Meet Chlora
THREE. FREAKING. YEARS. That's how long it has been since I've drawn Chlora, and it would've been even longer had I not made the character sheets that I'm making now. Chlora has received the least focus of all the protagonists for SPACE Warriors, and although the ideas for her lore were always present, I never had the drive to elaborate or expand upon any of them. Most of the time, she was just... there. I had no rhyme or reason to pull her from the roster, yet I had even less of a reason for neglecting her as much as I have, so I wanted to make it up to her by putting her next in line for a character sheet.
Chlora's last appearance on my gallery was my fall 2021 piece, featuring her drinking coffee alongside Aqua and Shadow. On a technical level, it has been less than three years since I've last drawn her, as I posted that piece October 2nd, but in my eyes, it's less about how long it has been and more about how long it feels; for example, Lylatt debuted in February of 2021, yet it feels like yesterday since I've last drawn her because of how integral she is to the main four. Chlora, meanwhile, is from Aqua's friend group, but because most of her appearances center around herself, the main four, or spending time with her friends in-universe, it's been easier for me to draw characters like Chlora in tandem with Aqua rather than making her the focal point of a piece. Her primary relationships are with the main cast, her social circle beyond them were small, and she wasn't developed enough to stand on her own. It wasn't until I made Electra's character sheet that I changed this.
The story behind this piece began after I finished Electra's character sheet. After finishing the entries for his character sheet and botched 2023 redesign, I noticed something about my website's gallery for that year: I had drawn Pyro once in February, Electra in August, Shadow in August, and Aqua in both May and October. Chlora was the only one I hadn't drawn in 2023, and I regretted that. It was even more jarring because some of my last drawings for Chlora expanded upon her appearance and relationships with the group, all of which were shelved in favor of different ideas. By delaying the growth of her character and diverting my focus to developing other characters who were newer than her, I found myself in a catch-22 dilemma that I couldn't escape from; in order to develop Chlora, I'd have to sideline my other projects, especially those featuring the main four, and shift gears towards her. If I didn't sideline the main four, I couldn't develop Chlora. I had to choose between them or her, so I chose her.
This choice may not seem like much, but after finishing Electra's character sheet, the first WIP I started was a new piece featuring the main four, and it had been less than three weeks since my last piece featuring them. It was after my aforementioned realization and making a dent in said WIP that I decided to shelve that piece and prioritize a character sheet for Chlora. I even considered her a dark horse pick at the time because Shadow and Pyro, both of whom are more developed and have been drawn within the past year, were prime candidates for character sheets, but there was one thing Chlora had more of at the time than either of them had: flexibility. Had I chosen Shadow or Pyro for a character sheet first, I would have fixated on making them look their best, displaying their best interests, and finding their best facts. For Chlora, her personality was simpler, her interests were undecided, and her facts were a blank slate, so it was easier for me to roll with the punches rather than rolling a dice and having a 50/50 shot of whether I was satisfied with my writing. Shadow and Pyro were more familiar to me but required more effort while Chlora was newer to me and I had more freedom with her character, especially after checking the notes I had written for her previously.
Onto Chlora herself, if you've been around my gallery, you may have noticed that her design looks familiar. This is because her outfit here is an update of her first outfit from Chlora's sketches back in 2021. I found the small, plump tie more appealing than the long, skinny one, so I kept it for her design here. Additionally, for as annoying as it was to draw the long skirt, I preferred it to her short skirt design and chose to keep it. Her 2021 shoes were supposed to be high heels, but I struggled drawing the heel of the shoe, especially the pitch, heel, and heel breast, so I drew the counter and vamp while leaving those areas out. For this piece, I put a lot of effort into getting her shoes right, though they resemble pumps more than high heels. Other visual developments include more pronounced lapels on her blazer, less folds on her sleeves, a row of buttons on her lower blouse, and her hair appearing more frazzled. I made a few additions to her design, though they're subtler in comparison, such as bags under her eyes that are mostly covered by her glasses, her her blazer having a visible top button, and the button itself resembling the star of Everdawn. Aside from that, I tried to draw her eyes in a way that made her look more innocent, but it's a little hard to tell here. Maybe they'll be more pronounced in a future piece.
Chlora's growth has been slow in every sense of the word. She's drawn less frequently than the others, and when changes are made, they are less pronounces than her peers. She doesn't receive full overhauls in the vein of Electra, Pyro, and Shadow; instead, she evolves gradually in the same vein as Aqua, with each piece testing the staying power of her current design while the next pieces gradually rework other aspects of her designs before settling on something that sticks. Major changes to her design are rare, as I've been happy with her design concept since 2019. I just had to iron out some rough edges over time, adjust the colors, and adapt her to my current style. In hindsight, that's probably a good thing.
After finishing this piece, I'm not sure what's next for me artistically. I might pick up where I left off on my aforementioned WIP, I may draw concept art for some secondary characters or redesign a few existing ones. I could expand draw up a lore piece for one of my stories or draw something completely unrelated to the main four and their universes. All I can confirm is that I want to give myself a break from character sheets, because while they are simple to make, I don't want to oversaturate my gallery with them. It's better to spread them out than draw all of them at once. Either way, no matter what's next, I hope you'll look forward to it, because I look forward to posting it!