J. Shen or "Micey" is a Senior at Umich. She loves character design and telling stories and dabbles in making her own comics. Sketchbook Smashing is an attempt to chronicle her process in designing characters. From first concepts, hairstyle and outfit changes, or even complete shifts in design. She also hopes to map out how her own art style changes throughout the year.
Her website is https://wallmouseart.weebly.com
Her art Tumblr is https://wallmouse.tumblr.com
Short haired Simon strikes again! He looks good in short hair; I considered making his short hair his original hairstyle, but the ponytail won out in the end. He has a white collar peaking out of his outer jacket. All the more fun to splatter stuff on!
It was a challenge matching silhouettes with his original outfit. Yes, he’s more withdrawn here, but he’s still Simon. I gave him a fur cape to add that sense of luxury and drama.
The is Balder, he’s a prince of the Deep Roots, a place I think of as Fantasy Medieval Iceland. He meets Simon far later in his adventures, but I did really want to design him. Ended up designing a general clothing for his subjects. It’s based on Icelandic traditional outfits. Everything is black and embroidered. Balder gets jewelry because he’s a prince. Otherwise, he’s in his comfy robe and pants.
This was from when I was testing out fashion, and concepts for a short-haired simon. I like the robe and sleeveless top, but I decided it’s too impractical (both to wear and draw) and a departure from his usual silhouette.
There was a period where I wanted to make Lias fancier. As always, their markings are based on pallasite meteorites. I wanted to give them an alien vibe, because space. The center of their chest is translucent, and I hope gives off a squishy texture. Not sure how the chest meshes with the arms and shoulders. Also, I’m also testing out different hairstyles.
For the clothing tests, I’m searching for a tailored, stylish, and old-fashioned vibe. What could be more refined than a cape?
Hello all, new semester, new header! It’s not the only thing that’s new. Here are character design updates:
Also. people have been asking me on if these characters have stories, and yes, they do. Currently, I’m chipping away at a novel starring them. If people want to know more, they can always go here. I’m also working on a series of short stories starring them for a class. The stories will be posted on a website I’m also working on, and I’ll try to link them when I’m done with the site.
Simon used to have a back brace but its logistics got too confusing. He has a harness now. I made his cape shorter and worn in a cape rather than a long coat. I’m not sure why I didn’t do that sooner. I think my favorite part of his new design is his cape chain.
Lias:
I think this is their first character sheet. I switched up their hair and skin markings. I like the vest, but I’m not so sure about the jacket.
Enola:
Another first character sheet! I’m currently trying to make her design more detailed to fit with the other characters.
Cyrene: Spring 2024 to Summer 2024
I wanted to make her look tougher, hence the spikes. I also gave her an inky supermodel.
Xhaska’s new vs old square. As you can see, the old square has very harsh, prominent shading and highlights, and a different eye shape. That eye shape got hard to draw over and over, so I changed it to something simpler. I also simplified and softened the lighting, reserving the high-contrast highlight parts to the eye area. I prefer the way the old square did the hair and ribbon though, the new hair and ribbon look to simplistic and cartoony.