2D piece: The main character Development

 The Main Character 

For the main character, I wanted to create a merman that was unique to my game. I wanted to give him gills to represent his underwater breathing potential. I started with some sketches which I had further developed. Below are the first sketches and initial ideas. I decided his name will be Atlas, as that word represents the planet/globe and half the globe is Ocean. This works well for my chosen theme of Oceanic. I started out with some basic sketches and ideas generation picking up where I originally designed my character in The Fantastic 5. 

the merperson bottom half

scales and texture sketch^

Face design. I decided to go with long hair to make the character more interesting and more friendly looking. I also experimented with fin scales.

Afterward, I began my digital work on Procreate with the first layer outlining just his body. I had decided to add finns around his lower half and on his arm as can be seen. 

I began by adding the base color which I had decided to go for a purple for his skin tone as it represented his friendly and energetic character well while also keeping that fantasy look for the game. 

Above I added fish scales to his swimming fins with a scaly effect in a new layer. both on his lower body and his arm. 

I then added scales to his lower body but with a different vibrant blue to contrast the purple skin. Furthermore, I added shading and blocking to his upper half as well as shading in certain areas to make the whole character come together. 

I then began working on the background I used a vibrant blue shade for him as wherever he goes positivity follows. This contrasts well with the mirky green water I used in the Villain's Castle piece I used. Additionally, I added a white hue which I then used procreates Gaussian blur to blend with the blue. I also decreased the opacity of that layer as the white was too bright. 

After which I added seeping light from the water surface as well as bubbles that are coming off the corals/plants. I also added a bloom effect using the procreate feature to create more light and emphasize the bubbles and light from the surface

Below is the final piece which consisted of an extra water surface and wave effect to go with the piece which I believe made that water surface look more believable as it was lacking earlier. 

Final reflection: I believe this piece turned out as well as I had hoped it would. Really making this a unique character with a lot of contrast and life. Furthermore, the piece is vibrant and colorful which represents a safe environment. Additionally, I believe this piece is up to a higher standard than my previous work and art projects due to the detail and accuracy, To improve it I believe there should be more shading as well as there was light hitting the character but without any shadow on his body to complement this.