Staring this new rotation I was tasked with researching, developing and creating a character design inspired by one of the seven deadly sins. I chose to base my character on ‘Pride’ as I felt it would be interesting to explore how pride can be represented visually, from here we had to research the style we would go for as a result of the idea of ‘pride’: what their appearance would be, their attitude and how that would be presented as well as who this character will be.
What initially inspired my research was the word ‘vanity’ which usually refers to ones admiration in their own achievements and appearance. Going through Pride and how this can be represented visually I linked this to mirrors which are commonly used to reflect an image, specifically I was drawn to a specific style of mirror which has frames such as gold lief or wood carvings which are only used as a decorative purpose with intricate designs and imagery. I felt this linked to pride as mirrors can suggest a self admiration as well as a focus the character would have on appearance. This lead to the research into Victorian and medieval era clothing specifically for ballrooms, worn by royalty or various jewelry and items like scepters and cloaks as the style of the carved mirrors and clothing would been seen largely during that era, mainly of those of a higher class.
In response I generated eight random silhouettes inspired by the imagery and ideas which I had collected. Doing this not only was I able to explore quick ideas and not get too attached to them, I was also able to think of ways to represent those ideas with each silhouette looking unique with individual posing. Looking over the ideas I liked the idea of the character having a large almost poofy collar around their neck (such as the first rows: 1st, 2nd and 3rd designs), I also particularly liked the idea of the character holding some type of object which could be another extension to show their personality such as the mirror idea or in the silhouettes an umbrella or walking stick. Adding on I liked the idea of having the posing suggest the type of person the characters are, such as the first rows 4th design which suggests a youthful flare whereas the second rows 1st, 2nd and 3rd design suggesting a stern coldness as well as a snooty-ness to the 3rd design in the second row. Moving forward I will explore rough ideas with these silhouettes making sure to experiment with how the base idea can be taken.