Part 1/6 - The Framing Device (The Family)

Wayne Hopkins.

Look at what I found in my drawings folder from a year ago 😁 (2016).

Kind of imagined Hufflepuffs would encourage everyone to try out, even young third years (even if they don’t make the team just yet).

Part 6/6 - The Kingdom of Florin

      Part 1 - The Family | 2 - Style | 3 - The Sicilian Assassins | 4 - Buttercup and Westley | 5 - The Prince and the Count

The seat of power for the Kingdom of Florin is a Military Fortress built on top of a seaside cliff.

Instead of elegant Gothic spires which was popular during the 15th and 16th century, Florin Castle is a bulky and imposing fortress reflecting the Military nature of the country, its simple people, Buttercup’s prison-like experience, and its ruler — Prince Humperdinck.

One of the challenges I encountered for the castle design was keeping the colours saturated enough to match the palette of the project while keeping the emotional geography of “prison” in tact. Although a violet palette was explored, the red brick that is common in Northern European architecture gave a more militaristic no frills impression that is more in line with the Kingdom and its Prince.

After many sketches, I realised that a country celebrating its 500th anniversary would probably have a castle built far before the current century. So incorporating a bulkier Romanesque style Keep as the castle’s foundation is what finally made things come together and give it a solid direction. Since Florin is a Militaristic state, it would make sense for them to continually be making Military advances, so one of the Castle’s most recent evolution/natural progression is a towards a very early prototype of a Bastion Fort. This makes Florin castle the most advanced, secure, and fortified structures in the land while upping the stakes for the infiltration during the near end of the series.

Fun Fact! While looking for references of Danish Castles, I came across an old map of Kronborg Castle. (Just google "old map of Kronborg castle", you'll see it right away) I thought it looked super familiar and I realised that it actually looked very similar to the layout of the Map of Florin and Guilder! So I included the bonus map I was required to submit.

R.A.B.

Here is my version of Regulus Black for this month’s CDChallenge.

He is definitely an amazing character, and Hero, that needs more attention.

Regulus goes to show that just because you’re Slytherin and a Black, the series’ usual antagonists, being a Slytherin or a Pureblood (not to mention being one of the most notoriously fanatical of the families) doesn’t make you evil.

Although he became a Death Eater, He later on actually realised that Voldy is batshit (Despite how he was brought up, He’s got morals!). He was the first to discover that Voldemort made Horcruxes, and even gave his life to destroy that part of Voldemort (He’s smart!) at only 18 years old. He was also kind to his house-elf, Kreacher (awesome). 

I gave him shorter and neater hair than Sirius because since he’s practically the opposite of Sirius, I got the impression that he values and understands the responsibilities of being a member of House Black. Since Sirius left home, I’m sure he became the heir to House Black and that he would take that role seriously, even embracing it; especially since his brother set such a rebellious example that he would want to show that he is very different from his “irresponsible” older brother, that House Black would be in good hands with himself; that’s also why I wanted to emphasize his regal-ness and why I wanted to show him in non-hogwarts robes. But the snitch shapes cape/coat clip would be a nod to him being a seeker when he was a student.

Regulus is also a star in the Leo constellation (JK Rowling’s metaphors or whatever you call them are so awesome) so I gave his coat’s hood some fur to subtly reflect a Lion’s mane. The red shadow, is also a reference to his Bravery. You don’t need to be a Gryffindor to be brave, but just because you aren’t Gryffindor, doesn’t mean you can’t posses some of its qualities, like Bravery. 

I made his wand white because brown would be the common wand colours, and I wanted to show that he was very different. But I chose white specifically because it gives the impression of goodness and I wanted to reflect that side of him. I kept his wand simple because I got the impression that Sirius was the more flashy and extroverted of the two, and although Regulus’ would be the one who is proud of his lineage, he would be the more quiet and subtle kind of person.

Hope you guys like my version of Regulus 😁 

Part 4/6 - Buttercup and Westley

      Part 1 - The Family | 2 - Style | 3 - The Sicilian Assassins | 5 - The Prince and the Count | 6 - Florin Castle

I wanted to make it very clear that the man in black / Westley is a pirate. So I used loose billowy clothes that also made him feel bigger and intimidating.

Horse is a Jutland horse, native to Denmark (which is what’s in between Sweden and Germany). It’s a draft horse, so good for farming, which is where Buttercup grew up, on a farm. I also wanted Horse and Westley’s design to somewhat mirror each other. Since Buttercup grew up on a farm, I did not want her to look dainty. 

Buttercup’s story is more than just about love, it’s also about freedom. I realised that freedom was the core to her character. Her horse riding, doesn’t care what others think, and wild personality is all about freedom. I wanted her hair to flow with the wind, for her and her hair feel full of life. In the book, Buttercup had red hair. For her to have such a bold hair colour, especially one that in Europe during the medieval period was not considered desirable, felt right. Her hair and her personality is a defiance to the standard of beauty and of how a woman “should” be. That someone as bold as her would be considered the most beautiful woman in the world felt pretty badass. Having red hair (kinda vermillion) also provided opportunity to work with Humperdinck’s more blood red. When wearing her presentation dress as Princess of Hammersmith (despite the title of Princess, it is a title that does not sound dainty), Humperdinck’s red on her dress subdues the boldness of Buttercup’s red hair. Combining this with a restrictive design for her presentation dress and of her hairstyle, her design become reflective of her situation as a prisoner.

But when on her daily ride her dress can flow and her bright, bold, red hair is free.

Sunflower Field Time Lapse My firststudy on an iPad (courtesy of my awesome blockmate for lending me her iPad for a while) for a painting we'll be doing in class.

Finished version can be found here (Finished in Photoshop laptop)

Some value and composition studies with Harvey

Sunflower Fields

Finished this time lapse study in Photoshop 😁 

I had a little too much fun with Nikolai today hehehe

On the illustration on the right, when I removed everything apart from the reds and the strap, the resulting silhouette was so strong that it just made me think of those Minimalist movie posters. So I just had to do this. I also could not pass up the opportunity of Nikolai “staring” questioningly at his movie poster hehehe.

Also, this is NOT an actual movie. Just me having fun. I just thought that if an actor would play Nikolai, the perfect face would be Matt Bomer. If someone would play Empress Natasha, it would be Natalie Portman. Elizabeth Debicki would play the Queen Nikolai ironically falls in love with.

Cloé.

Here’s a quickie of one of the characters I’ve been working on for the past month.

Hector is tied with Lyn as my favourite Lord in all the FE games I've played so far so of course I'm going to draw my take on him. I've always felt like there's so much depth to Hector's character so I also wanted to explore that too.

See Eliwood here | Hector and Lyn here | The Tactician here