Character Development

In starting to develop the characters for my Final Major Project, I began with designing the main protagonist of the story - Dr. Michael Ruwan. In the narrative, he is the person who makes the discovery of alien life and brings them to Earth, sparking the 'Invasion of the Cryp'lar'. 

The first page of development showed me experimenting with different angles and poses for the character, while studying how the clothes would sit on him. As the main character of my project, I wanted to keep his design simple and accessible, while portraying his messy and workaholic nature.

Next, I finalised the design of the character and centred him inside of a 'Hero's Journey' circle. This is because Ruwan goes on a journey following the structure of the popular 'The Hero's Journey' storytelling device recognised by Joseph Campbell. I made the character stand out by going over pencil lines with an ink brush - the main technique that I will use in my graphic novels.

Then, I began designing the look of the Mars-based military forces who accompany the protagonist on his journey in my narrative. I thought of them as standard Marines, and I based the armour design on what I would think would be the military standard in the 24th Century. I also made sure to break down exactly how each part of the armour worked, and what the purpose of everything was.

The initial helmet design didn't feel like it was suitable for a military force stationed on Mars, so I took about designing concepts for some new helmets. For these, I referenced existing sic-fi helmets and adapted them to better fit the look of the armour. I believe that this process was useful in helping me understand what kind of designs were already in media, as well as solidifying a more appropriate design for my characters.

After this, I began designing the aliens of my narrative - the Cryp'lar. From the start, I knew I wanted to use a body similar to the one illustrated above, as it portrayed elements that would be present through the Cryp'lar adapting to a rocky and hostile homeworld. As for the head design, I experimented with many different designs - including how they would look with helmets - and decided to further develop three of my favourites. 

Also, I designed the Cryp'lar armour and ensured it also reflected the values and nature of these aliens. The symbol on the torso armour is the Cryp'larian writing for "progression." As this armour would be worn by the standard military forces, it makes sense that the main goal of these grunts would be to help the Cryp'lar progress and move forward. There are different symbols for different ranks of Cryp'lar - each with its own meaning.