Character Live2D Animation
Concept Pitch
Design a character based on an obscure animal, the Blackwing Flying Fish
Create 3 concept sheets: standard poses, action poses, and weapons display
From the design, illustrate a "splash art" style drawing of the character in an environment
In that process, prepare the drawing and then animate it in Live2D
Character Treatment
The character's code-name is Hiru, based on the scientific name of the Blackwing Flying Fish, Hirundichthys rondeletii.
The character is from a planet named Vastell (from latin words vagus: wandering; and stella: star), where water takes up majority of the surface area of the planet. Thus, mobile cities were created to float atop oceans (essentially massive ships), moving from one “dock” to another (a dock being a foundation point in the oceans where mobile cities can anchor themselves to) in order to avoid severe weather and follow ocean life migrating patterns (for food, economy, etc.). Since the character is based on the flying fish, I decided that their environment would reflect that by being in/on the water.
The character is part of a rescue group, since a flying fish’s wings are used as a method of escape, so they could use their wings to help others escape from danger (such as catastrophic weather hazards or sea monster attacks). Flying fish also congregate together for safety, thus it is a group and not individual rescuers. As the fish is prey and the character is part of a group that specializes in escape and safety, their weapon is mainly for defense in case an emergency happens when a rescue mission is in place.
After researching the behaviors of flying fish, the character will be a bit more reserved (like how flying fish are very cautious of predators and even glide out of the water as an escape mechanism). However, since flying fish also travel in large schools, the character won’t be timid and have decent social skills despite being more introverted. The character also has quite a few layers on because flying fish typically live in tropical or warmer oceans due to the fact that colder temperatures affect their pectoral fin muscles used to spread their wings out to glide.
Their weapon is a fencing sword because it fits the sleek and streamlined style of the fish. The thin blade is also similar in shape to the spine of a flying fish’s wing.
Separate, Finished Concept/Design Sheets
Some Process Screenshots
Design Choices/Decisions
Based on the fish, I made the character’s back darker colors while the front lighter colors. The scarlet is more focused on the top half of the body since in the fish itself, that reddish color is only apparent near the head. I decided to make the chains scarlet in addition to the tie and cuff outline so that there was enough repetition of the color so it does not look too out of place. There is also a slim diamond shape of light blue-grey on the back of the coat to emulate the upper tail fin of the flying fish. Having a shorter upper tail fin is a special feature of flying fish, which I decided to incorporate in this way: the shape represents the top-down view of the upper tail fin while the lighter color denotes it being above the bottom tail fin, which is represented by the dark indigo triangular tip of the coat.
As for the wings, I made the top sections a white color, with the bottom part a dark blue. From the flying fish, when its “wings” are spread out as seen in the reference images, the spines of the fins are a lighter color, whereas the space between spines is a darker color. The topmost connector component is the same scarlet color used in other aspects of the character’s clothing to make the wings more cohesive with the rest of the character, as well as to differentiate it from the other black/white colors.
I drew 3 sketches to brainstorm how I wanted to position the character with the background.
From the three choices, the first one was the one I considered dynamic posing for the most. The second and third sketches are flatter in composition, but have more emphasis on either the water effects or the environment settings. Ultimately, I chose the first sketch because it was the most visually engaging. I then went back into the sketch and redid the background with cleaner lines to make it more clear the background is a city and water environment.
Initial Sketches / Brainstorming
Progress Shots
For the first choice’s pose, I used the default 3D model in Clip Studio Paint to place and maneuver the limbs into an “upwards leap” position. To emphasize the depth perception of the piece, I stretched the extended leg more and made it thinner at the end as a vanishing point. Then for the right hand and arm, I enlarged it to make it seem closer to the viewer. From feedback, I also adjusted the position of the character to be more towards the left (shown later in the lineart phase), so that it fit the ‘rule of thirds’. This also ended up beneficial because it revealed more of the water passageway of the city, creating a line of motion for the viewer’s eyes to follow and be led towards the character. I then added basic gray-scale shading to define where the light source is, and how the character is in focus (more contrast between shadows and highlights), whereas the background is a lighter gray with less contrast since it is out of focus and farther away, thus more ‘transparent’ to portray depth.
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