Before I created my initial pencil sketch of the character, I planned out some of the design such as what hairstyle they would and what they would wear.
Below, you can see the range of hairstyles I designed to see if they would work with my character.
These hair styles were mostly inspired by other iconic villains and evil characters. My character is also supposed to act like a celebrity, so they were also inspired by some of the odd hair styles worn by A-list celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj.
One of the main focuses/inspiration points was Helena Bohnem Carter, who is recognised for her crazy and wild wigs in films. One her most famous character portrayals is the evil Bellatrix Lestrange, who had messy dark hair with a streak of white. I tried to incorporate this design into my own character.
I knew that I wanted my character to have black hair with a streak of white. I chose black as it is connotes evil and so a villain can be distinguished by their black hair through mise-en-scene. I wanted the white streak of hair as it shows the characters age and serves as a contrast to the black hair, showing a contrasting personality, establishing Queen Hellinor as a deceiving character who adopts different personas . The idea of black and white hair was inspired by the iconic hairdos of other villainous characters such as the Bride of Frankenstein and Cruella De Ville.
Still inspired by the Bride of Frankenstein's hair, I originally believed that my character would have a tall beehive hairdo. I attempted three different beehive styles, not only influenced by Bride of Frankenstein but by other figures such as Amy Winehouse and Elvira.
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Initial Pencil Sketches
When designing the rough sketches for my character, I studied the concept art of Marc Davis. Davis was one of the top concept artists for Disney and created the designs for two of their most iconic villains - Maleficent and Cruella De Ville; these character designs helped to inspire my own villain. I copied the dark tones and pointed angles Davis would feature in his designs.
As well as Disney, I also looked at some of the concept art by Dreamworks. My comic is a parody of classic fairy tales, which Dreamworks also aimed to do with their Shrek franchise. Below is a piec of their concept art for Shrek 2, from the book The Art of Dreamworks Animation, the piece depicts some classic fairy tale villains such as the Queen of Hearts and Wicked Witch; both these characters were inspiration for my character.
Below are the initial pencil sketches of my character. I drew her from three different angles - from the front, the back and the side. I then added some colours to the character.
I then drew a more detailed pencil sketch of my character performing an action - a chose to draw her stirring a potion in a cauldron as I plan on her doing this at some point in one of my comic panels and I feel that it reflects her characteristics of a villainous, plotting witch of a character. I improved the colour choices for this as well as I felt that my initial colour choices made the character too loud and colourful and felt that a villain should have a limited colour palet or otherwise they look too appealing and cheerful instead of evil. You can see these changes such as removing the orange and green sleeves and reversing the colour choices of the blue/purple cape and dress.
The Plot: Queen Hellinor is the stereotypical villain with a modern twist. She is an evil queen, movie actress, and the ex-wife of George McLooney (a famous actor and the king of Hollywood). When George McLooney holds a party to celebrate the premiere of his new film, but invites everyone in Hollywood except his ex-wife, she casts a curse of him to get revenge. The curse causes all of King George McLooney future films to be a failure and a flop in the box office. The King, out of embarrasment, goes into hiding. Meanwhile, the King's daughter, Princess Annabel, goes on to be a famous child actress under the stage name Ruby Red (Milly changed her name to avoid being associated with her father and his bad films. For this to work, she also had to pretend that she was one of the commoners of Hollywood, and so gave up her royal title). For her successful movie roles, Ruby won several acting awards.
One day, Queen Hellinor, who has now named herself the ruler of Hollywood (as no one knew what became of the King or the Princess) decides to ask her crystal ball if she is the greatest actress in Hollywood. She is shocked to discover that she isn't, as she can't be recognised as a great actress unless she has an acting award. Queen Hellinor plans to steal an acting award from Ruby Red, but worries that she may be recognised. She goes to a Hollywood costume department and dresses up in one of their wolf costumes to disguise herself.
One day, Ruby Red, hidden from paparazzi in a red cloak, goes deep into the dark woods of Hollywood. In the deep dark woods of Hollywood is where her father is hiding, who she is going to meet. On her way, she bumps into Queen Hellinor who is disguised as a wolf. Queen Hellinor tries to grab an award from Ruby's basket; Ruby recognises Hellinor from her bad acting, but runs off, pretending to be scared to humour her. Hellinor, missing her chance, tries again by breaking into King George's house and locking him in the cupboard. When Ruby arrives at the house, Hellinor is hidden under the bed sheets and pretending to be the King. Again, Ruby isn't convinced, but chooses to go along with it. When Hellinor reveals that it was her the whole time, Ruby acts as if she's shocked; Ruby then goes onto compliment Hellinor's great acting skills as a wolf. "We need a wolf for the film I'm working on..." Ruby continues, and offers the job to Hellinor. Hellinor, complimented and unable to turn down an acting opportunity, agrees to be in the film. Ruby takes Hellinor (still in wolf costume) to the study and tells her that for this scene she needs to stick her head through a hole in a wall (explains that it's the logo - similiar style to MGM Lion logo). Hellinor, believing that their's a camera on the other side of the wall, sticks her head through the hole. However, the only thing on the other side of the wall is a guillotine with Ruby pulling the rope. The next action is unseen. The story concludes with Ruby returning to the palace and naming herself the new Queen of Hollywod. It is also stated that Queen Hellinor, who wanted to steal one of Ruby's trophey, has instead become a hunting trophey.
The Character: Queen Hellinor is the stereotypical villain with a modern twist. She is
an evil queen, movie actress, and the ex-wife of George McLooney (a
famous actor and the king of Hollywood). She is vain and self-obsessed and will do anything to stay on top of the social ladder. She is also selfish and causes misery to others. She posses magical powers and items such as potions and crystal balls. She also owns the luxurys that come with living the life of a celebrity/royalty, such as a big castle, access to different dresses and costumes, etc. She has starred in multiple movies, often playing the love interest.
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