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.
Author: Micey
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
Scales + Jacket Concepts
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?
Sketchbook Smashing: Summer Updates
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.
Read more: Sketchbook Smashing: Summer UpdatesSimon: Spring 2024 to Summer 2024
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.
I redid a square
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.
Pallasite Veins
This is Lias, formally known as Yim before I changed their name because ‘Hima’ and ‘Yim’ sounded too similar. Lias is a fae-dragon with a third eye and facial markings that resemble sliced Pallasite meteorites (look them up, they’re beautiful). Originally, they were just going to be a flat pallasite-inspired pattern slapped onto Lias’s skin. Then, I was struck by inspiration. What if Lias instead had a series of translucent nictating membranes layered over each other that resembled pallasite patterns? That’s infinitely more eldritch, body-horror-esque, and interesting to think of!
Here are my test patterns. I settled for a base layer of yellow that looks like it’s glowing from within. Then, I worked backward and started with the outer layer of dark brown. Then an inner layer of silver, then orange. I wanted to get that intricate veiny feel, and I went from careful layering of lines and crisscrosses to just scribbles. I think all experiments look good at a distance, but up close you can see the sloppiness of the scribbles versions.
Overall, I think the middle test on the top image looks the best. It’s the one where I drew all the lines carefully. It’s also the most time-consuming to draw. Going forwards, I think I only need to make the outer layer carefully drawn, and go looser with the inner layers. I’ll need to keep in mind to not make the lines too thick or numerous, to really get that base layer glow across.
Io Redesign
Wow, Io changed a lot. The image on the bottom is a character sheet I did of her two years ago, for June 2022. I can’t believe how chunky my lineart was.
Over the two years, Io changed from a snake lady to a siren, someone who can shapeshift into a bird form. I made her coat longer to convey how she has a position of authority over the other characters, and orange because Hima already has a long red coat, we can’t have two characters with that. I gave her coat these fringes inspired by bird wing cloaks to reference her bird form. Her bird form, which I am still working on, has a face inspired by ancient greek theatre masks, because the type of siren Io’s based on is from ancient Greece.
Going forwards, I would like to make Io’s human form more monstrous. Snake!Io has her scales and her snake mouth. Siren!Io has her…coat? I might give Io feathers in certain areas of her skin or face, or talons, or both.
