This week I have been sketching designs for the different characters in the Snow Queen. To do this, I have been looking at
the time and place the story was set in, the kind of clothes they would each wear, their traits and personalities as well as symbolism throughout the story. As shown in the images below, I've created
a mood board filled with images that will inspire me in the creation of the character the Snow Queen, ranging from
snowy scenic landscapes to patterned white lace. Meanwhile I've also
continued with media experiments.
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| The Snow Queen character research and design, Selina Quach |
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| The Snow Queen character research and design, Selina Quach |
I find it easier to create character designs by drawing the character in a certain scene or doing something related to the story, therefore that is how I went about developing ideas.
The Snow Queen is an
isolated figure who according to Kai's old grandmother "never remains on earth, but flies up to the dark clouds". This has understandably given her
a reputation as a frightening otherworldly creature. However she
shows a lot more human emotions than her icy exterior suggests as she kidnaps Kai due to a mixture of selfishness and loneliness and a desire to fill the emptiness that is actually within her.
Appearance-wise she can be described as
beautiful, regal, grand and graceful. She wears a dress that "appeared to be made of the finest white gauze". All of this inspired the illustration below. I have also found that gouache (which is the material used here) is quite successful in recreating the gauze-like effect.
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| The Snow Queen and Kai, Selina Quach |
The Robber Girl is another interesting character that is more complex than you would first expect. Along Gerda's journey to find Kai, she is ambushed by the Robber family, including the Old Robber Woman who wants to eat Gerda. However the Robber Girl stops her, biting her mother's ear and proclaiming that Gerda will play with her, give her her muff and sleep in bed with her. Though
she seems at first to be a selfish and willful young girl, she shows a kinder side to her nature when Gerda tells her story to her, and she decides to let Gerda go, even giving her Bae, the reindeer and her extra warm gloves.
The Robber Girl is described as having being "about the same size as Gerda but stronger; she had broader shoulders and a darker skin; her eyes were quite black, and she had a mournful look.
There wasn't any information about her background but it would probably be quite rare at the time this book was set to have someone with dark skin in Northern Europe, and the fact that she travels around with her family reminded me of gypsies.
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| The Robber Girl character designs, Selina Quach |
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| The Raven character design and another painting of Gerda, Selina Quach |
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Kai's change throughout the story as the shard effects his mind and personality,
Selina Quach
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| Compositional sketches for the first chapter, Selina Quach |
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Gerda and The Raven, Selina Quach
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I began compositional sketches and the above is the first full painting of a scene from the story. It's helpful for me to paint scenes straight off I can then figure out what kind of materials/technique to use for the final book. I tried to bring across the colours of autumn as seasons is a strong theme.
As the seasons change in the book I might change the colour palette accordingly.
