Kai Sapphire

Alright first things first: Why Hestia?

I think she's really cool! Prior to this I had a fondness for Hestia, as her domain over the hearth and home resonated with me as I've done a lot of research into the impact of cooking and relationships. Other interpretations of the hearth being necessary for survival (place for food, warmth, and comfort) tie into a personal interest into survivalist skills. That and her choosing to tend to the hearth of Olympus rather than take on a more flashy role. Someone's got to hold down the fort!

Speaking of, Hestia is a virgin goddess! I thought it was fitting for an asexual person, like myself.

The staff: One of Hestia's pieces of iconography is a staff (or sometimes a plant/branch), and I've always been a fan of staffs and other weapons that create distance. So it was a perfect fit!

Talked to her in a dream once.

Alright onto the design!

Starting with the chiton, I knew classical Greek clothing wasn't actually stark white like modern interpretations depict it. However, I also knew I didn't really want any patterns on it, since this character would be to the sidelines rather than flashy and up front. I instead opted for a dyed gradient design to invoke a candles flame! The choice for an ionic chiton in particular came from this depiction of Hestia I found during my research:

I also thought it would be cool to pick an ionic chiton in particular since they aren't depicted as commonly.

It's unclipped at the left shoulder purely to show off the top surgery scars. When in combat or working they'll clip it up or tie it back as seen in the doodles :3

The tied up design comes from this image I found during my research:

The headdress and veil comes from other depictions of Hestia in carvings and sculpture where she's depicted wearing similar garments.

The sandals were annoying difficult to do research on. Looking up "Historic Greek sandals" gives you a few statues and academic drawings, but it's mostly modern day interpretations for sale.

I ended up extrapolating a bit, combining a few forms of sandals and making them taller for artistic purposes. This site was particularly helpful! As for why they only cover part of the foot, many of the depictions I found that showed Hestia's feet had her barefoot.

The kettle was also a bit annoying, with results mostly showing vases or modern kettles. From what I could find, black wear was pretty common, and would often have art on it. In the end I decided against making a complex design, as it would've been cool, but busy. The actual design of the kettle was drawn from these images.

The staff was one of the simplest parts of the design. I looked at different depictions of her staff and picked a style that I thought fit best!

The extra braid in the hair is a nod to the updo's of ancient Greece! I knew I wanted to draw my hair down, but after learning of styles of the era I thought it should have some sort of styling.

Finally, the bracers and the earring!

Fully made up they're for style only.

Close ups!!!

If you've read this far, thank you!!! I know research and design notes aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I wanted to share some of the love that went into this design (seriously, I was reading academic papers for this).

My gift to you for your commitment is the blank Pantheon background I pulled together for this. It's not perfect, but it works pretty well. Feel free to use it until an official one comes out :)