Artist’s Log: Behind the Scenes – The Kingdom of Platinum

Hey there! I wanted to pause, zoom in, and show you details about the kingdom of platinum!

Platinia is a kingdom rife with conflict, which I briefly touch on in RfS. After that, I’m still determining how deeply I’ll go into it. I’m hoping, however, to paint enough of a picture so readers can get the general context and form conclusions independently.

So! Let’s look at the people of Luke and Gale’s home kingdom together.

I’m still determining how often you’ll see these characters pop up in Rose for Shurinai, but I wanted to show the old character concept art I had for the last surviving refugees. I have planned for Toma to be a regularly recurring character, so there’s that! I’m planning out some juicy details, like the relationship between Toma and the knights, what’s stalking the refugees, and how much of a bastard Gale’s dad is.

…Okay, maybe not so much the last one.

But it should be noted that Gale’s dad Kaito is a usurper (see: evil bastard), and I’m not too fond of him.

Character Design Notes

Luke’s mother, Sharron, was fun to design, as I had the Starcrossers vote on what hairstyle they liked the most a few years ago. As you can see, the third design won the popular vote. Earlier, I posted a similar poll with Luke’s dad, Logan. One Starcrosser suggested I combine elements from the different hairstyles I pitched in the survey, and I couldn’t be happier with the result–along with the chinstrap-beard-and-triangular-eyebrows motif, I think I’m on the way to nailing down some key features that would crop up in the Hirigani family.

The Celestial Knights

Then, there are the Celestial Knights. Initially tasked with guarding the kingdom and its people against any ill-meaning outsiders (and later the horror from the stars), these noble beings specialized in both magic and melee combat, often combining the two. I’ve yet to design their vast array of weapons, but you’ve probably seen the staves they carry, which serve as both a weapon and a light source. I plan to develop these in depth, as there may be derivative technology in present-day La Seri.

And of course, when Kaito Shurinai took the throne, he repurposed the Celestial Knights to instead be his personal guard and thus a weapon against their own people.

Of course, approaching the design for the armor was incredibly difficult for me, as I’d never done it in length before. Designing it was one thing–imagining it from different angles was a new challenge in itself. That’s when 3D–thus, Blender–came in. But first came the challenge of learning how to model anything in 3D. The image on the right was kind of my first attempt at modeling (and rigging) someone wearing the armor. I’ll be more than glad to revisit the concept of modeling this armor, as I’ve developed my skills in 3D modeling a bit since this first attempt.

I will be revisiting these concepts and refining them for consistency and all that good stuff. Of course, you’ll be the first to know all about it! Thanks so much for having a look! Please let me know if you have any questions–I’d love to chat!