This is the the point of this illustration where it was close to finished. I ended up switching the halo piece for the red sashes to add more interesting elements while substituting a key component to frame her torso. I also wanted to emphasise the theme of motherhood so this red sash was meant to emulate an umbilical cord. I also ended up altering the design of her dress. The previous iteration featured a metal plate attached to the loin cloth, but after considering in-game animations and movement, it seemed like an unrealistic costume piece. The movements of this character is meant to be light and graceful, so the metal plate seemed like it would weigh her down. Instead, I replaced it with a pleated cloth that was inspired by the intricate folds found on traditional Thai skirts as seen below.
The face and blood on the veil of Matramara’s phase 2 design wasn’t actually a part of the original idea. Many of my tutors said something was missing around the head area, which lead to a lot of misinterpretation of the veil. One of my tutors suggested to add a face there so we could get a better idea of the creature’s anatomy. I also applied more design theory by adding blood to the face. Similar to the phase 1 illustration, I used colour and contrast theory to attract the eye of the viewer. I intentionally used bright pops of red to make the viewer look at points of interest on the character such as the hands, the face, and the gruesome belly. Red is a regularly-occurring colour across the characters of Spiritforged. However, my colour use has been very intentional. Red in my character designs shave two distinct functions—one of symbol, the other of substance. When I used red in cloth, it’s meant to evoke power, ritual, and reverence. It represents heritage, divine wrath, or the weight of fate literally carried on the shoulders of my characters. In contrast, red in blood and exposed flesh is more visceral —unfiltered life force and violence. It reveals the cost of power. One red is chosen; the other, spilled. Together, they create a dialogue between passion and mortality.
I had a lot less trouble with rendering phase 2 compared to phase 1 because I already learnt a lot from my roadblocks in phase 1. I remembered to think of floor planes and depth, as well as colour saturation and placement.
I then moved on to developing the prop more. I experimented with a different technique by making a quick sculpt in ZBrush and tried rendering the metal in different styles. Across this project, I wanted to explore different ways I could incorporate 3D into my 2D concept workflow. Metals are quite complex materials to paint, which is why I experimented with metals in 3D – making better use of my time. As this was also meant to be an in-game asset, I needed to be able to predict how a certain metal would look like with proper lighting, and which parts of the staff needed a different material for best contrast.
Once I figured out the most optimal shade of gold on Maya, I wanted to incorporate more red into the design of the staff to tie the two designs together. I did this by adding torn rags, that would also add to the graceful movement Matramara will have in-game. Adding lots of flowing fabric gives a sense of ethereal or other-worldly movement, similar to a ghost. I also added some dried blood splatters and weathering to enhance storytelling. In this world, Matramara has been battling her nemesis for thousands of years, therefore her weapon should reflect that. Out of these 4 iterations, I find that C and D are more successful designs for a game because the bright red sash draws attention to this weapon, allowing the player to focus on the enemy’s coming attacks.
Once I was satisfied with my chosen design, I moved on to my stretch goal: an illustration. One of my favourite illustrators, Deiv Calviz, often incorporates 3D in his workflow to ensure consistent perspectives, volumes and lighting. I posed some models on DAZ 3D and then imported the posed obj models into Maya. On Maya, I then quickly blocked out set pieces, using primitives as a base and adjusting them to roughly map out volumes. Below are some compositions inspired by some thumbnails I made earlier in the project.
I like A1 and A2 because of the dynamic camera angle. However, the lighting felt too plain. Also, this is meant to be an indoor setting and the lighting situation looked like it was outdoors. Set A overall just didn’t showcase the drama and character personality. Between the two sets, set B felt more successful. The lighting reflected the drama I aimed to achieve with this illustration and the placement of the two characters better portrayed the balance. The female figure towers over the male figure, symbolising her strength and importance. The poses of the characters in B also tell the audience a lot more about their personalities – the male figure shows his serious nature by posturing himself for battle, while the female figure is more relaxed, she thinks too highly of herself to fear such a small opponent.