During this art project I set myself, I had a lot of fun coming up with other designs and concepts that I thought deserved their own post.
With a story in my head, I design a few more characters. But these characters weren't inspired by constellations, and instead were human, which I thought would make for a funny dynamtic in the story.
The main human character I named Naia, and she's the protagonist of the story. I had a bit of fun and drew her in the same fantasy/sci-fi clothing as some of the other characters. I also put her next to Centaurus to show a comparison between the two, as I wanted Naia to clearly contrast with the 'alien' characters in the last post.
I also had some fun with the settings of the story, as I wanted to try and design fantasy locations based on the constellations. The constellation Fornax represents a forge, so I thought it would be intereseting if I created a blacksmith in space.
I took a lot of inspiration of Super Mario Galaxy while creating these areas, as the gimmick of being able to walk underneath a planet in that game is something I wanted to try and incorporate in the forge. The character, Fornax, I decided would be a sentient flame (ironic since this is set in space, where flames cannot form) similar to Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle.
I also created building based off the shape of Scorpius, which made for an interesting layout. I had some fun with lowering and raising different turrets to create a fortress. I named it Sting Stronghold, as I thought was appropriate given the inspiration of it.
I decided that I wanted to create a city for these characters to live in, so I decided to make the constellation Ara into a city. Since Ara represents an altar, I thought this would give me the opportunity to create a beautiful, classical greek inspired city.
I decided that each of the stars in the constellation would be a different part of the city, and be connected by bullet trains, trams or something else. I designed a turret that's similar to the previous two designs so that everything fits together. I also had some fun imagining what the interior of these turrets would be like, and what living in one would be like.
Some other characters I designed were Aries and Virgo, which I had some fun with. As some of the first characters I designed, the success I had with these two varied. I'm in love with Aries' design. I had the idea of making him a trouble maker, so I gave him a little cape with a star on it. I also gave him horns and freckles, which give me the impression that he's able to get himself out of trouble very easily by just being cute.
Next there's Virgo, who's first design I didn't like. I decided I wanted her to be a motherly figure to Aries, since the star-sign Virgo is one I associate with parenting. I also thought it would be entertaining if she's a therapist to some of the other constellations, since some of them seem to have troubles. I tried to give her a calm demeanour, and make her motherly by giving her a cardigan.
I decided that I didn't like her design because it wasn't fantasy like the rest of the designs, so I re-worked her. I tried to give her frills on her sleeves, but I ended up not liking this design for her either.
I also designed Leo, who I'd once pegged as some sort of warrior since the constellation represents a lion. However, I decided it would be hilarious if Leo retired as a warrior and decided to open and run her own hotel. I think this fits the bill of a prideful lion. I also like to think that Virgo was Leo's therapist, and helped her overcome her violent ways to help her open a hotel.
Back with the idea of Leo being a warrior, I designed her as such along with Capricornus. I had fun designing Capricornus pre-injury as it gave me a chance to give them more of a backstory. I opened Capricornus' eyes, which I've decided would be an indicator to whether they're angry or about to attack. I gave them armour with shoulder spikes to reflect their other design.
As for Leo's design, I gave her some Princess Mononoke vibes, which fits her character well. I also spiked up her hair to look more like a lion. I made sure to make it shorter than her hair in her first design to show a change in time. She unintentionally ended up looking like Ruby from Steven Universe, and Catra from She-Ra (a show I haven't watched, but like the art style of).
On my third attempt of trying to create Virgo's design, I was finally happy with how it turned out. I kept her hair relatively the same, except I made it bouncier, which in turn made her whole design seem softer, something I had been going for. Her dress is simple, and I gave her a few Greek belts to anchor her to the other characters.
Another fun thing I did was imagine Scorpius as a warrior, which I had a lot of fun with. I decided to very sci-fi with this design, and she even looks like a cyborg in a few places. A funny trait I gave her cloak was a drape at the back that looks like the stinger of a scoprion.
Another drawing I did was for some characters I've grouped together to form 'the Argonauts.' I realised that there are a few constellations that revolve around the Argo, a ship in a Greek myth, with various heroes featuring in it. I decided to create a crew for the Argo with the constellations.
First, there's Carina, which represents the keel of a ship. I thought it would be fitting if she was the captain, as a keel is an important part of any boat. I essentially created a pirate, which I had a lot of fun with. However, I think I do need to rework her to fit in more with the sci-fi and fantasy nature of the other characters.
I decided that I would bring in another constellation to be an Argonaut. Second, there's Auriga, the charioteer, who I thought would be an interesting addition to the crew. I like to imagine that he got bored of chariots and decided ships were better, or something of the same degree.
With all the work I've done on paper, I decided to have some fun with a Wacom. However, while drawing this, I didn't yet have Photoshop, which meant I had to use MS Paint. This was actually good practise for when I did eventually install Photoshop.
I decided to draw Pisces, since I was most curious about how her colour pallet would look. Since Pisces' colours I decided on were green, turquoise and coral, I knew it would be an interesting design.
I sketched out the main shape of her in lime, then went in for more detail with dark green. I had a lot of fun drawing the scales on her face, which was something I gave a lot of thought to on paper.
I started lining the drawing in a dark brown, which gives the other colours a nice effect. I decided that the sclera in her eyes would be yellow, as I felt that made her look more like a mermaid or a sea monster, which was what inspired part of her design.
I also gave her pearls on her scales to make her seem more regal, as she's supposed to be a princess (since her brother, Cetus, was meant to be a king). I also changed the neckline of her since I didn't think it matched the rest of her style. I turned it into a drape to match the one around her hips.
I decided that her hair would be green, while her skin and scales would be more turquoise. I think this is a nice contrast of colours, since they blend in well together.
I chose a light seafoam for the main part of her dress, with a coral pink for the drapes. I used a similar colour for her sleeves, which I made progressively darker to look more like jellyfish. The inside of her dress I decided would be the darkest red I made, which definitely makes her stand out more.
I especially love the boot I gave her, which have fins going up the sides. I just love in general the contrast between her skin and her clothes, as it wasn't something I originally planned.
The last thing I had to do was erase any sketch lines that were still visible. Since this was done in MS Paint, this is relatively easy, but it was time consuming. The good thing about using MS Paint was that it was incredibly easy to fill the colours that I wanted, and to try out different combinations.
This is how the finished drawing looks. I absolutely love how it turned out, even though I wasn't using the best program for it.
I really like how I managed to incorporate elements of the ocean into her design, and not make them look out of place. I gave her some coral in her hair, along with a ribbon that represents the one depicted on her constellation.
I also think I did a good job with her pose, as it's dynamic and shows a lot of personality. I made her a bit skinnier than her original design, but I still think she's got a bit of curve to her.
One thing I would add are some shells to her hair, which is something I had in her original design. I think I've represented this constellation well.
Overall, this personal project I've set myself has been a lot of fun. One of my goals for this project is to create an entire star map of these characters. However, I'm a long way off from this. I've currently created about 24 of the 88 constellations, which means I still have a lot of work to do before this project is complete.
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