the mind is a fickle thing

Wow! This was a lot of fun. I’m most familiar with drawing humans so I think it came out nicely. I particularly happy with how Lace and Garamond came out.

In the Candlelight

The quality took a dive off a cliff, but it's not too bad, hm? This art is vaguely inspired by the mansion arc where she lost her ears. The lighting's a bit too vivid for that ghost story, but it looks pretty.

genuinely haven’t read the novel or manhwa in years, but it still dwells in my head. maybe i should blame the fanfic.

A character design sheet of the lovely innkeeper. although I made this thinking I was done I feel like it’s still at work in progress. I only thought of the mechanics and I never properly thought out the storytelling aspect.

For example, there’s so many sharp lines in his main public fit and it feels a little bit too dangerous. I think it would be more fitting for his cloak outfit with the domino mask. i’m

For now, it’ll work for the comic idea I have, but I would like to rework it eventually.

Some notes on clothes and accessories.

I was recently inspired to design my dear, lovely Natalie. And her design is a nightmare. Canonically, she carries:

A bow and quiver

Two hand axes

A belt-knife and pouch (technically not canon, but she seems the type to be prepared)

A fuckass skull

I wanted to take a more “medieval realist“ approach. Since loose fabric interferes with drawing the bow, the sleeves and waist are fitted or cinched. She wears a three finger shooting glove and a leather bracer to handle the draw and vibration of her bow string.

I’d appreciate feedback in regards to:

Skull placement and harness. I placed at her sternum and the harness weaves through the cheekbones. Does it seem too unrealistic or out of place? (why does she even have a whole ass skull. a hand would be way more convenient—a hand necklace would be sick! and she could place it over her heart for symbolism…)

Visual language. I tried to give her a gaunt/macabre expression. I wonder if I should make her experience more stern to sell in to that intimidating vibe or brighter to contrast her survivalist attitude and gap mor.

Any other thoughts you have

I also included some notes on the mechanics of her gear below in case anyone is interested. There is so much to armor and gear that you wouldn’t expect!

Btw, if you’re ever interested in character design I recommend looking into the occupation of the character. Searching questions like “What’s the life of a medieval hunter like?” helped me get a grasp on Natalie’s past life and personality

It also puts into perspective how important her husband must’ve been to her? Processing a kill takes about 4 hours to do solo, but with a partner it takes 40 minutes.

And bows are seriously heavy, so archers burn lots of calories. This leads to wiry physiques because wild game are typically lean, so she doesn’t get enough fat. There’s even something called rabbit starvation which can cause death despite someone having a full stomach. Although I’m not sure how this would translate to the fantasy setting…

Sadly, I’ll have to go on a tangent on how much I wish Molasses elaborated on the fantasy system in another post.