My Initial thoughts on Butterfly boy were quite morbid, my interpretation of him was contradictory, he seems happy and proud and excited to be where he is, walking this limp butterfly, but then i looked closer and his entire head looks like a mask, his mouth is surrounded by a different mouth and his eyes look like they're coming out of peep holes.... maybe i could do something with a mask? like someone upset but putting on a brave face, a mask.
If i go down that route id maybe want to research masks, symbolism, what they mean and famous ones that could be relevant to butterfly boy and his motives.
Then i started thinking on why he would wear a mask, what is he hiding, and this opened a range of possibilities for the emotive aspect of this project, after all creating a character that has striking feelings to the viewer is one of the main objectives in this project.
Reasons on putting on a brave face especially with children would be an underlying illness, or not wanting to upset others. Child illness, especially terminal ones, they tend to upset just about everybody, yet the children put on such brave faces.
So after some brainstorming which you can see in my sketchbook scans post. i began some initial drawings, throwing ideas about, and ideas that really stuck out to me were a hospitalized child, a small boy, after all his clothing already looks like a hospital gown, i didn't quite know how to interpret the butterfly though, should i design a butterfly ? should there just be a butterfly element? like a pattern on his bandanna? or gown, or maybe he actually has butterfly wings? proper wings? or imaginary ones, and just have a golden outline? for that id need to create the wings with a light effect in Photoshop, otherwise it'd be too obvious and solid in 3DStudioMax.
The emotive for the wings on the small helpless child would be him relating to the broken or delicate little creature, something that is short lived, but is still beautiful and full of life, i researched torn butterflies, and came up with even more ideas, maybe the child feels torn or broken, or helpless but still fighting, still willing to go on, even though there wont be much more time in this world, its still more time.
http://217.138.0.100/image/394923/530wm/F0036107-Boy_with_Butterfly-SPL.jpg
I want to show true happiness, at the smallest things in life, even though they may seem useless and stupid to most, to a small child, they might be the only things that make them happy.
The environment would need to be somewhat medical, like a rest bite home, but not an actual hospital, otherwise the butterfly might not survive, but then a jar or a butterfly garden could be possible. like how some hospitals have flower gardens, maybe this childs hospital has a butterfly room.
I want the child obviously ill but not in a pathetic way, i still want to keep the brave face, mask aspect and show how strong and beautiful butterfly boy really is.
Im still at a cross roads whether i want there to actually be a butterfly, or butterfly themed objects, or even wings on butterfly boy himself. thought i like the idea of a butterfly room, and have him in butterfly themed clothing, i think creating wings imaginary outline or solid, would be a far greater and more interesting challenge.
Whilst researching butterflies and torn wings, i came across something that interested me in the emotive design of the character. Not known to many but there is an after cancer care foundation that has a butterfly logo, and many trauma groups also have a butterfly theme.
Since a butterfly is fragile and strong, it incorporates many emotions and themes that the survivors can relate to, it also symbolizes strength and change, the survivors find themselves feeling like butterflies born anew as something bigger and better.
Butterfly boy could be a survivor, or a survivor hopeful, or mascot. I think i'll stick to the cancer and medical illness rather than trauma. However the trauma website above had two interesting posts, both below.
The butterfly tattoo made me wonder if butterfly boy could be older? maybe have a tattoo and have it as one of his main aspects, but then i thought, maybe he could have a butterfly birth mark similar? still in the brainstorming stage obviously, but worth a wee look into i think.
Or, again in the words of a survivor, "The trauma that happens is unbelievable. But then, the healing is just as unbelievable."
Since a butterfly is fragile and strong, it incorporates many emotions and themes that the survivors can relate to, it also symbolizes strength and change, the survivors find themselves feeling like butterflies born anew as something bigger and better.
Butterfly boy could be a survivor, or a survivor hopeful, or mascot. I think i'll stick to the cancer and medical illness rather than trauma. However the trauma website above had two interesting posts, both below.
The butterfly tattoo made me wonder if butterfly boy could be older? maybe have a tattoo and have it as one of his main aspects, but then i thought, maybe he could have a butterfly birth mark similar? still in the brainstorming stage obviously, but worth a wee look into i think.
I also found on the same trauma website, the following phrase and poem.
Both of which i was hoping to incorporate somewhere in the environment with butterfly boy, they are really touching, yet renewing and powerful.
Perhaps they could be textured in his clothes or on a piece of jewelry instead of in the background environment.
Or, again in the words of a survivor, "The trauma that happens is unbelievable. But then, the healing is just as unbelievable."
Butterfly Wings
Tattered and Torn, one might
think she'd perish
under stresses of elements
which batter fragile wings......
Within her there lies
strength like no other
Lifts up her Spirit
to soar above all things......
Delicate......So very gentle
her beauty still shines
Look beyond all her bruises
her Light is inside.
Shanna-Marie
The above image of a tattoo is what i previously spoke of about the cancer survivors logo. some people take it to the extreme and tattoo i on themselves to remind them off thier past and what they've over come.
I've also found several more reference sites about the groups, since i'd need to do alot more research if i want this particular emotive design to come across correctly.
Whilst researching into trauma, and cancer, and other survivors and butterfly symbolisms i got the idea i wanted not just sweet innocent and fragile butterfly boy, i wanted his eyes to be the focal point of strength, to show his past and determination to live, and be free, be limitless.
This will probably be my biggest challenging feature to create in butterfly boy. With this project no matter which character i choose to interpret, i really want to push myself further and develop emotional 3D eyes, since its the first aspect you normal notice in any character, its a foundation i need no matter who or what im designing in future.
This will probably be my biggest challenging feature to create in butterfly boy. With this project no matter which character i choose to interpret, i really want to push myself further and develop emotional 3D eyes, since its the first aspect you normal notice in any character, its a foundation i need no matter who or what im designing in future.
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