Concept Art: Rhysand (Patreon)

Rhysand was the last character design I completed for Project Dark Emblem. A young man who is haunted by the suffering he has seen, Rhysand's iconic item is his samsara that was to be chained to his back to symbolize the burden placed upon him by his experiences and loss of faith.

Step 1: Thumbnails and Finalized Sketches

As a priest/religious follower, it was important that Rhysand have a flowy aesthetic, in my mind. I pulled a lot from Russian Orthodox priests and Catholic priests in general for the initial designs. In addition, placement and method of anchoring for the samsara was important in the design. We ultimately went for the "halo" orientation to give him a holier look. As we iterated, it was decided that a scarf would also be a part of the design to split the structure and color palettes of the costume. In addition, a more pragmatic look with the pants and cossack where used to tether him to the gritty reality he was in.

Step 2: Color Palette

We went through...so many iterations of Rhysand's outfit in terms of color. Interestingly, the fact that he uses such simple colors as black and white made it exceedingly challenging. Essentially all the outfits only had three to four colors, and so it made it difficult to distinguish between different sections of his clothes without it feeling forced or strange. That's the nature of religious wear, I suppose, but it did pose a challenge. Ultimately, the director wanted to go with the white and red palette - a reference to clerics/white mages in video games. 

Step 3: Finalized

I drew the first draft in a fairly meek position, giving him a really thin body underneath the flowing robes. I wanted him to have a bit of a hunch in his posture, as he has been supporting the samsara for years (and his religious sect by proxy).

Step 4: Redrawn

After reviewing it with the director, Rhysand was redrawn to be more stalwart and less meek in posture. While it was an extra step, ultimately the purpose of the concept art is to provide context for the whole team and posture plays a big role in that. So, a new pose was created and he was redrawn. 

Rhysand was a fun challenge in some ways - I enjoy working with flowing fabric and slight figures, and the samsara was an interesting element to work in. All in all, he is one of the designs I'm quite happy with!