I guess i'll just open a thread for her-

Here is an pen and ink study as well as a color study: ( bear with me while Barinellos and I try to figure out what she looks like;)

I have never read anything about Cara Hollis, but that is a very pretty drawing. You have a lot of talent.

The colors in the color version are a bit flat, but the ink work here is real solid. I'm really digging the overall costume design here as well... it's giving me a much clearer sense of Cara's visuals.

Thanks...

I can't wait until Barinellos sees it!

I guess I can just finish designing her outfit anyway, though.

Cheersy

I guess i just dashed to the study, but should have read more first! I'm reading Dead Men Tell No Tales now and my next designs should be more acute....

It's... a bit hard to get much of an impression of her since it's from the back. (no criticism of your work)
I can see where you would end up drawing from that given that I gave you Thraben Valiant as a starting point, but the back is really hard for me to get much of an impression of.
The only notes I can really interject about are:
1) The skirt isn't split where it should be. It's supposed to be split along the middle as well so that it opens more.
2) The studding on the skirt should be in multiple vertical lines.
3) The corset actually doesn't include a bustier, and should be studded as well.
4) She should have more pouches going all the way around the belt. Think Batman's utility belt.

The last thing to say is admittedly my bad since the passage I gave you to work from didn't include it, but her athame is sheathed at the back rather than at the side.

Aside from that, I'd really like to get a better look at the individual pieces of her wardrobe since I can't really see some of the details to say much. Still, all told, you have a lot of really good work in this and a really solid starting place for her look. If we can hash out the remaining details, it'll be really good.

Thank you all!

I think Keeper is astute here, and I would also like to thank Arcades for pushing me to find some bones... Thanks!

Barinellos... What do you think of this line drawing?

Hmm... Belt looks good.
Skirt could use the side splits from before too, for a total of 3 sections. (two in front, one larger from side to side) The studs could stand to be uniform rather than varied. (Just rounded rather than diamond) and it looks like there's stitching on those that I'd probably drop. It looks like her blouse peeks out above the skirt, but I'd prefer it to look as though the corset flows directly into the skirt (even if they were still 2 pieces.)
The pants, honestly, could stand to be a little looser, though I'm fully aware this is just a sketch.
The boots from the first set of pictures were good, which I only mention because these are just a sketch too.
The best reference I can give you for the corset is this except it would have lines of studs in it. By the by, it was REALLY hard for me to find a picture of corsets I could share on the forum.
The vambrace, I would suggest this as a starting point, though the piece on the back of the hand would be built around an Orzhov coin inset on it.
I am, honestly, having a bit of difficulty following the look of the jacket.

Here's a few more sketches to keep this study rolling.

First we have the stone affixed to Cara's wrist (which is mostly what i'm here for), as you can see there are a few ways we can approach it. Besides the fact that it needs to be a stitch dantier, I was thinking we could run the loops to the ring and pointer finger so all that leather is not on one finger.

Then we have another mockup of her main ensemble, which I hope mainly nails down the look of the belt and studded leather. The boots turned out decent as well, although some leather lacework is invisioned for the boots and front of the corset.
The jacket is a bit of an afterthought here, but for the next mockup of it I was thinking maybe going with a cotton padded jacket with a few bits of studding? Or do you think it should be leather and thus more impervious to elements?

Wow, that' really sharp looking. I don't know that I've ever seen you do full color marker work like this or costume design. I like it a lot.

I almost wonder if we shouldn't collaborate on something with me doing faces and anatomy, since that's something I think I'm decent at, and you doing costumes, since you do really well there.

Ah, I see now how we have crossed the wires as it were. A minor failure to communicate, likely on my end for not being more clear.
2.5 things as follow:
1) The focus for Beckon Apparition is this totem on the back of her hand, but the thing is, it's actually PART of the vambrace, or at least tied to it. Specifically the part that comes down to protect the back of her hand.
2) The stone in question isn't a gem either. It's a shard of a tombstone.
2.5) However, as time has worn on, I've been considering if a tombstone piece would read as well as a coin that has been worked to snap into the vambrace.


getting a much much better look at the construction here. Overall, it's looking pretty good. My most prevalent thoughts are on the jacket now, which, now seeing flat, gives me a much better idea of how to adjust the cut.
Anyways, I'll get back to that in a moment as I address the leatherwork. It's got the right cut all over, and the belt and is laid out well. Whatever accents are present on it would be similar in look, I think (and very subtle overall) to the kind of accents you can find on Sorin Markov's plates. Very subtle, but you can only really pick it up in the light.

Now, back to the jacket. This one is a bit long overall, and should probably only reach down to a little above the belt, or a little higher than that, a below the ribs. The important thing is that she could get to her pouches and blades without fooling with the jacket. The color should also be black, to match her pants (though I understand where this color probably came from given the references). The material, I would imagine, would probably be some sort of canvas, or another sort of sturdier cloth. It definitely should be a plain sort, without the padding or studding since it's meant to pick up some of the balance from the pants and follow through on the color.
The last note about the jacket would be the collar, which should be a bit shorter and stiffer, rather than flared like it is here (though, I do understand it was an afterthought and not a real indication of intent, but just trying to add notes.)

Great... I think combined with this sketch and we're gettin' somewhere.

Hmmm let me see...
Sorry, btw, that I was out of town before I could respond to this.
Okay, so, the vambrace is still something we clearly need to talk through, but in fairness it IS closer now than it has been, but still, be best to deal with it alone.
Aside from that, the coat is waaaaaay too long. Here, it hangs down so long that it would definitely interfere with her getting to her belt. It shouldn't be very long, maybe just about the length of her ribs, like just below where her corset is. The sleeves can go all the way down into the vambrace too, rather than having that part there.
I think the collar should probably end up just laying down like a normal coat too, after seeing it from a few iterations.

The skirt is right in design, but this picture particularly is parted waaaaaaay off. the part should come down the center, about where you'd button your pants. You definitely had the right of it in the previous picture.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Well, I've got a whole sketchbook dedicated to baggy pants and flappery.... and let me tell you, my eyes are still dancing the Pasa Doble!

Here are a few pieces that I was fond of, and which may bring us closer to revealing this mysterious woman:

I like the bottom one better, myself, though I still need to add in the athame. What a study! Vambrace is getting closer?

Just let me know where to go from here fellas!

The skirt on the second one is much closer to how the flaps should lay, but the shapes and such are kind of lopsided.
The corsets have kind of drifted from what they should, as both of the previous pieces had them right.
(The colored piece remains to be the truest to the leather pieces as you've done.)

The jacket in the first one is much closer, though she probably wouldn't have the button fastened and the sleeves still stop too short. Go ahead and tuck those into the vambrace.

As to the vambrace itself, I'll see if I can't write out a more thorough description. One major thing that has been lacking on all of these is that there should be fingerless gloves at the end of it, with the backplate affixed to the leather of THAT rather than having it try to come off of the wrist. Aside from that, the vambraces are identical on each side, both with a coin affixed onto the backplate, rather than just on one.