Book character - take 2

After going back and reflecting on the work I had put towards my book character so far I realised how boring and uninteresting my interpretation was. I found that it would be difficult to make her any more interesting  as her appearance as described in the book was rather unadventurous. I realise it was a mistake to base my book character on someone I was familiar with for that reason alone. I needed a more interesting character so I decided to use another book I was fond of - Memoirs of a Geisha.

I am very aware there is a film adaptation of the book, and for this reason I decided against interpreting any characters that had screen time. Instead I decided to illustrate Mrs Tatsuyu; a brothel madame who doesn't get screen time in the film but has some mention in the book.

Underneath I formed some mood boards to help me imagine her appearance.

Imedietly I realised this character would provide for a much richer subject matter. I found her background to be more interesting and easier to work with. I then produced a few sketches detailing what I thought her face might look like.

At this point I began to consider the different hairstyle and outfits she might have worn. I decided to produce these digitally and to spend some time realising her face and figure.

I then moved onto a finished piece. I chose to do this traditionally as I felt the media would lend itself to the subject matter. However, I don't feel it was a particularly successful piece and could have probably used more work/planning.