* * AS OF MARCH 7th, 2016 * *
Searching for Hue is a work in progress! This potentially could be a lot of things: a graphic novel, a young adult story, a Children's book, a webcomic, I'm honestly not really sure. But I started this project with the idea that I would use it to practice concepting for a book/animation/video game, whatever it *could* be, rather than focus on what it *should* be. The story is still heavily in the making & I will be posting updates on my social media to let y'all know when this particular project gets additions/changes to it. Until then, enjoy the ride! I'm excited to see what this becomes.
When I first came up with the idea of this story, I wanted to created a header to ground it. It was quick & simple, but I'm pretty satisfied with how the typography came out, so I anticipate this being more or less what the final title header will be.
What I wanted to accomplish through this idea was having a SECONDARY character be a main character & focus on what makes her "flaws" or "mess ups" ideal for this adventure that he or she would go on. In this particular story, the King is implied to be the perfect protagonist: he is the leader of his community, loved by everyone, kind, gentle, & charming. The secondary character, the underdog, lives away from this community on her own & is shunned by everyone in the kingdom because of her differences. Yet, despite this, the King loves the underdog, & they become close friends as a result.
(I created a fun repeat pattern to see if I could. It's still a rough draft & I'll revisit this when I can.)
The underdog-turned-hero of this story is named Uma. I decided on this name because I wanted her color scheme to be monochromatic, staying in the black & white range, essentially being just ONE shade, no spectrum of color. Uma is derived from "una," Spanish for "one," & I thought it was a cute spin on the idea. Uma is relatively young; she appears to be less than ten years old, but she acts like a teenager. She tends to be reserved & quiet, but when she's around the King, she becomes a bit of spitfire, especially when the King picks on her small size.
She is typically wearing a gray poncho that covers her entire body, but she is in fact wearing a simple ruffled shirt underneath it.
The King is essentially Uma's opposite. Even under pressure, he appears cool, calm, & free-spirited. He treats everyone with the same amount of respect, even those who don't necessarily deserve it. Despite being a natural jokester, he is still very serious about his role as leader of his community, & can quickly snap the charming front off to show that he means business. He maintains control with his sceptre, which houses a lot of power as a magician.
I created this illustration as a promotion for Searching for Hue when I finally get it underway. This is still an idea & in progress, but I like to think I would create simple postcard-size promos like this to post around as a way to get people interested in the project.
a really rough animatic of Uma walking, taken from a walk cycle reference i found.
