Week summary - 6

This week was all about refining my designs and then deteriorating them to give them a creepy and somewhat sad air. I want the witch character to be a clear outcast; her clothes and general appearance are unpleasant to look at but we can see how she was once a high-ranking member of society in what remains. Much of her design focuses on her position as an outcast from the Edo era's highly stratified society.

Red was a forbidden colour for the lower classes, so I used it liberally here, as well as choosing a blood red for its obvious connotations. The large obi knots at the back reminded me of butterflies' wings, so I made them much bigger and cut one side shorter, as if one wing had been torn off. Asymmetry became very important to me in this design because it allowed me to contrast the deteriorated and undeteriorated sides of the character easily, and it promotes the idea of instability in the character.

Experimenting with hairstyles. I chose a short cut because of the implications this would have in the time frame - in Japan and some other Asian countries, cutting the hair short symbolised banishment from the family. In addition, I feel it improves the silhouette, leaving the neck much more visible and vulnerable and allowing the flowing clothing to stand by itself without being obscured.

Face designs which take inspiration particularly from Oiwa in Yotsuya Kaidan. Inkeeping with the rest of the character, one side of the face is much more deteriorated than the other. The rightmost design is the one I will be using, with some slight adjustments. I may mirror the deteriorated side, as I want the viewer to see that side second, and western audiences tend to read images left to right. The idea is that the witch may look respectable or 'normal' from a distance or at first, but the illusion fades quickly and we see what she has become. However, I don't want her to be seen as an ugly or evil character, but instead an unfortunate and lonely one, and I hope the design will put that across.