Character - Final Image

With my character's design finished I focused my time on finishing the environment. This was a simple case of making sure it all the things in the envirment made sense on their own and within the story. As well as adding extra detail to all the things in the image without becoming too destracting and taking the main focus away from my character.

Female Soldier & Character Sheet

While doing further work to my soldier and their environment it pointed out to me that my, up until then slender male soldier, possessed a very feminine physique with very wide hips in comparison to to the rest of their body. As well as having a pretty face. Though it was true that I was trying to make my more slender and agile it was apparent that I had also made them very feminine in the process. It was at this point that I decided to switch my character from male to female. As The Tinderbox chracterised them as and not "man" or "women" I thought this switch perefectly plausable. Plus I didn't want to scrap character as I had come to really like my design. Due to the characters wide hips changing their sex was as simple as high-lighting their feminine traits and making a couple of small changes here and there.
With this change and the final designs complete I made my Character Sheet.

New Environment & Wolf

Not really satisfied with my current look I decided to give my environment a big overhaul. The original environment felt to bright for such a dark and dramatic scene, plus with the landscape orientation what was supposed to be the soldiers victorious pose felt a bit flat. So I've a new environment that is much darker and is in portrait so that the soldiers stance appears taller and is framed tighter. I've also redesigned the wolf so that it's not so dominent in the picture but instead slinks round the soldier; alluding to it's presence within him but also appearing subordinate.

Adding Finer Detail

After spending a lot of time tweaking features and adding further detail to all the indivual pieces of my character and their current environment I have started to settle on a look I really like.

Environment/Painting Changes

I'ved decided that I want to incorperate a spititual wolf figure in order to symbolise his new found courage and ferocity. As well as this I've swapped out the soldier's spear for a musket to show that he is an ally of the British forces. However, I've fixed a bayonet on the end so he has a believable way of dispatching the witch by decapitation.

Soldier's Environment

I've decided to set the image just after the soldier acquired his new wolf headed cloak and decapitated the witch. This means the environment is a forest and the soldier is dramatically posing outside the tree in which all the treasures were hidden. In one hand he clutches his weapon and in the other the witches head.

Soldier Model Sheet

I've settled on a basic look that I want my soldier to look like. It's very minimalist but I believe it very much embodies everything I was thinking of for my own version of The Tinder box. Someone who is sleek, agile but also deadly and confident.

Soldier’s Accessories

I have compiled all of my soldier’s accessories onto a single page. This is so that I can easily access them in order to see what looks best where in my environment.

Further Character Exploration

I have made some refined silhouettes of both the American soldier (Princess) and the British General (King)(Shown respectively). I made these in order to provide further context to the my main character focus; the Native American (Soldier).

My Tinderbox Interpretation

The soldier is a Native American who falls in love with an American soldier (The Princess). However, due to the fact that they are on opposing sides their love in strictly prohibited. Unable to control himself the Soldier uses his courage to steal away the American soldier. He gained his courage when killed a treacherous shaman and her three loyal wolves. When an allied British General hears about the soldier’s treachery he sentences him to death and takes the American soldier back to his camp. On the day of the soldiers execution however, he escapes and adorns his 3 wolf headed cloak. After which, he proceeds to cut through all those who stand between him and his love, including the British General.

Iteration Thoughts

While making some iterations of my Native American I decided to ground my story in reality more than the original. I will focus around specific parts of the story and make a few tweaks and changes to the details. I believe it will make for a more interesting idea in the end.

Tinderbox Characters

Since I have to base my character around one in the story ‘The Tinderbox’ I have decided to assign a prominent character to the three main groups in the 1812 battle:

Soldier – Native Americans

Princess – American Soldier

King – British General