Hellooooooo!

I was just randomly sketching today, part of my recent routine of getting back into artwork, and I decided to take a sketch further out of curiosity. I did a basic color mapping for Carbon, mainly because I wanted to really finalize the color palette for him. The indigo and Cherenkov radiation blue still works as highlights, though I blended the two in the queii patterning as they should oscillate between each other. The flesh is still chartreuse due to being a plant-person, but blood-heavy areas can tint blue and indigo as well. The barely-green grays of the fur have been toned darker overall, to really highlight the glowing bits. Finally, though this is a horrible rendition (just a sketch, after all), I managed to find a good way of showcasing Carbon's silver hair. It's partially ice-blue tinted, but otherwise is actually physically reflective so it picks up most of its color from the surroundings. In a pink room it would look mostly pink, for example. This is harder to show in general, but I expect it won't amount to more than choosing the median color of the environment in most pictures.

The eyes are another area that would need a specific drawing to render properly. The sclera (normally the 'white' of the eye) is darkened, but not black. Originally I wanted to make it reflective as well, but after a few iterations here it just didn't want to play well. I might try again in something more detailed than a sketch. The Iris matches the sclera, lacking colored pigment and instead being dark to protect from the harsh Yangurraar radiation. The iride however (the ring on the edge of the iris) lights up with indigo, specifically the color representing a host's symbiote. This is literally their way of projecting light as well as reading the world. The pupil is the last remaining component, and is blue-tint and UV reflective in the visible spectrum of humans. The UV light coming from the iride is literally reflecting as light blue here. Normally the pupil is pitch black because the retina absorbs all light and reflects nothing back, but Yangurraa see in a much broader range of light and so certain unused brackets may actually reflect back.

Overall I think I'm happy with this color schema. I might need to tweak it here and there, but I'm loving finally taking the muddy mess of a character I have in my head and refining him into someone tangible... even if my skill is a tad lacking at the moment.

Enjoy the study, guys. I'll try to make art submissions more frequent, rather than hiding everything for fear it'll be rejected. I'm working on the art, but much like my writing over the years the self confidence needs some training as well. :|

Cheers,
The Writer.