Halfbreed Character Design

I'm back at it! It only took me a week to start feeling better, but here I am. I made the mistake of attempting an overnight trip with Seth before I was totally better, and long story short, he started coming down with it, so we headed back the same night, and didn't get home until five in the morning. Which did some very interesting and unpleasant things to my cold.

Anyway, I'm finally feeling good enough to actually type something that makes sense, so you get a blog post this week. :)

This is for a character that I've been thinking about for a while. This is what I know about her so far:

Sex: Female
History: As the daughter of a woman chosen for her beauty, she is proud of her looks, but is unhappy with her status as a half-breed. It is her half-breed status that ensured her beauty was obscured and rendered unusual; this also prevents her from accessing the powers she desires. She is ambitious, and as a halfblood member of a long-lived race, has had the time to go up in her ranking, though, again, her ancestry prevents her from moving up further. She is jealous of pure-blood members on both sides of her family, as well as members of the races themselves. She has active animosity toward men and women equally, but especially if they possess the things she desires.

A good idea of her motivations, but not much about her history, what made her that way, what she looks like, or what sort of position she has.




As you can see here, I chose a different pose from the last few times. Most notably, she's facing away from the "front" of the image. I did this because she has a tail, and this is a key part of her character. One of the races she's descended from is a type of shape-shifter, but as she is also half-human, she was born with a partial non-human shape, and is unable to change shape at all. I've also, as usual, kept the feet of the character visible.
In this image I've added some clothing. Knowing what I do, both about her personality and her culture, I faced some interesting dilemmas. Foremost of those was how she would feel about her tail, and how she would then dress.

Holy moly, the problem of dressing a character with a tail. That was my biggest challenge. How to cover this character and still make it more or less practical. As you can see here, I decided that cloth would drape around under her tail, not unlike a skirt that's short in the front and low in the back. You can also see a panel of cloth hanging from the front, to offer some modesty in that area as well. This character is proud of her appearance, so she is wearing a halter-style top in order to emphasize it. On her feet I've drawn some relatively simple sandals. Because of how simplistic the sandals are in comparison to the fashion-centric choices in the rest of the outfit, this character is involved in a kind of career or job that would make it impractical to wear more expensive or complex footwear.
Here I've started adding details, and I've done a basic sketch of the front side of the outfit, since you can't see it in the main drawing. I've decided that she'll have pointed ears as part of her shape-changer heritage, and that, as someone a little vain about her appearance, she will also enjoy experimenting with her clothes. She has a tail, something that neither of her parents, or their people, have ever had to worry about. So she has had to design her own clothing, and make it work for her. I decide she's been doing this for some time, and gotten quite good at it. She also has long hair; since long hair in this society indicates beauty, a character proud of her looks would naturally have allowed her hair to grow.
In this image I've added more detail to the back of her clothing, given her some jewelry, and I've discovered that she has an interesting facial expression. Her right hand is positioned as if she's motioning someone to move on (or is threatening them with a fist), and she has a rather confrontational look in her eyes. Not as if she is picking a fight, but more as if she is daring whoever she's speaking to to talk back. Her hair is dark, and is also a little frazzled around her face. Either she doesn't care, thinks it looks good, or she's just spent a busy morning doing something. Taking into account the plain sandals, I decide that she's spent a busy morning, and is lecturing someone under her authority.
I learned a good deal about this character while I was drawing her. In the process of shading the final picture, I discovered even more. Since she's a halfbreed, she is likely to have an odd mix of characteristics, and not just a tail. So I added some patchy skin to her back around her tail and going up her spine.

I also decide that she isn't just a little vain about her appearance. She is wrapped up in appearances due to her childhood. Her mother was chosen for her beauty, and not for any other compelling reason, so she would have grown up in a house in which being pretty was something very important. But since she is a halfbreed and has some unusual characteristics, she is insecure about her appearance, and is therefore not just preoccupied with it, but obsessed. Not being fully one thing or the other, she is also sensitive about things that people from both sides of her family can do that she cannot, and finds it frustrating. Her mixed heritage also precludes her from having a more powerful role in her hometown. These things frustrate her and make her appear power mad as well as power hungry.
Final Image
Name: Taeo
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Green/hazel
Personality: Acting confident to the point of cockiness, Taeo hates anything that makes her seem less than perfect, including the patches of scaly skin lining her spine and tail. She hates her tail, but has been forced to learn to live with it, as she can't realistically hide it in her garments. Taeo is also easily hurt, though she covers (and revenges) this by taking petty jabs at whoever she feels is her aggressor.
History: Born a half-breed to a high-ranking man and his wife, who was chosen only for her looks, Taeo was raised in a home where appearances were valued highly, and as a result spends much of her time grooming and making sure she is as perfect as possible in mirrors or still water. She has been on the receiving end of teasing about being a halfbreed, as well as her tail and fixation on appearances. She also has none of the abilities of her father's people, shape-shifters, and is thus not considered a full citizen among them. Though her mother's people would welcome her, she has always wanted to be considered one of her father's people, as they are more revered and powerful.
Occupation: An overseer; she is responsible for making sure fields are harvested, and guests are cared for. She is a hard boss to have, as she feels the need to express her power whenever something makes her feel insufficient.
Family: Father - shape changer, mother - human. Possible younger full and half siblings.