William Reger has contracted me for 5 character commissions for his "Rippers" game. I usually don't go into this much detail, but William provide me with the BEST OVERALL character descriptions that I've ever gotten. William's organization, his attention to detail, he even thinks about body language. And I wanted to share.
I'll post the 2 character descriptions and tell you what I liked about them. Then I'll show you the pictures, and tell you why I changed the things I did from the descriptions.
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First description
Character Name: Lady Solana Cadizi (public persona of Noche’ Sofia)
Sex: Female
Physical Description: 21 year old female Spanish Noble, 5’ 3”, 110 firm and trim pounds, medium chest, long, very dark brown wavy hair with red undertones, worn in a “Gibson girl” style. Intelligent Green eyes, arched eyebrows, delicate features, fair skinned.
Game Stats (Savage Worlds): Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Hindrances: Curious, Quirk: frequent hand washing, Loyal, Secret Identity (Noche’ Sofia)
Edges: Attractive, AB: Magic, Noble
Genre: Victorian
Usual Outfit: Fashionable red long Spanish style dress, brown lace-up shoes with a 2” heel. She holds a red and gold parasol open to shield her skin from the sun and a medium brown purse with the left hand and arm. Dangling pearl earrings, a pearl ring on the right hand (fingers slightly curved) over her heart with long slender fingers ending in manicured but bare nails. (Note the dress hides her costume – see Noche’ Sofia)
Pose: Standing, daylight, facing artist as if she has just been asked a slightly inappropriate question. One eyebrow should be slightly raised and the face should have a quizzical look, as if she can’t believe she heard right. A slight smile might hint at her amusement of the situation.
2nd description
Character Name: Noche’ Sofia (secret identity of Lady Solana Cadizi)
Sex: Female
Physical Description: 21 year old female Spanish Noble, 5’ 3”, 110 firm and trim pounds, medium chest, long, very red wild hair (a wig), worn loose. Intelligent Green eyes, black mask around the eyes and over the nose and upper lip hides delicate features, fair skinned.
Game Stats (Savage Worlds): Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Hindrances: Curious, Quirk: frequent hand washing, Loyal, Secret Identity (Noche’ Sofia)
Edges: Attractive, AB: Magic, Noble
Genre: Victorian
Usual Outfit: Tight black leather outfit (ala “Cat Woman”) long sleeved, long pants, black belt with pouches, flat black shoes, tunic rounded neck at collarbone matching level of breast exposure of the normal dress with button up coverage, and pants lace up the front. There is a slim dagger in built in sheath on the right thigh and black gloves without fingertips.
Pose: A crouching lunge with a bolt of fire coming out of her extended right hand, left hand palm out over her head, and raised up on back toes. Eyes sparking, exposed skin slightly flushed.
Okay, what did I change? I changed the Sofia Noche personae from a crouch to "mirror" her other civilian guise. I wanted to draw a connection between these two figures... so even if the viewer DOESN'T know that they are one and the same, the viewer will really know that there is a strong connection between the two figures.
I also strived to make Sofia's "catsuit" period. Which was me extrapolating like crazy, but I wanted to avoid the Catwoman's current look.
Being a big fan of Gibson's turn of the century artwork, I refrenced some of it. It is the right time period! And I saw a lot of these jackets, "waist" jackets? I'm a sucker for shoulder pads, child of the 80s, what can I say. So I added the jacket to Solana. I kept her details pretty close to the description.
And there you have it... from excellent description to final image.
Now, I have patrons like Death Tribble who just gives me a couple of sentences in a character description. And I love working on his stuff. But William's thoroughness is nice too. And useful to think about as a checklist if you are thinking of commissioning a character illustration.
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