(As always I work best fleshing out ideas on paper then going digital )
Started working on the idea of a walking stick/staff for Mukhadi. I kind of like the idea that he somewhat resembles a frail old man as a sort of deceptive front. I know that a huge part of his appeal as a character and his design is him having a ridiculous amount of accessories, vials, trinkets etc. Just figuring out where to put them is the design issue

i've been trying out using the turban as a storage method and also his walking stick/staff (havent decided at this point) just really trying to see what works best and adds depth to the character without looking too ridiculous. In earlier sketches I tried using his beard as a way to store his potions but i'm not sure I like that idea anymore.

I'm speeding through these concepts so they're a little lacking in detail but you get the gist of it

Did a bunch of character outfit thumbnails, not sure which idea I like best, would be interesting to hear what people like best

Followed by a bunch of quick scribbles, focusing on posture and atmosphere, gathering ideas for final illustration (i.e interactions and stuff)
The more i develop the character the darker he seems to get haha, I guess one's intentions doesn't have to be the purest in order to be a champion ^_^
I'm not used to revealing my super quick sketches publicly so they probably make little to no sense to other people, apologies for that.

More updates to come tonight hopefully, focusing on hand details right now and experimenting with disjointed fingers

Worked on a bunch of sketches focusing on Mukhadi's hands today, I tried out a bunch of styles, to see which worked best and ultimately I preferred the simpler of the designs.

Final spread below

Haha I call it the 'I have no idea what i'm actually doing' style Though it might be due to the fact that im actually rushing quite a bit since the deadline is super close!
How would you describe it? I'm a bit conscious that my stuff looks quite different to other peoples threads on here

Focused on mount designs today, as the character is a merchant, (mostly as a front) a mount, come pack-mule is pretty necessary to him. I thought of creatures that had tusks or antlers for things to be carried on, I then moved onto planning out what Mukhadi would want in a mount. I haven't spoken too much about his personality as a character and im not really sure if you're supposed to or if its just art process haha. But as a character that is proud, a little showy but smart I tried to create a mount that would reflect that kind of character's choice.
I focused on the feet at first, and initially planned to go for camel-like feet with a bit more mobility purely for the fact that it would need to cross a variety of terrains with ease, so the whole wide surface area= better stability in sandy places + added mobility.
I also tried bird=like feet which certainly look nicer. Not sure whether to go for the aesthetic route or functional.
Mukhadi is someone who has alot of clutter and its come out in all the designs, i tried to clutter even the mount's antlers. Then the tail is part of the showy aspect. Mukhadi would definitely only opt for the best, he fights smart and uses his wit to abuse a potential opponents weakpoints. Thats pretty much summed up the whole idea about his appearance, his posture is terrible, with a thin crooked neck and hunched back; his physique is similar to that of a frail old man. This naturally makes many people underestimate him and take him for an easy target, aside from manipulative psychology his alchemic substances and potions are his primary form of attack, using various concoctions to trick and confuse opponents. He also has a trusty little dagger too

(WIP) started sketching ideas for illustrations, everything is in super early stages but rather than all guts and glory sorta fighting, Mukhadi lures people into his web, and the moment they realise whats going on, its too late.
(It's also really difficult to describe characters without sounding cheesy haha)

sketch dump!

Mukhadi's trusty dagger, the only weapon he carries around aside from his concoctions; a small and simple jewel encrusted dagger with a gold hilt. I opted for a simpler design here as I feel thats what best suits his personality. A overly flashy dagger engraved and all would probably come across as 'overcompensating' for lack of skill. the sheath is wrapped in silk wrappings tied to his belt.

I got a feel for the layout and environment around my character, with charms and enchanting tables etc. I've changed the design of his walking stick to have a bird's skull embedded into the end of the handle of his walking stick. (in earlier sketches it was tied onto it).

I plan on sketching cleaner designs for the appearance of Mukhadi followed by palette tests and final illustration sketches (composition tests and poses etc).

Final design for Mukhadi in all his glory I changed some of the design elements as I went along, as they looked decent illustrated alone but when added to the character, they clashed with the design or just looked odd.
Biggest change was to the legs, abdomen and the arrangement of the accessories.
The initial final looked fine till i felt like the legs were too short so I elongated those and it looks more in proportion now. I'll be using this figure for the front display of my character in the final illustration sheet.

Did a couple of palette tests, I'm definitely leaning towards the red robes, i kinda had that image in mind since the beginning, it would definitely be a colour Mukhadi would pick to indicate the importance of himself and his riches. The jewelery too.
Not fond of the purple palette so I wont be going with that one.

Little zoom into the details since its hard to see in those thumbnails

Thumbnails for final illustration, some of them are a lot stronger and dynamic than others. Not sure which idea to work on. I'm liking the final idea, tricking an important figure, either a king or a duke or something. If i did i might rework the angle.

Final character sheet lineart almost done. just a couple of details left.

{{WIP}} Progress is running slowly as i've injured my shoulder but progress is progress nonetheless ^_^ I've changed the colour scheme a little as I wasn't happy with them. There's something still off colour-wise with with the trousers and waist scarf thingy. I've never illustrated silk and other materials before so much of this is pretty experimental and might change.
I've changed the colour of his walking stick to a more ash coloured wood to give a bit more of an ominous feel off.

More progress on finals, hopefully I meet the deadline!

Completed my character turnaround, A lot of this piece was experimental since it was my first time trying to recreate surfaces and textures in such a short space of time too, and I feel like i've learned a lot

I've decided on the final illustration from the thumbnails I posted a couple of days ago. I really liked the feeling of the last thumbnail since it gave off a bit of a different feeling from the previous ones (it was also cooler haha)

So far i've sketched a quick layout of objects people etc.+ perspective.

Progress WIP,
I've been experimenting with a bunch of different brushes to try and recreate textures (like the gold and marble etc.) its also my first time to paint without line-work incorporated into it so everything is a learning curb ^_^. Still got lots to do in the time left though