the frame on her back, it's so big and whilst it is eye-catching it does not draw attention away from her but rather to it, it frames her. The frame along with the draping fabric cause her to look somewhat regal and in possession of power, also aided by the way she holds herself. 

On the left is Vivi from Final Fantasy IX, he is a black mage and features the big pointy hat, and on the right is Kuja who is also a mage. Kuja is male however he wears very revealing and feminine clothing. He also features silver hair. 

Black mage class in Final Fantasy X-2. This design features the typical hat and staff along with the big sleeves, however it also features tight, somewhat revealing clothing.

Conjurer class from Final Fantasy XIV, reminiscent of more modern day witchcraft, being more in tune with nature, however still featuring old elements such as the long robe with big sleeves and the witch's hat. 

Karma from League of Legends, concept art done by Paul Kwon.

 

Above are more artworks by Paul Kwon for League of Legends, Syndra at the top and Lissandra at the bottom.

Leblanc from League, again she features a staff and revealing clothing, however she has a cape and a head piece which is connotes magic rather than sorcery, in that she resembles what a magician could look like.

Below is Leblanc from Final Fantasy X-2, I included her as her design is interesting, and again is very revealing in the typical ways. I like her collar and the big sleeves which contrast to the tight elements of her clothing. 

What I have noticed about most depictions of sorceresses are the way they carry themselves, very upright, with shoulders back, and wearing low cut clothing, or very little clothing. They wear mostly skirts or dresses and are very feminine. 

Research for the character

The Sorceress from Dragon's Crown (second image by Kamitani)

This design follows stereotypes of a witch with the hat and the stick, as well as the low cut top, almost seductive. The top part of what seems to be a dress reminds me of corsets worn over blouses, as seen in the Van Helsing film.

The costume also vaguely reminded me of the somewhat renaissance costumes worn by the witches in Hocus Pocus.

Whilst researching what witches would look like I found an article on why witches wear pointed hats http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2013/10/17/the_history_of_the_witch_s_hat_origins_of_its_pointy_design.html and interestingly found that in history many women wore some form of pointed hat. For example in medieval times, European noble women wore Hennins which were headdresses in the shape of a cone, and there were different variations of these. 

 

As can be seen above, in the portrait on the left of Maria Portinari painted around 1470.

Below is a painting by Goya depicting witches with gaunt skin and whispy hair. 

Below are a couple of paintings featured on http://www.capuletart.com/hey-how-for-halloween/ which also has some interesting information.

This painting above, known as Horned Witch, French School, date unknown, is interesting as it shows her horns as though they are an extension of her hair. I like this idea, and it could definitely be something I can use.

The Vision of Faust, Luis Ricardo Falero. This depiction is interesting as their hair is whispy, but they do appear very human, just a bit aggressive. 

In another article, the subject of female sexuality and duties are explored and their ties to the symbolism of witchcraft, which is interesting. 

http://www.livescience.com/40828-why-witches-ride-broomsticks.html

In general the depiction of witches in art seem to either show them as beautiful women or ugly haggish women with wrinkly skin. However, in most old depictions they are often naked or baring a lot of skin. 

Designing a brief for my character

I want to design a sorceress character that would fit in a fantasy game, perhaps even a sci-fi one depending on how the design process goes.

She should be borderline evil, meaning she can have elements of good and evil but be leaning more towards the evil side, so I will use darker colours to convey this.

The target audience will be 15+

Key inspirations are Final Fantasy, Mortal Kombat, Dragon Age, League of Legends/ DotA.

Research on how to design a character

I looked up websites and video tutorials on how to design characters, and found:

http://www.creativebloq.com/how-design-game-character

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EY8UNy4RQQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmbPoUdF-ik

https://blog.udemy.com/game-character/

From what I see, gathering reference is important, as well as having a clear idea of what I want to achieve, thinking about the genre my game character will fit within and therefore what he/she will be wearing and perhaps even about their general attitude/ personality. As well as having the foundations for a starting point down, doing many iterations and different quick designs is also important, so you can see what works well and what doesn't.

http://pixar-animation.weebly.com/character-design.html

In Pixar's post about character design they state:

"The process of designing a character stars with a character designer receiving script pages from the director. These script pages describe what the character is like. The artist then has to complete hundreds of drawing of what they believe the character would be like."

Again it seems there is emphasis on trying to capture the character's personality and even mannerisms.

Ultimately to create a decent character, I must have an interesting design that differs somewhat from existing characters, perhaps include exaggerated characteristics, convey personality, and use colour to aid the design.

Past experience

In the past I have worked in a systematic approach to realising a final design. However, I feel that I sometimes miss steps, for example experimenting more with clothing. I find that I settle too quickly on a design and just make minor changes, as can be seen below. Whilst I was very happy with the design of the character, I feel that more work could have gone into it and I definitely could have explored different costumes to create different looks. I also feel that the clothing was a little too ordinary, there was not much fantastical or different about it. This can be improved by studying different types of clothing and getting comfortable with actually drawing clothing and studying the way it folds and falls on the body. 

If I keep this process in mind but add steps in between I could produce better characters in the future. 

When it comes to research and using other people's work as inspiration or a starting point, I once did a commission for someone, taking their original character idea, and looking at other artists' interpretations then finally producing my own.

Below was the original design by DeviantArt artist SatoshiTakeo:

I took the description of the character and I referred to other interpretations and came up with the design seen below. I took a different approach, a more realistic one, which resulted in a somewhat different look to the others. 

So having looked at my past experiences I can move forward and start working on building my own character and doing the relevant research beforehand.