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kikuneko — Female Character Design Aleana

Published: 2006-06-24 21:04:25 +0000 UTC; Views: 2630; Favourites: 19; Downloads: 167
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Description This is my female design entry for =kitton 's character design contest. It’s very… random, but I had the best time working on it.

Edit for: Flaws and de-MarySue-ification. She should have a little more bite and depth to her now. She might seem to like you all right, but when you find out you aren’t attractive enough or of the right race to earn her approval, she might not seem so nice anymore

Basic Stats:
Name: Aleana Azarial
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Height: 5'7"
Race: Pixie Snow Leopard
Eyes: Violet
Hair: Dark gray
Build: Medium and curvy
Occupation: Wind Mage of (intermediate skill)
Theme colors: Violet, Blue, Gray
Orientation: Variable
Likes: Reading, Learning, Mushrooms, Children, Soft Fabric
Dislikes: Dishonesty, Disloyalty, the color Yellow, Confrontation, Ants, and Humans

Personality:

Aleana is a happy and generally optimistic disposition. She is quiet, and easy to get along with on a surface level, if a little distant. She is very focused in general, even if she is focusing on daydreams. She studies hard and tries to always pull her weight in any group she's in, as fitting with her personal standards of excellence. She likes working on straight forward tasks and having a Plan of attack, or several if needed. She is intelligent, but her single mindedness and tendency to concentrate on what she wants to concentrate on can make her seem a little slow. She enjoys her magical knowledge and skills, and practices defense, minor healing spells, and simple illusions. She is slowly learning rune circle style magic, partially for its aesthetic value. She is slow to anger and slow to attack aggressively, so in combat she usually takes a defensive role.

Relationship Dynamics:
Aleana has a unique way of making herself comfortable in a group, especially groups of mostly humans. She almost unconsciously picks two favorites: A charismatic person to follow, male or female, who she looks up as a hero and a possible crush, and a younger or shyer person to protect. She doesn't fawn or nag her favorites or become possessive or jealous of their friends and lovers, but she is constantly watching them and being overly helpful. Depending on whom she favors, this can be a pleasant or extremely annoying trait. If her favorites critique her behavior, she overreacts. She is surprisingly aggressive in protecting her favorites from harm. She focuses the majority of her attention on these chosen individuals and for that reason she can seem aloof or cold to everyone else. Unfortunately, that impression is correct. Though she tries to hide it, she does feel superior to everyone else, as she looks down on humans as lesser beings.

Flaws: Aleana is easy to get along with on a surface level, but she is very fixed in her view of the world and is not open or tolerate of other people’s view points. She won’t be the first to bring it up, but if someone pushes her they’ll be unpleasantly surprised about how close-minded she really is and how much she considers to be wrong about what they believe. She is naïve about many of things she has opinions about, especially relationships but refuses to learn from other people who know from experience. She relies on books and her professors as the basis for her views. Even though she works with humans all the time, she has a deep-seated prejudice that they are lesser beings (her favorites are the exceptions.) She is elitist and disdainful, and picks her favorites for aesthetic reasons. People have to prove their worth to her for her to really care about them, rather than just being polite. She is impatient with those who don’t plan, and will slip into fights about how to organize things. She really hates to back down, as she feels her way is the right way. People who get to know what she really believes probably won’t like her unless they happen to agree with her biased views. Because she is so unwilling to change, anyone who wants to reform her would have a) Gradually change her reading material b) Be a respected educator who broaches the subject very gradually.

Keywords: Loyal, Focused, Disciplined, Detail-Oriented, Helpful, Patient with tasks, Impatient with people, Protective, Stubborn, Dependent, Close-Minded, Dreamy, Lazy, Cold, Aloof, Conceited, Perfectionist, Vain.

She would benefit greatly from working with someone who is patient, spontaneous, and able to see the bigger picture, if she actually listen to them. She sometimes has to be talked into doing tasks that don't seem relevant to her but have a vital role in accomplishing a goal, but once she gets going she is very diligent and precise.

A tactics conversation with her might go like this:

Leader: "Aleana, I need you to take out that tree."
Aleana: "That tree? Why?"
Leader: "Just take out that tree, and I'll explain later."
Aleana: "All right." *puzzled*
Aleana eliminates the tree and is prizing out the roots when the battle ends.
Leader: "Great work. You prevented the enemy from ambushing us and reduced their magic pool."
Aleana: "Thank you, but I think I missed a root..." *frets"
Leader: "..."

Notes:
This is my first real attempt at a digital character sheet _and_ at digital coloring, so it's intense I love drawing wind mages in light colors, but I wanted something a little different for Aleana. I abused the smudge on handpainting mode, but mostly used pure colors. I'm debuting whether or this is just too busy for a basic character sheet... but it's so pretty The coloring reminds me of bubblegum. Those clothes are more practical than they look, honest Anybody like the texture?

Pigma Micron 005 on beige memory book paper for the lineart, and way too much Photoshop 7 for the color. Hours: 5 lineart and inking, 6-7 coloring. I worked on this piece from 9:30pm last night to 5:30 am, after an eight hour shift (11:45am-8:00pm) at work 8 hours at the library, 8 hours drawing... my eyes are tired.
Related content
Comments: 49

Rykan- [2006-07-06 18:06:51 +0000 UTC]

Wow, those details! Love it! I love the details too. Very cool design.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kikuneko In reply to Rykan- [2006-07-07 00:50:07 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. I had a lot of fun with the details, but they're hard to color in Photoshop

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Lef-ness6743 [2006-06-29 00:14:57 +0000 UTC]

wow, this is so kool.....
you gave her so much detail and depth.
It reeks of effort....

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kikuneko In reply to Lef-ness6743 [2006-06-29 03:33:41 +0000 UTC]

Hehe, it was fun effort, at least Glad you like it. I enjoyed the detail very much.

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Lef-ness6743 In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-29 03:51:37 +0000 UTC]

I did
I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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kiwiberri [2006-06-28 17:12:47 +0000 UTC]

Awesome! I hadn't gotten a chance to read it before the flaws, but they definitely add interest to her character and she seems so much more real with them. I love the fact that she's stubborn, and the cooled-down color scheme is gorgeous.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kikuneko In reply to kiwiberri [2006-06-29 04:28:54 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. I' m glad she's real to you. I haven't even designed a character that I might actually pick a fight with myself, so I'm pleased with her revisions. I'm really happy with the color scheme. Yay for darker colors

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Epiaruna [2006-06-28 17:05:20 +0000 UTC]

Oooh, she's very pretty! I love her outfit! I think that her prejudice gives her some depth. Her wings are really pretty, too! Best of luck in the contest!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kikuneko In reply to Epiaruna [2006-06-29 01:11:09 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. I had the best time designing her clothing. I think that I'll continue to draw her even if she doesn't have a place in the comic project, just because she is so fun to design for. I'm glad you like her flaws. kitton gave me some great feedback on what might help make her a deeper character, and I ran with it I'm really happy with her. Best of luck to you as well

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Epiaruna In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-29 01:14:35 +0000 UTC]

I think I'm gonig to continue drawing my character, as well. :3 Ooh, I've got to note *kitton ! I gave her an alternate costume and a drawing of her dragon. @.@

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kikuneko In reply to Epiaruna [2006-06-29 04:39:44 +0000 UTC]

Oh, that's fun. I'm glad you're happy with your character, too. I'll have to check out your new designs. I thought about going into fashion design for a while, so I'm always happy to see new designs for ideas

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Epiaruna In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-29 04:55:24 +0000 UTC]

Cool! Thanks muches!

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Nyght-Driscol [2006-06-28 15:21:01 +0000 UTC]

She is beautiful. Plain and simple. Well, she's not plain and simple, just that fact.

You did a wonderful job on this character sheet, and I can easily tell a lot of time was put into it. Gorgeous choice of colors, and and and.. gosh +fave. I am at a loss for words.

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kikuneko In reply to Nyght-Driscol [2006-06-29 01:08:00 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. I enjoyed every single minute of working on her, even though I'm very inefficient with Photoshop. For example, I think it had over 60 layers A more experienced digital artist could have done this in half the time and applied the colors much more neatly, but I'm really pleased with what I was able to do. I have a bit of a disadvantage in what I have to work with: Photoshop 7 when my training was in CS, and using a trackball with my left hand for coloring, when I'm right handed with almost every other task. I hope to learn just as much in my next digital coloring venture

I'm really happy with the colors. As I integrated and adjusted they got darker and darker, and I think that really helps bring her design together. I really want to do another character sheet now. I’m working on a male character for this same project, but so far he is very stiff and just... dull looking and he's supposed to be fidgety and energetic I'll fight with him some more and see who wins.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nyght-Driscol In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-29 02:27:37 +0000 UTC]

60 layers! Dear Lord! Wow. This is.. even more wonderul knowing that you spent so much effort on it. It means a lot to the viewer.

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kikuneko In reply to Nyght-Driscol [2006-06-29 04:35:12 +0000 UTC]

Thanks I have a fear of painting something that is hard to undo, or making something too strong, so a lot of my layers are really only small additions or adjustments to previous layers. I duplicate layers all the time to darken or to mirror something. The wing shading on the left is duplicated from the wing shading on the right, for example. I work so much with transparency that the extra layers are really helpful. I actually merged lots of layers for this one, or there would be more. Usually I have one for every color or section and just stack them, but this time I had to have colors on the same layer to blend them. I usually use Photoshop like watercolors on a colored base, I guess Layer after transparent layer.

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Nyght-Driscol In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-29 04:37:17 +0000 UTC]

That is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing that!

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kikuneko In reply to Nyght-Driscol [2006-06-29 04:40:18 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome

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enduro [2006-06-28 03:37:23 +0000 UTC]

I've got to say, she really stands out from the rest of the entries. I don't know how she was before you editted her personality, but I can say now that her vanity quirk, and the way she chooses her comrades, is really amusing.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kikuneko In reply to enduro [2006-06-28 04:15:38 +0000 UTC]

Yep, she is different I'm glad she amuses you. She just too nice and simple before, basically kind and pure-hearted. Kitton pushed for more flaws, and I had a lot of fun making her less likeable. It's a good thing she knows healing and defense spells, because if she has a place in the comic project her comrades might take objection to her views *imagines Aleana and Fallon in a fight. There is much clashing of winds and of course Fallon wins *

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enduro In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-28 05:09:09 +0000 UTC]

xD Well, maybe not. You never know what turns the tide of battle!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kikuneko In reply to enduro [2006-06-29 00:57:29 +0000 UTC]

Would you mind if I try a sketch of that fight? I think it would be fun and good practice for me. I'm actually way out of practice with human faces and I'd like the opportunity to try integrating our styles. Only if you don't mind, of course

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enduro In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-29 03:03:35 +0000 UTC]

Oh, I wouldn't mind! Go ahead.

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kikuneko In reply to enduro [2006-06-29 04:41:04 +0000 UTC]

Awesome! Thank you. I'll let you know when/if I have the lineart ready, so you can see what you think.

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row [2006-06-27 23:46:30 +0000 UTC]

Your charcter is like the onmly female furry i've seen so thats exciting. I like how she had favorite humans but only pick them due to aesthtics. She has a cute and precious face!!

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kikuneko In reply to row [2006-06-28 03:16:56 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad you like her. I did want to make her unique. She has a bad habit of liking pretty things and people over plain ones, but not everyone has a pretty face. I'd like to see how her bias gets her in trouble. But she is fun to draw

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

kitton [2006-06-25 17:01:25 +0000 UTC]

I really like her hair and outfit! I love pretty, detailed, fluttery outfits like that! The blues are so pretty and the textures in her wings and fur look like a lot of fun to draw! I'm not the hugest fan of furries anymore, but I really like her because she adds potential variety to the cast! My only real concearn is that her personality is a bit.. too mary-sueish and as a result shes a bit annoying. Like for example, all of her traits really feel positive. Some of them are a bit negative, but lets face is: being vain or stubborn or perfectionistic really aren't such bad things. IE: Being vain is just a small, personal qualm. It doesn't really effect how you respond in a situation and it really is a MINOR character trait-unless you wanted to make it glaringly bad which wasn't indicated (and since when is having confidence about the way you look a bad thing?) then theres stubborn. Yes, being stubborn can be annoying but its just a very generally common and normal trait I think you really kept on the safe side with her. Lastly, perfectionism can lead to be a bad thing, but in the majority of cases its a good thing. It would annoy specific people or character-but so what? A job well done is a job well done.

I like her so far, but she needs some big flaws. No one likes "perfect" characters. They lack depth and are boring.... She does have some flaws I think you should just work on extending them some more. IE: make her vanity a huge problem. Like maybe she judges people on the way they look and ranks people by how attractive they are to her or something. Maybe she can be slightly shallow in that way? Alternately, you could come up with any other flaw but she needs about as many bad flaws as good flaws, or at least one or two large glaring ones....

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kikuneko In reply to kitton [2006-06-25 22:59:09 +0000 UTC]

*considers* Thank you, that's a very detailed, honest and right-on critique. I'm glad you like the design and it's good that she adds variety. I've thought over what you've said and done some serious flaw building. She's not a very nice person anymore, even though she still looks like it Thanks for the push, it was actually fun to make her less likable

I've made major edits to her description. If you get a chance, I'd like to know if you think that's better. Good luck with school and getting everything organized. This is a really ambitious project. *Goes off to work on my male character, who will definitely be flawed*

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reda01 [2006-06-25 16:01:12 +0000 UTC]

Very lovely! I love the textures here! The dress is very beautiful and her hair is very pretty^^

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kikuneko In reply to reda01 [2006-06-25 20:58:49 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. The texture was great to play with. I scanned the lineart as a color image to keep the paper texture and modified it a lot as I worked. And her clothing is really fun to design. I think I'll enjoy making more outfits for her.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

reda01 In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-26 14:08:18 +0000 UTC]

Yeah the texture was the first thing I noticed. That is a good idea to scan the lineart to keep the paper texture!^^ I love how unique her clothes were! I would love to see her in more outfits.^^ You are welcome btw

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reda01 In reply to reda01 [2006-06-28 14:57:19 +0000 UTC]

Yeah it's aways good to have a few orginal lineart(s) saved just in case. I do like her sense of style I think it's very awsome.^^ Have you tried looking at magazines to get ideas for outfits? It's a good way to get a unique outfit by combining other outfits^^

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kikuneko In reply to reda01 [2006-06-29 00:51:43 +0000 UTC]

I look at magazines sometimes, but I find things that are closer to my sense of style in anime and manga and in fantasy or game character images. I do like Gothic Lolita for dark outfits. My ex's sister had a bunch that she would let me borrow, and I got some good ideas from the Gothic style. Buckles, lace, and sheer fabric are fun, hehe.

I _love_ designing elemental mage outfits, though they're usually lighter than this one. I have a few in the works that I'm really enjoying.

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reda01 In reply to kikuneko [2006-07-10 22:22:13 +0000 UTC]

That's cool. I enjoy looking looking at different types of books, magazines, and clothing myself. I like to keep baby names books at hand for when and if I want to rename or make a new character I can refer to those for more unique names. It's awsome to hear that you are enjoying what you create.

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kikuneko In reply to reda01 [2006-07-16 05:44:02 +0000 UTC]

It's a good idea to have baby name books around. I'm so horrible at naming things that I could really use the help. Some of my favorite characters that I draw all the time have no names, or I name them and forget what I decided on ; For example, these two [link] are Amy (the panda) and Larissa (the snowlemur) but I couldn't remember that to save my life when I posted the pictures. I had to check the names I'd used on the prints when I went home last month ; I'm not totally sure, but after five year I think I'm naming these two: [link] Bethany (the pixiebunny) and Jade (the Birman cat). They really needed names after all this time.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

reda01 In reply to kikuneko [2006-07-16 17:56:40 +0000 UTC]

Yeah I think baby name books a great help myself. I love finding unique names with wonderful meanings in them!^^ You should try looking in garage sales or second hand stores to find baby name books. Even if you can't find them there you can always go to ebay or use google or just go to your local store to buy them. I like that name Jade...^^ Bethany is so much cuter sounding than just Beth. I have a character named Clarissa! But I'm still working on her design for her outfit^^

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

reda01 In reply to reda01 [2006-08-06 23:39:21 +0000 UTC]

It's Clarissa** I'm glad you and your mom had fun looking at the baby names^^ Thanks! I'm glad the names stuck this time for you^^ and P.S. you are welcome muchly!

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kikuneko In reply to reda01 [2006-07-23 06:30:20 +0000 UTC]

I'll have to look around for some, thank you. I went to a baby names website and read my Mom some of names for pets, and we both had a great time. I'll have to look for inexpensive furniture and dishware soon, so maybe I'll find some then I'm glad you like the name, too. I usually try to name my characters but the name doesn't sound right the next day. This time they've stuck, and I'm happy with my choices. Charissa is pretty, too Good luck designing her clothes!

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kikuneko In reply to reda01 [2006-06-28 03:20:49 +0000 UTC]

I think that even if she doesn't have a part in the comic project she was designed for, I'd still like to draw her. Her sense of style is interesting to me, glad you like it, too. I've saved my original lineart, so I might still color her the traditional way with my colored pencils. She'll be hard on my pencils, with those dark colors I'll see if i think of more designs for her next time I'm sketching.

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AJAngelique [2006-06-25 15:15:29 +0000 UTC]

wow! that's a lot of luv that went into this one
+fav

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kikuneko In reply to AJAngelique [2006-06-25 20:56:31 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, lots of love and energy I learned so much about Photoshop playing with this.

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firekitty [2006-06-25 03:14:20 +0000 UTC]

Awww... cute design. I love the little swirlies.
And I like that color combination.

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kikuneko In reply to firekitty [2006-06-25 20:50:15 +0000 UTC]

I wanted to make her pixie style with more than just the wings, and I thought that swirling her spots was a good way to do that Glad you like the colors. They're a lot darker than what I'd usually use, but I really like them. My art is getting richer and darker in general, probably due to looking at so much nice digital colored work here on DA

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Schatten-Drache [2006-06-24 21:17:26 +0000 UTC]

She is great! And wow, you use so much colors?

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kikuneko In reply to Schatten-Drache [2006-06-24 21:19:45 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. I always use lots of colors when I can. I was trying to keep this one simple, but it didn't work

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Schatten-Drache In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-24 21:21:05 +0000 UTC]

It musn't be simple, then it is great, and i was only wondering because i use so less colors (now i know why my pics looks so... -.- )

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

kikuneko In reply to Schatten-Drache [2006-06-25 23:10:32 +0000 UTC]

I learned to like very colorful characters from anime and video games, and I have trouble limiting myself to just a few colors. My favorite colored pencil set has 120 colors, and even though I don't use all of them all the time, I like to have a lot to pick from.

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Schatten-Drache In reply to kikuneko [2006-06-26 10:47:21 +0000 UTC]

It give 120 colors? I need a pencil like that...

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kikuneko In reply to Schatten-Drache [2006-06-28 03:14:36 +0000 UTC]

Sanford brand Prismacolors are what I use. My mom bought them for me online, and they are very smooth and easy to use pencils. I think my mom paid US$85 for the 120 set, but that was years ago. I don't know what they cost now.

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