December MOTM: Midwinter Prince - concept sketch + design commentary // sfw

shout-out again to lostmisfits for suggesting a snowy theme!

stuff like "midwinter prince" is my favourite type of design prompt, since it provides plenty direction (winter-themed and royal) while also being open enough to allow lots of freedom in how i interpret it. as i sat down to start concept sketching i kept having two distinct mental images. one was of a glamorous, regal, and rather human-like person, while the other was a more textbook somanyfangs monster design of the big and beefy variety. i liked both concepts equally and decided that instead of having to choose one or the other, i would do both. they could be wintery counterparts to the summer monsters of june 2018; an elegant, icy prince and his formidable consort.

i made rough sketches of their basic anatomy, and started experimenting with exactly how to "dress" them both in a wintery theme. whenever i thought of something i might want to include in the design, i scribbled a note on the side of the canvas -- but i never intended to incorporate ALL those things. i crossed some of the ideas off while circling others, gradually determining how i wanted to portray the aesthetic.

of course, snow and ice were words that immediately came to mind. but i wanted to do something different than having chunks of ice literally covering part of either character's body, since i've already designed a monster like that. i decided to focus more on the artful shapes of frost, rime ice, and snow flakes, though at this point i wasn't sure how. i also associate a deep blue night sky, twinkling stars, and aurora borealis with midwinter -- but again, i've already based two design on each of those themes (last month and december 2018, respectively). i'm not saying i can never re-use design elements for different designs that share similar aesthetics, but i like to challenge myself and try to take a new and different approach when i can.

i didn't want either of the designs to seem christmassy, per se, but i considered various wintery symbols associated with more witchy and/or traditional midwinter celebrations: orange garlands, cinnamon sticks, red berries, mistletoe, holly, saffron, poinsettia, bare twigs, pine needle branches, red berries, and so on. at the same time, however, i envisioned a very cold colour scheme, centered on icy blues, snow white, and perhaps a hint of pale gold. the warm red and orange hues of most of the items i just listed could have posed an interesting contrast, but it didn't feel right. the greens of pine trees, holly, and poinsettia would have been easier to incorporate, but still didn't quite click in my brain. on the other hand i was keen on somehow using bare tree branches in one (or both) of the designs, which also brought to mind pale birch trunks in a snowy landscape.

i also thought about animals that live in cold climates and how i might be able to draw inspiration from them, specifically for the big guy. among them were snow leopards and snowy owls, but last december i designed a gryphon based on those animals. lynx are kind of similar to snow leopards and i wanted the monster to look more innovative than a classic were-canine, so i also scratched arctic foxes and wolves from the list. i considered drawing some degree of inspiration from polar bears, but then i thought of reindeer/caribou and that gave me a few ideas. it might not be super apparent, but the way i ended up drawing the fluff of his neck is somewhat inspired by reindeer fur. i used the same thick and 'layered' texture for his tail, and made his neck a little longer to match the vibe of it.

the animals i've mentioned have thick fur and pale colours that camouflage them against a winter landscape, so giving the big guy mostly white fluff seemed to make sense. but rather than being based on any of those animals, his colour scheme is inspired by birch bark -- hence the stripey pattern on his limbs and the slightly yellow undertone. from there i had the idea of giving him antlers that look like bare tree branches, drawn in a kind of stylised way with a 'rounded' outline.

it took a few tries before i was happy with the design of his head -- i experimented with whether or not he should have ears and eyes, and how far down his face the fluff should extend. the final design reminds me a little of the fluffy fringes of highland cattle, and his snout resembles both reindeer and bovines. the only thing that changed from the concept sketch above to the painting is that instead of giving him tufts of fluff on his elbows and thighs i made his fur longer all over his body.

designing the prince proved more challenging. my first instinct was to dress him in regal and glamorous clothes, but as i've discussed before i don't like relying on an outfit to convey a theme. i wanted the midwinter aesthetic to be an integral part of his body, and even though he looks more human-like than his consort he should be a clearly inhuman being.

first of all he needed a crown, to denote his royal nature. i gave him an unconventional tiara of white gold, fanning out from his temples. the same 'feathery' shape and/or colour is repeated in a few other details, like the jawline, ankles, and hands. i considered various ways to make his silhouette more fun, like adding a tail or some kind of flowy design element to his hip area. ultimately i settled on giving him exceedingly long sleeves inspired by medieval gowns, which connect to a collar piece that cover his shoulders and neck. originally he had regular hair, but i ended up changing it into more of a veil to mimic the look of the sleeves; the jagged edges again resemble the shapes of the tiara.

both the 'veil hair' and the sleeves are decorated with frost and snowflakes. the sleeves are dark blue, both to create contrast and as a nod to the darkness of the midwinter sky at night -- but instead of stars they're dotted with a few large snowflakes. his eyelashes are white with frost, his body is the hue of ice, and he 'blushes' blue instead of pink. but the last piece of the puzzle fell into place when i covered his body in patches of frost, like on a window on a cold winter morning. it creates a gorgeous effect that, combined with his blue lips and frosted features, gives his beauty a subtly terrifying undertone. i imagine that the air around him is unbearably cold, and that touching him would literally freeze the blood in your veins. he was always a good ruler of his wintery realm, always calm and dignified and even aloof; but nobody could come near him without risking their own health, and nobody knew how lonely he was. then one day he met a certain fluffy lad who is somehow immune to the cold, and the rest is history.

as i was working on the painting i tweaked some of the details, like making the frosty pattern of the sleeves and veil look more organic, giving him a thin diadem, and adding a blue tone to the tips of his nose and fingers. i meant to keep the 'collar' of tree branches, to mimic the antlers of his consort, but it didn't work out with the pose and composition of the painting. there are other elements that appear in both designs, though;  the white gold of the prince's accessories match the hue of the big guy's fur, and the outline of the former's sleeves is drawn with similar shapes as the latter's fluff. each design clearly has a distinct look, but they belong together.

if you have any questions about either of these lads, feel free to comment below <3

// art + characters © me.