Designing and drawing a character in traditional Ming Dynasty clothing, figuring out patterns and clothing layers from reference of other hanfus of this time period.
On the left is a full-body illustration of the character in front of a bamboo 'background'. She holds a lantern as a designated item. For her clothing, it's red atop blue, a pairing that, while not complimentary colors, are close to complimentary so that they contrast against each other while not standing out too much. Since these flat colors don't have much emphasis, the collar area that rests atop the bijia (upper vest-like garment that is red) includes more colorful detailing. First, the base color is a deeper shade of red so the gold, green, and blue pop out brighter. The detailing on her clothing is also near the top, so the viewer's eyes become focused near the face, with a little bit of detailing near the bottom of her long skirt to move the viewers eyes so that it is not too static.
On the right is the back of the character, with only the flat colors to show the contrast between before-and-after the use of gradient maps and tone curves to adjust the colors to mesh together well with preferred lighting. The colors are a bit brighter and red-tinted, most noticeably with the blue leaning closer to purple rather than green.
Original sketch: most of the sketch stayed consistent with the color version. The sketch within the diamond did not yet get finished, as I plan to add some more to it, like a close-up of her clothing details and the lantern.
One difficulty I had with the right pose was the feet's position from a back view. I used Clip Studio Paint's 3D model to help me draw the shoes more accurately (as the previous sketch and lining of the feet looked strange).
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