Creative Research: Imperial Faction - Concepts and Development

For the Imperial Faction, I wanted there to be some form of balance with the characters. I did not want them all be antagonists. Which is why there is a character with positive attributes.

The Empire wants to unite the world by bringing order to a diverse world. However they are very flawed.
It's meant to have a strong military might and an organised aristocratic political and social hierarchy. Unlike the Republic whose values focus more on equality and freedom. The Empire focuses on perfection, unity and power while following their leader, the enigmatic Empress. Each province within the Empire is ruled over by a Duke/Duchess and and all share common beliefs.
The people of the Empire are all one race and those who aren't the true race are classed as "Inferiors". Such labeling has lead to a series of conflicts within the Empire's borders.
In short, the Empire is a group of deluded racist humans who believe in world unification.
The key inspirations for the faction was the real world British and roman Empires,the unidentified faction form the "Tomorrow" Series and the Sith Empire. All of them are uniformed organizations.

Violet Development

One key character for the Empire I have designed was the Arch Duchess, Violet De Vidtierras. She is one of the most powerful imperial leaders of the imperial faction. She commenced the Anglodia Crusade. She has a stern personality and shows very little emotion. Following an incident which got bother father and boyfriend killed, she never showed her anger again.

However when it comes to the safety of her daughter Tiffany, she can be over bearing but conscientious. I wanted to include this personality trait because I wanted her to show unlikable traits but still show that she is still human.

As the leader of a imperial province, Violet is a strong leader. I looked at strong female military leaders throughout history.

Violet Final Sketches

When I worked on Violet's silhouette, I wanted her to be unique and not like Cassandra's silhouette. I ended up using a lot of round curves in her silhouette but I also included a triangular form to show that she's hostile. I wanted her to have broad shoulders to show confidence in when it comes to fighting.

Violet's Final Line Artwork

Violet's Sword Moodboard

Violet's Sword Sketch Iterations

Like Cassandra, I wanted Violet to have her own sword which harbours the main shape and colour motifs associate with her faction. As a result of this, I looked at European Cutlasses and swords.

Violet Colour Iterations

I explored a few variations on how Violet's colours could be represented. I wanted purple to be the main colour in the palette as it connects with the Empire's power, her royal connections and teh faction's main colour motif. The gold connects with her desire for a prosperous unified world. It also contrasts well with purple. To suggest her age, I desaturated her hair and skin colour.

Violet's Final Colour Scheme

Tiffany Development

When I designed Tiffany I wanted her to be a sheltered child who did not understand the world that she lived in. In regards to her characters I wanted her to start out shy and quiet but as the story progresses, she begins to understand more about what's going on and eventfully she takes her place at her mother's side. However there is doubt that she'll not be able to fit in her mother's shoes by the time she is ready to take her place. Also as she learns more of the world, her ideals begin to change. To start with she's was patriotic with the Empire's peaceful intention to unify the divided world but she starts to doubt this.

I wanted Tiffany to be observant, quiet but patriotic. She is also quite innocent as she's been so sheltered. Her wealth upbringing has given her a positive and warm attitude. She is also conscientious and sensitive to those around her. However she can have accepting how brutal imperials can get or we she inevitably learns the truth about herself or what Violet did 25 years ago.

Tiffany and Violet get on well at times but when Violet has a problem with Tiffany then tension can build up in the family home. Violet is very over protective of her daughter and was even considering giving her private tutoring but Tiffany wanted an education where she could interact with other people so that she does end up being like a bird in a cage,

Sketches

To show her innocent and shy nature, I found a suitable reference image. I analysed the reference and highlighted where the joints are and how the pose is structured. From there, I took the measurements and then sketched over it.

Here is a link to the original referenced image.
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Shy-Girl-138695743

Tiffany Final Line Art

Tiffany Colour Iterations

For Tiffany's colour scheme, I wanted to get hints of purple showing which faction she is affiliated with. I liked the colour scheme for for the bottom right iteration but I did not like how the focus was more on the lower body rather than the head.

Tiffany Final Colours Iteration 1

Tiffany Final Front View

Tiffany Final Back View

I looked at colours that suggested hints of Violet's imperial influence on her but also maintaining a sense of innocence in her character. The use of browns helps break her character's form up and suggest her sheltered upbringing and the impression of comfort. Brown can also help relieve stress and this can connect with her character as a representative to calm down those who are hostile to her people.

8/2/15

The Empress Development

Empress Moodboard

Designing the Empress, who is the main antagonist for the story context of my project, was a challenge. I wanted the character to embody the theme of chaos but at the same time reflect the theme of order. I looked at the idea of paradoxes in characters to overcome this.

I had the idea that the Empress appears as a figure who conceals her true intentions while posing as a strong figure which many perceive her as a god. The main inspiration behind this religious leader was from the Human god emperor from the Warhammer 40,000 series. I also wanted her to be a intelligent and cunning antagonist who takes time to prepare plans and be not outgoing but very distant and focused. I looked at fictional antagonists and Empress figures from history to get some ideas I also wanted her to use powers that someone would consider to be almost magic like. The inspiration for this ability was from Halo 4's villain, The Diadact . I also wanted the Empress to have some form of armoured protection.

Originally, I was going for an eastern appearance for my antagonist but instead I decided that a European design would be more fitting so that the Empress belongs in her own faction rather than standing out so much. I want people to indicate that she's the leader of the Empire and that it revolves around her.

Early Empress Sketches

Empress Line Artwork

First Colour Scheme Attempt

Empress Colour Iterations

Final Colour Scheme

The early iteration for the Empress's colour was too bright and saturated. To make look more of a antagonist, I darken the purple and changed the hair colour to blue. The reason for this was to connect with the idea of wisdom and power but it also connect with her solitude and coldness. The use of gold helped connect with her god like state.

Armour Development

I also wanted the character to wear a suit of armour that fits her physique. The Empresses' armour was inspired by the Protoss from Starcraft 2.