ART WAR 5 | 2D Submissions | Art World War | Cyprus | loorinator

[Looris]

Hi All, I will be creating a hero who is representing Cyprus.
Looking forward to the Artwart! Good luck everyone!

[Looris]

Initial moodboard / inspiration.

[Looris]

I ran through a bunch of ideas and eventually settled on the idea of an Olive themed character (I love Olives!)

I have a bunch of my brain storming notes below.

The Olive Knight
Once a normal man now ... (no longer human?), a pursuit for power, he has gained ~ but at what cost, (now shunned by the people he once swore to protect?)
War Time, desperate, the peoples gods have forsaken them, they are in need of a champion .... who will be their salvation ...
Betrayed by the gods?
Banished by the people?
He answers the call, what does he fight for (peace? his own salvation?)

Potential Design Elements
Spear and Shield ?
Great-sword?
Horns ?
Maybe a Minotaur theme? -- use the Cypriot Mouflon for horn inspiration (A wild sheep The national animal of Cyprus)
Curly Hair ?
Wreath ?

Potential Characteristics
Somber ?
Tired ?
Vengeful?
Still driven to protect ? Regretful?

Potential Powers
Maybe he eats olives to power up?
Draw back for using his power ?
Addicted to olives? humorous or serious ?
Purple Veins ~ after eating olives and powering up

Colour Themes
Cypriot flag is white with gold and green

[Ultrakints]

Hey those are interesting ideas, keep it up!

[Looris]

Some initial sketches for the head, I'm liking number 9 the most so far (the dent on the top of the helmet is supposed to look like an olive).

[Looris]

Some more brain storming ideas (think i'v settled on a character idea):

The Lore - ιππότης ελιάς (Olive Knight)
He no longer has a functional heart, something happened to him and his heart is now fused/dependant/transformed into an Olive tree.

Does eating the olives slow the growth of the tree in his heart? Perhaps it speeds it up? All we know is that tree is slowly killing him. What price must he pay for that power ... how did he end up with an olive tree growing out of his heart?

Maybe needs to continuously consume olives or perhaps pour olive oil into his heart?

Wandering Knight type of theme? maybe the people he helps pay him in olive oil...

Potential Fighting Characteristics
He powers up from eating olives then and goes berserk, he stops using his shield and duel weids two Xiphos (Xiphos are ancient Hellenic weapons that resemble short swords) (puts shield on back).

Aesthetics
Big upper body small legs?
The olive tree growing out his heart will have swirling branches (can really play around here to get some nice shapes) ~ these branches grow when he powers up.
Golden Armour
White cloth & Cape Maybe ?

Now to try get some of these ideas drawn!

[Looris]

Experimented a bit with the helmet design

[Looris]

Some initial Sketches

[Looris]

Testing out some different shapes, a bit more sharp and skinny, I think I prefer the bulkier version though.

[prinzmoana]

I like number 3. 😄

[giagiastoons]

Hey, awesome to see a Cypriot champion! Looks like you settled on the fifth helmet design. Would you think about bringing back helmet designs 2 or 3? They look amazing.

[Looris]

Hey thanks! After playing around with number 5 I was thinking of going back to the 1st helmet, I'm not too sure how ill use the branches yet though!

[moirae]

I'm liking the previous branch armour sketches too, (especially how they seem to be growing out of his chest!) the other three look too much like Sauron from Lord of the Rings.

[Looris]

Thank you, I agree! I went with the first design

[Looris]

Played around with some poses and weapon ideas

[Looris]

Refined the design and tried to bring it back in line with the theme a bit more, still seems a little unbalanced for now. I want to try refine the shape language of the branches and iron out the rest of the elements.

[Looris]

Refined the design some more, getting closer to solving this one!

Removed the cape wrapping around the shoulders it was conflicting with the branches, also changed the pants those looked weird.

I wanted to bring in the olive oil bottles (he pours that in the hole in his chest to power up ).

Any feedback would be appreciated !

[giagiastoons]

It’s close, but I’d go with B

[moirae]

The asymmetry of B works best I think. I prefer the earlier versions that are clear of the head though, the latest ones look like they might get in the way, like he's going to bash his helmet on them every time he turns his head and may obscure too much if you're doing a more dynamic pose.

[Looris]

Final designs