Meet Shadow
Shadow has always been one of my favorite characters; I love her snarky attitude, I love her unkempt appearance, and I love how much potential she has every time I draw her. Unfortunately, if my previous character sheets haven't made it clear, playing favorites with my characters caused several of them to be sidelined for years on end, desperate for a glow-up and time in the sun while characters like Shadow received the majority of my time and attention. Knowing my habits, I saved her character sheet for last among the quintet so the others could received their long overdue makeovers and time in the sun. This made them easier for me to draw going forward, and made me eager for when I could finally start Shadow's character sheet.
I started Shadow's character sheet about a week after Pyro's was finished, and at the time, my focus centered around writing for her rather than sketching her; rather, I was focused on writing for her and correcting any issues I found within Pyro's sheet. Not long after that was finished, I noticed that I misaligned the final line in his "Meet the Character" box, so this was one of the first things I did for Shadow's sheet. Once that was done, I wrote out her essential information, ripped placeholder colors from Shadow's color palette, and proceeded to overthink her interests, which was nothing new for me. I will say, although Pyro's interests were difficult to write, it was due to the eloquence of his character. For Shadow, I wanted to capture her jagged edges without her personality feeling boring or repetitive; after all, Shadow is the sixth character sheet I've finished this year and the eighth character sheet I've finished since last October, so my concerns were justified. I didn't want her feeling like a Lylatt 2.0 or vice-versa, so her interests took a while to get right.
Once I was satisfied with Shadow's interests, I started sketching her figure. She's supposed to be the largest of the girls due to her being the most muscular, but I felt as if that doesn't come across properly due to most of her pieces featuring her on her own without someone to compare her to. I did my best to showcase her size here, but I'm still unsure if I did a good job here. I'll see for myself when I draw her with other members of the quintet.
Not long after I started sketching her, I took a break from the piece for a while not only due to work, but because my birthday was coming up and I wanted to draw something not only for myself, but for one of my mutuals that I shared a birthday with. I finished that piece just in time, posted it to BlueSky, and returned to this piece soon after. Unfortunately, progress on this piece was slow for a while, as real-life issues and commitments left me feeling burnt out and unable to draw despite wanting to do so. I regained my spark around mid-to-late December, making the most of my time off to finish this piece before the end of the year.
Going back to Shadow, I was focused not only on getting her figure right, but on getting her outfit right. I've wanted to redesign her outfit for a while, mostly because I knew I could do better than her previous outfit, but also because I wanted to differentiate her outfit from Lylatt's; two purple characters with cold-shoulder tops didn't sit right with me, so I wanted to give Shadow a new shirt that maintained her aesthetic. It took a while to find a look that suited her, but after enough research, I was pleasantly surprised with the references I had found; having skin exposed at the crooks of the neck rather than the shoulders is something I rarely see, and I didn't hesitate to replace the deep neckline of her original shirt with a new cut that showed more skin. I wasn't sure what to expect when researching goth/grunge/punk/rocker fashion, but I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. I made a few notes going in, but they were minor; I didn't allow myself to give her a jacket, blazer, or cardigan due to three characters already wearing them, I didn't want to incorporate spikes into her outfit because I thought that was too predictable, and I didn't want to change things more than necessary, which is a perfect segue for my next point.
Aside from a few premediated changes, most of the changes she received are minor. Her hair has more volume, her pupils are catlike, her fangs are visible, her boots are fuzzy, her shirt's tears are more stylized, her pants are still ripped at the knees, and her outfit has a darker palette. They are details that are easy to miss, but I wanted to acknowledge them here; I've drawn Shadow with fangs before and I wanted to keep that aspect of her design, so I gave her pupils complimenting them to make her look more intimidating. Shadow's boots were always fuzzy, but this was my first time focusing on that detail. The most subtle change, aside from the hair, is her outfit's color palette. I changed her clothes from eggplant purple to more of an indigo or violet, staying close to her roots while giving her a subtle "pop" factor. Every character of the quintet aside from Aqua has had their outfits redesigned and recolored, so it only made sense for Shadow to have the same done for her.
And with that, I don't have much else to say. A few final notes I have are that Shadow's right hand could have turned out better and I was planning on giving her a necklace, only to scrap that after designing her shirt. Perhaps I'll include that when I redesign her past self. I know that 2024 has been full of character sheets, so I plan to dial back during 2025. Now that the SPACE quintet has been redrawn and redesigned, I plan to draw some art expanding upon their characterization and lore, especially once my new art setup is ready. I have a lot to look forward to, and I hope you're excited for what's to come!