BONUS CONTENT: Sky Turnaround
For Sky, the outfit is probably reminiscent of Princess Leia’s Hoth outfit. I can’t say I deliberately intended it to be, but that’s sometimes the problem with people like me who grew up on Star Wars. The images become so iconic over time, that you actually start to lose track of what’s “normal” and what’s been burned into your brain by repeated viewings. For instance, when I think “female snow outfit,” I think “quilted pattern.” But I have no idea if that’s actually a common look for real-world snow parkas or if I just think it is because of Leia’s Hoth outfit. The white color is most definitely not inspired by Leia though since I had already decided long ago that all of Sky’s outfits would be predominantly white since I really like that white-on-blue look.
I deliberately wanted the types of fur to be a bit different between characters. So while Roka has a bit longer fur in his hat and collar, Sky has much shorter-hair, fuzzier fur on her outfit. It just seemed like a softer, more feminine look. Of course, Cember has that same soft, fuzzy fur on his outfit as well. Masculine? No. And yet, very Cember.
Out of curiosity, why do all the side views seem to be missing an arm? (Although it makes sense for Bocce. 😀 )
It’s generally a judgment call, but I want to draw whatever will be the most useful for me as reference. In this case (and in most instances), I can easily tell what the arm will look like from the side, based on the front and back views. What might be more informative on a side view is what that arm would be blocking if I did draw it in. So here, the arm wouldn’t be terribly useful, or at least not as useful as seeing the how the front of Sky’s outfit meets the back and forms the seam on the side, a detail that isn’t shown in either the front or back views.
For another hypothetical example, if a character carries his gun at his waist on the side, drawing the arm in would obscure that. So I might forego the arm in order to show the gun and holster.
Or maybe I’ve just seen too many Star Wars movies and like characters with arms chopped off. 🙂
Good job, design wise and all, as always. But I’m rather cold on Sky’s head wear, it makes her look even more like a faerie. (Plus, personally, I think head wear on women is sacrilegious. Funnily, in general they don’t think the same!)
Quilting is presumably done to keep loose material such as feather down in place without creating too much of a cold spot (thermal bridge) by displaced material. Modern (synthetic or natural) fill sleeping bags can be box sewn, having cloth pieces fitted to make compartments instead, with even less loss of heat.
But generally such solutions lower the insulation capability and makes no sense for sewn textiles out of hollow fiber material. Maybe we should put that down as an example of Sky’s fashion sense overpowering her sense of practicality.
OT: These view references is an exploration in psychology. I had no idea that female figures lacking arms were more bothering to my psyche than men. Go figure! …, uh, or something.