ART WAR 3 | 2D | Villains | Blackout | sparksofdawn

Personal details:
Name: Georgi Madzharov
Email: gmadjarov@abv.bg or gmadjarov7@gmail.com

Some backstory (which might be subject to considerable changes): A veteran soldier whose team was needlessly slaughtered now seeks revenge for their deaths. In the aftermath of the betrayal, she realised she has a much needed power to help her achieve her vengeance.

FINAL
Concept sheet:

Art War 3 Concept sheet FINAL.jpg2048x2048 1.9 MB

Illustration:

Art War 3 Illustration_WIP10 Final.jpg2366x2771 2.38 MB

Some obligatory tragic villain backstory to those interested:
'At long last the dust settled and the fire ceased. Her mind was foggy, close to blacking out. Everyting went so very wrong after they were ambushed. Her whole team dead. And then this cursed man, who hired them for this mission, stood before her. Her mind was growing ever darker, the shadows lurking close, her body failing. The worm had the audacity to thank her for their sacrifice. He smiled as he told her her they would use this act of obvious agression well. He smiled as she screamed, broken by this betrayal. He smiled, the grin forever frozen on his face, even as she raised her trembling hand and drove a misty blade through his chest. She stood up slowly and the shadows rose with her. She would exact vengeance for her team and crush anyone in her way. Her heroes were dead, their light dimmed. To her, only darkness remained.'

Here's the first rough sketches to find a sillhouette and feel that I like.
I'm still not sure whether I'm going with fantasy or near-future, yet I know I want the character to be stylish, arrogant and evoke a feeling of strength. Also, I'll try to limit the facial features as much as I can to make him/her harder to read and a bit more alien.
My current idea for a super power is that he/she can control shadows and manifest them as physical objects.

Art War 3 Sketches_1 Male Thumbnails.jpg2967x2008 2.05 MB

As per usual - all comments and critiques are greatly appreciated!

Here's a couple of female versions as well, a bit more painterly to get a better feel for the whole character.
I added a necklace from the dogtags of her fallen team that's going to be a rather omnipresent element between versions.
Between the male and female options, I'm gravitating more towards the female for now. I just like the thinner sillhouette and believe a 'rapier' feel for the character would fit more with the physical shadows theme. The helmet from A grew on me, yet I'm kinda torn between B and D at the moment as a final(-ish) choice.

Art War 3 Sketches_2 Female exploration.jpg4018x1768 1.65 MB

I'd most likely go with the last version (D) as a base for the more ragged look (and who doesn't like a good coated villain :D)

Thanks Looking at them again, I agree with B being better...I might just push both B and D a step further and then decide, B does seem to have a more appealing design and recognizable form

Thank you, while 6 on its own is too alien imo, the more fluid feel is something I'll try to capture in the character (and yeah, it's going to be female for sure, the more I imagine the illustration, the more I dig the female ones)

So here's the more refined design for female B, I like how she's starting to look.
I decided to go for an unstable smoke rapier as her main weapon and added some faint smoke wings so she can gracefully float towards her prey.
As for the visual effects I'm gonna go for, I'm thinking of something reminiscent of volcanic lightning and smoke.
Due to her past as a soldier, she knows not to count completely on technology or magic, thus she carries a trusty gun on her as well.

Art War 3 Sketches_3 Refining Character design.jpg2378x2644 2.08 MB

I'm still not sure, however, on the amount of horns appropriate for her and whether I want her to have a hood or not

Next up - Illustration time

To begin with - thanks for the kind words @rgdraw and @Bruck

(Insert smooth transition) Illustration sketches:

Art War 3 Sketches_4 Illustration thumbnails.jpg2648x2281 2.23 MB

Some thoughts:
My personal favorites are 1 and 4 (which are almost the same thing anyway, so I'll combine them ;D). I like the tighter composition and feeling of grandeur in 1 and the action and wings in 4, so I'll be trying to fit the dangling guy in 1 so that he doesn't obstruct the main character.

2 feels a bit generic and lackluster (too much empty space).
3 is a backview of 4 and I don't think the back would showcase the character too much (even though it's a bit more ominous).
I tried a couple of more crouching poses (as if she's lunging or screeching at enemies), yet it didn't resonate too well with the whole elongated sillhouette I'm going for so those were completely scrapped.