Elantris - Hrathen
A character design project based on Brandon Sanderson's fantasy book Elantris. This post includes my process and final render of one of the book’s 3 central protagonists Hrathen the High Priest of Shu-Dereth.
The stylisation of this project was inspired by the works of Yoshiaki Kawajiri and Yoshitaka Amano
Key quotes from the book that informed my design decisions
Thumbnails and Bodytype exploration
Portrait concepts
Hair Iterations and Costume Sketches
Colour iterations - Note the book specifically mentions he wears Red Armour
Pose thumbnail sketch and reference - I used this sketch as the basis for my models posing when I took photo reference.
Moodboard and reference - I looked at previous depictions of the character in Fan art and Official Media.