This is my final project for my Character Design class with CGMA. It was my first time taking a class with CGMA and it was so worth it. I really loved the opportunity to be in a classroom setting again, even online.

Thanks to Drawabox, I felt really comfortable with pushing myself—maybe too comfortable? I got a big head sometimes and waited until the last minute to finish my assignment. There are parts even here where I feel are rushed. I know, I know- you’re not supposed to point out your mistakes, but waiting until the last minute is a bad habit I’d like to tackle before I take more online courses.

I’ll post my other CGMA work separately but these sketches are the culmination of a lot of great exercises. I learned how to work on facial expressions and for Nari by studying the concept work from Disney’s animated Mulan (my favorite movie growing up). I needed to figure out how to draw those Asian facial features and expressions because otherwise I have same face syndrome!

Posing is where I really felt how much Drawabox helped my ability to see form. This was as simple as finding references and drawing Nari in those poses.

As for Nari herself, I envisioned her to be sleek, agile, and cool. So I focused on flowing lines, big movements, and a street wear wardrobe, which was particularly fun to study and draw.

For her final pose, I landed on using Daniel’s famous pose from Karate Kid, to give her that dynamic, dangerous look. The red palette is my favorite, but I like the jacket patterns on purple and yellow more.

There’s more to Nari—she’s actually part-dragon, with a bunch of fun magical powers, but that went beyond the scope of the project. I look forward to tackling that later.