Character Redesign: Taeo

I wasn't satisfied with the character from the last blog post, so this week I redid her. I started an entirely new drawing, using what I had decided on the last post as the basis for it.




This is the completed image from the last post. As you can see, not much of her clothing design is visible, due to my decision to have her facing away.

I was also dissatisfied with how human her appearance was. As a character that is supposed to be a half-breed, she appears almost entirely human, most noticeably in her face. So when I began this next drawing, I knew I was going to make her look less human.



As you can see in this image, I've done the basic outline, and added some clothing design. I've chosen a different clothing idea for this image, basing the design on Taeo's pride and low self-esteem about her looks.

The blouse here is a stiff leather framework in the collar, as well as corset-type vest. There is also a thin fabric to cover the bust, inspired by halter-style tops.
In this step I've added holes for laces on the corset, sandals, long hair, and a headband. The headband I chose because, despite her long hair, Taeo is a working woman. She wants her hair to be seen, but it also needs to stay out of her face enough that she can get her work done. I've also added a skirt. This skirt is longer and more modest than the one in the last design; it's also simpler in style. Her tail is threaded through a metal ring in the back.

I chose to make the skirt longer in this design due to the changes I knew I was going to be making. Taeo would be self-conscious about certain aspects of her appearance, and while she would happily showcase the parts of her appearance she liked, she would also hide the things she did not.


This picture shows some of the changes I decided to make to her appearance. Her eyes have slit pupils, like a cat's eyes, and she also has a patch around her hairline. In the last design, she had similar patches, but these only appeared on her back and spine. I decided that, to make her more like her father's people, these patches would appear elsewhere as well.

I've also altered her eyebrows, giving her a bony ridge, rather than a strip of hair like humans have. I decide that her eyebrows and the patches on her skin will be scaly in texture.


In this picture I've added the patches on different places on her body. The most noticeable patch is on her face, something many people would consider a disfigurement.

I decide that her skirt is longer and covers more area than the last design because her upper legs have much more of the scaly skin than the rest of her. She wants to hide this, and draw attention to the parts of her body where it isn't as obvious, or isn't as disfiguring in her mind.


You can see in this picture the changes I made to her face. While she still looks human for the most part, she also has a large scaly patch of skin covering her forehead, and parts of her nose and cheek. Her eyebrows are ridged and scaled, and her pupils are slits.
This is the completed image of Taeo, one I'm much happier with than the first.
She looks less like a human and more like the hybrid I imagined her to be. Her character has also developed further: I know now that she tries to hide the aspects of herself that she finds ugly, and that she dislikes the scales on her skin.

I also know that she will sacrifice a certain amount of practicality in order to be what she sees as beautiful (wearing her hair long and loose) but only until it gets on her nerves, at which time she will change her behavior or wardrobe only enough to make it less of an annoyance to her. She has access to rich fabrics and high-quality clothing as well. Her hair is straight and well-groomed, so she has access to grooming tools on a regular basis.

She does not attempt to hide her tail, which means she either has a purpose for allowing it to be seen, or she discovered she could not hide it. I decide it is a combination of the two; she was ridiculed for attempting to hide her tail, and doing so was uncomfortable. Her human mother would flinch when she saw it, and so Taeo decided to stop trying to keep it hidden. To get back at her mother, to stop the tormenting of the other children, and for her own comfort.