I started developing a very loose concept of what the final group of pirate designs will be for this story. The best description in my head that I could come up with for them was "Hipster Steam Pirates". These pirates will use a steamboat as transportation and use steam power, mist and vapor to create a cloud that they can hide in when fighting enemies. Drinking coffee will also be a part of their lifestyle. They also have an anthropomorphic otter that helps them fight battles and juggles. Orange, earthy brown tones and a distinct black and white checkered board pattern will be their color pallete.
About two weeks ago, I decided to research possible pirate clothing styles, hipster clothing styles, actor personalities and steam powered appliances. I continued more in depth research last night by finding such machines as espresso machines, steam irons, old plastic vaporizers and tea kettles. The point of this research is to gather the specific ideas and element that I would want these pirates to have and decide how to design specific characters using these elements.
For personalities a few actors that came to mind were Kate McKinnon from Saturday Night Live, Musician Reggie Watts from Comedy Bang Bang and Kumail Nanjiani from Silicon Valley. I only use a few of these people as a guide for the style and personality that I want this group of pirates to have.
It's really been a struggle for me to continue with this project. I really spent a lot of time recently trying to scratch some drawing in a small sketchbook that I carry in my bookbag. What it really comes down to is that I have to motivate myself to do this. No one else can do it for me.
Today, I reflected on the many tiny sketches that I did in my small sketchbook and decided to try to make a few more developed sketches of a few of the characters that I came up with based on my research. These are the three that I did today. They are no where near a completion only a template to work from. I still want to develop how they will use the steam in their weapons and what kind of weapons they will use. It really is a struggle for me but I'm happy and content with what I created today. I will also probably try to design a few more of these pirates.
