Project Wardens: Character Art Refresh Roundup
While I’ve spent the past month or so going back and refurbishing old ideas and updating older projects with fresh ideas and lessons learned from previous observations and experiences, I’d been meaning to go back and do some long-awaited updates to the art side of things.
My usual contact and the person responsible for the vast majority of artwork on my website, Koseki, has been radio silent for a while now. I checked with my other friends to make sure he was ok, and from what I’ve heard, it’s nothing grave; he’s just been taking care of himself. Still, I have to assume that our usual writer-escapades will be few and far between from this point forward or else I’ll never stop waiting. With that said, I’ll never stop championing him as an excellent artist and dear friend who helped me with their artistic talent when I needed it most and provided the groundwork for my projects in terms of tangible, visual material.
(On that note, I’ve actually got a couple of unposted art pieces by Koseki depicting two Project Spellcheck characters, Wesley Von Pyre and Luna Levinia. I’ll be posting those to the art gallery and highlighting them in a news update concurrently with this blog post, so check that out in the meantime!)
Of course, that didn’t change the fact that I’d been without a consistently-available artist to assist me, and it felt foolish to try and hound artistically-inclined internet strangers with concepts and commentaries that went beyond the standard commission. I needed to make use of personal connections and find myself someone willing to be even the slightest bit invested in the characters I was working on so that I could get their help updating and, in some cases, finishing their designs.
It was shortly after I confessed this to Brit, one of my good friends from work, that she introduced me to an artist from across the pond named Tino, who just so happened to have an interest in helping me in just the way I was hoping for. They eagerly and generously provided their skills, listening patiently to my concerns and objectives as they helped me update the designs of Project Wardens’ trio of main characters, who found themselves well at home in their style. The end result of our collaboration waits just below.
Violet
Art by Tino/Rousuke
Violet seemed to be Tino’s favorite of the Wardens three, going so far as to provide initial sketches before any proper deal had been cemented, and that love very clearly shows in the final product.
This would mark the first time Violet was depicted in proper color, and trying to nail the color scheme felt rather tricky. While her hair and eye color were previously established in a short story nearly as old as the website itself (pardon my archaic writing style at the time), trying to nail the rest of her outfit was going to be the real challenge. In the end, we figured that blacks, grays, and a few royal colors tucked between would be best for a sharp-tongued semi-tyrant like Anarch Violet.
Liam
Art by Tino/Rousuke
In both personality and design, Liam is designed to embody three key attributes: athleticism, youthfulness, and naiveté. As an up-and-coming apprentice swordsman with plenty of training but a distinct lack of lived battle experience, it was important that Liam was presented with a profound eagerness, his smile and wide eyes unprepared for what his impending adventures would have in store for him.
In addition to successfully capturing that pecky rookie energy, Tino’s rendition of the character also provides the first look at Liam in his combat-ready get-up, complete with bronze plates and pads, as well as an avian-themed, Ga’Hoole-inspired helmet. I’m happy we were finally able to showcase that rider/cyclist aesthetic first mentioned in the initial Liam blog.
For colors, Tino experimented with a variety of color schemes with little direction besides “earth tones,” as I was honestly open to experimentation on the topic. Ultimately, we decided to go for the colors shown above.
Vincent
Art by Tino/Rousuke
Vincent’s an interesting case because he’s already the most fleshed-out of the existing designs, already having a color scheme and everything. The only thing that really hadn’t been decided was his footwear, which I wasn’t sure whether to go for armored boots or more ordinary footwear; as you can see, we ended up going with the latter (and as per Tino’s twitter, it seemed to have given them a rather hard time. Not to wory, Tino—your sacrifice will be honored!)
Vincent’s design is also probably the most likely to be rocked by all the different changes being made as it goes so far as to alter his relationships and standing (though he’s still a “champion” by story’s start, in a sense), but all that’s just nonsense in my skull and outlines for the time being. The goal here was to touch up the original design, and Tino did an excellent job capturing Vincent’s calm-but-firm essence.
Closing Thoughts:
The biggest trouble when it comes to writing (for me, at least) is that just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, the ideas you thought were solid begin to stale, while new ideas you’d never have considered before will make themselves right at home. Like a tower of Jenga bricks, you can only shift things around so many times before the whole thing collapses on itself and you need to start all over again.
That’s what’s been going on with Wardens for a decent while, and ever since I wrote the previous blog regarding the project, the feeling has only gotten more dramatic; if I’m being honest, it’s gotten to the point where I feel like I’m on the outside looking in upon my own lofty narrative. I’m going to have my work cut out for my trying to get back in the saddle and find my stride with the project, but that doesn’t mean I’m accepting defeat. All I want is to make sure that the story that ultimately gets told is the one I want to tell.
In the meantime, I’ll always be grateful for the help and hard work put in by Tino and others who have faith in what I’m doing, as well as for the opportunities that artwork like theirs can provide as it serves not only as visual enticement to potential audiences, but also a motivator for myself and an assurance that at least a few good things came from my silly ideas.
One last extra-special thanks to Tino again. You can check out their twitter profile @Rousukee if art like theirs suits your fancy.