Sketches And Studies - Blog Posts

Part 4/6 - Buttercup and Westley

      Part 1 - The Family | 2 - Style | 3 - The Sicilian Assassins | 5 - The Prince and the Count | 6 - Florin Castle

I wanted to make it very clear that the man in black / Westley is a pirate. So I used loose billowy clothes that also made him feel bigger and intimidating.

Horse is a Jutland horse, native to Denmark (which is what’s in between Sweden and Germany). It’s a draft horse, so good for farming, which is where Buttercup grew up, on a farm. I also wanted Horse and Westley’s design to somewhat mirror each other. Since Buttercup grew up on a farm, I did not want her to look dainty. 

Buttercup’s story is more than just about love, it’s also about freedom. I realised that freedom was the core to her character. Her horse riding, doesn’t care what others think, and wild personality is all about freedom. I wanted her hair to flow with the wind, for her and her hair feel full of life. In the book, Buttercup had red hair. For her to have such a bold hair colour, especially one that in Europe during the medieval period was not considered desirable, felt right. Her hair and her personality is a defiance to the standard of beauty and of how a woman “should” be. That someone as bold as her would be considered the most beautiful woman in the world felt pretty badass. Having red hair (kinda vermillion) also provided opportunity to work with Humperdinck’s more blood red. When wearing her presentation dress as Princess of Hammersmith (despite the title of Princess, it is a title that does not sound dainty), Humperdinck’s red on her dress subdues the boldness of Buttercup’s red hair. Combining this with a restrictive design for her presentation dress and of her hairstyle, her design become reflective of her situation as a prisoner.

But when on her daily ride her dress can flow and her bright, bold, red hair is free.

Part 3 - The Sicilian Assassins

      Part 1 - The Family | 2 - Style | 4 - Buttercup and Westley | 5 - The Prince and the Count | 6 - Florin Castle

With Vizzini I was trying to combine the feeling of baby angels from old renaissance paintings, sinister-ish expressions, and ringmaster, plus dash of gaudiness. I made Vizzini prominently red so that there would be a transfer of association from Vizzini in the first half to Humperdinck in the latter half. The colour red and the pawns on his design apart from being on theme for his character can also serve as foreshadowing, that he is not the overarching antagonist.

Sometimes due to Fezzik’s backstory of working in Greenland, people mistake him for being Greenlandic but it was clearly stated that Fezzik is a Turkish wrestler. It was important that his design made it very clear that he was not European. In the books, he is described as hairy, large, and gorilla-like in appearance. By dividing his head into three sections (upper head, cheeks, and mouth-chin) keeping the graphic shape of his head across different angles was made easier. To determine the direction of Fezzik’s overall design the emphasis was established (his arms), inspiration was taken from circus strongmen, then combined with a strong but soft and lovable feeling.

The general direction of Inigo’s features was clear early on, but his head shape did undergo many iterations. His final head shape design has a clear and readable graphic iconography even in different angles. Its iconic integrity is easily maintained but can be difficult to draw, because of that a diagram was made to show how the structure of his head.

It was important to make sure Inigo and the man in black's silhouettes were distinguishable from one another. So I tried to pull their designs in opposite directions. Inigo's leaning towards a more slender swish-flick feel and the man in black's to a larger, billowy, and intimidating direction.

Part 2/6 - Adapting a Classic (Style)

        Part 1 - The Family | 3 - The Sicilian Assassins | 4 - Buttercup and Westley | 5 - The Prince and the Count | 6 - Florin Castle

One of the ideas behind this project was about bridging the gap between the old and the new. I wanted to express the vibrance and colourful quality of a medieval (nearing renaissance) setting while using contemporary techniques, to appeal to a modern audience, with a nostalgic undertone.

Adding some browns to the palette also helped pushed it towards that slightly nostalgic direction. I shifted the other colours slightly, like using mustard or yellow-orange instead of just yellow, vermillion instead of just orange, and throwing in some violets, all to add that dash of quirky-ness to reflect the fun and witty tone of both the movie and the book.

Another idea is that this version would be a series. This gives us time and opportunity to see and experience the characters' past, like in the book.

I was figuring out how light would interact with the characters while pushing the role of line. I did studies on how to make a line express form, colour, and light. From afar, the line can be reflected light, but up close the "line" expressing reflected light would spread in a stylized manner. This creates the feeling of an increase of detail when we look at something up close all while strengthening the colourful quality of the project throughout.

Some messy sketches of Severa and my original character, Oliver.

I’m a huge fan of Cordelia and Stahl so that’s how Oliver happened. I figured it would be a good contributing reason for why Severa acts so tough all the time (I mean, come on, a war with a younger sibling by your side, got to seem like everything is fine even when all hell is breaking loose) and really cute if her younger sibling was super affectionate and Severa secretly likes his hugs.

I have a bunch more drawings/illustrations of him, that I will post when I finish (not as sketchy as these hehe)

He’s around 5 years younger than Severa and I thought it would be funny if when they traveled to the past, he would arrive many years earlier, so by the time the other children arrived, He would be as old as Lucina and Laurent. Severa would be very confused about seeing her not-so-little brother again and would find it awkward to have her now very tall brother hug her. She's also kind of sad that she wasn't there as he grew up to his current age.

I figured he’d be as easy-going as his dad, and have naturally messy hair too, but because he’s such a momma’s boy he’d try his best to keep it neat, because that's how Cordelia liked it (in the short period he knew her before she died).

Unlike Severa, he’d be good with people because he’s relaxed and empathetic like his dad. He’d also be unafraid to show how much he admired his parents and how he wants to be knights just like them. (He dreams of flying on a pegasus like his mom, but he is not a pure hearted maiden) He is horrible at wielding every weapon except the bow and arrow. Although he idolizes his parents, His sister is his ultimate hero. He thinks she is the most awesome person and warrior ever.

Also, I kind of thought of Cordelia and Stahl as another red and green knight in a way. I know the red and green knights are Stahl and Sully respectively but since Cordelia is also a Knight and has the red colour scheme going on, I kind of see them as another version of the red and green knight thing.