Kristen Johanna - Character Development/Concept Art
I've had the concept of a kick-butt ghost hunter lady floating around in my head--What if we had essentially a ghostbuster, but she's a tired business woman who is unfriendly and rude and witty, she hates her job as an exorcist and a paranormal investigator because demons scare the daylights out of her, but she does all this anyway for someone she loves? After sketching her endlessly and playing with facial shapes, expressions, and writing a deeper and deeper story arch for her, I think she's ready now to be modeled and played with in 3D.
I think a lot of Kristen's character will come from the way she expresses herself, her dry humor, her intolerance for shenanigans, or like, a moment where she's screaming and acting like she's totally not scared at all to save face. I'm looking forward to see how I can further experiment her once she's animated and moving to really sell that expressiveness.
The idea that pushed me to play with this character was her range of emotions--She's not friendly, she's often frustrated, hates her job, but does it anyway out of grief--a character that has a lot of potential expressions.
Quickly, I tried to nail down her features--round facial shapes, but sharper brows, choppy hair, piercing eyes--a woman who puts out something spikier than she is on the inside.
Color concepts, in a comic-like format. Dark hair, but with white streaks to give her some visual aging from such a scary job.
I played, too, with some different face shapes, a sharper chin, maybe a more cartoony style--I didn't hate it, but I didn't think it fit her as well.
So the white hair came back, her rounder chin, and I played with stylizing her in a different way, emphasizing her hair.
And finally, a rendered portrait of her features and appearance after the consideration. Kristen is strong because of how much her job scares her, but she stays tough and does it anyway.