Uniformity
These are more notes on drawing for Project Homuncupunk.
The Mikazuki Coat
I've been rereading my various yuri-themed comics because I'm usually too lazy to do much of anything else (other than what I'll describe in the next post). One of the many things that it got me considering was based on the fact that the majority are set in Japanese schools. One of the significant features thereof is that almost all require their students to wear uniforms. I think uniforms are an interesting element of character design, as they can create a connection and theme between multiple characters, but I like it best when this is used in combination with other contrasting elements. In Japanese comics, one of the chief ways of differentiating characters is by their hair. (Facial features can be used, too, but it seems more difficultperhaps because there's a narrow range that you can express while still making all the characters pretty, or perhaps because it's difficult to be precise and consistent about exact proportions when drawing the same character freehand from different angles and so on.) This is undoubtedly one of the reasons why characters often have dyed or bleached hair, and sometimes quite outrageous hairstyles: so that each is an individual. However, even when there is a mandatory uniform, the individual is free to express her own taste in accessories, including hairpieces, glasses (although whether or not she wears glasses in the first place is usually a matter of convenience), earrings, and usually shoes and socks. Also, there is some variation in how the student wears the uniform itself. (This seems more common with male characters, who may vary in whether or not they button their shirts and jackets, or whether they tuck their shirts in.)
In the case of the Mikazuki Corporation (formerly known as Biohazard, but renamed for PR purposes), there is only a partial uniform in the orange longcoat. This means that a lot of variation can be seen in what else an individual wears. However, I also wanted to vary the ways in which the employees wear the coats. A prime example is Ms. Wolfram (not pictured), who wears hers thrown over her shoulders, with her arms not through the sleeves. (If that's not individual enough, she also wears a more modest version of a French maid's outfit.) I wanted to maximize the potential for individual customization, resulting in the designs I've tried here so far.
A, B, and C depict my first attempt at the sleeve. The idea is that it can be
A) worn loose, allowing the wearer to use the billowing sleeve to disguise his hand movements, like a samurai in whatever you call that kind of kimono you wear in a hakama ensemble.
B) buttoned at the wrist, to keep it from getting in the way.
C) rolled up and buttoned at the shoulder, resulting in a short sleeve version. This would hopefully keep it more out of the way than buttoning it at the wrist, but it looks rather silly and doesn't protect your forearm. Note that the lining of the coat is crudely shaded so you can tell the difference from the outside.
D is a second attempt at the sleeve. This time I came up with the idea to have a "halfway" button, so you can button the strap to it when you're wearing the sleeve loose, to keep the strap at least out of the way. When the sleeve is bound close at the wrist, the button will be at the halfway point of the strap (or somewhere else, depending on the ratio of wrist circumference to full size of the sleeve) while the end is set to another button on top of the wrist (on the right).
E was my idea of how the front of the coat buttons up. As with D, there are extra buttons (on the left, or the right when looking at it straight-on as in the sketch) so that the flap can be buttoned down and gotten out of the way when not in use. Note that the buttons only go to the waistI still think that any below that would just make it really hard to move, which would be unfortunate as the security personnel wear this as well. Anyone might need to run/jump/climb in an emergency, of course. Also note the pockets with horizontal openings and flapsunlike the stupid diagonal pockets on the trenchcoat I'm wearing now, which allow all sorts of things to fall out when you sit down.
F is an idea for the coattails in a similar fashion to the sleeves. If the wearer's feet are too warm, or if he wants to have better mobility, he can reverse the tails and button them at the waist. The problem, of course, is that the pockets have to fit in-between the waist buttons so he can get to them when the tails are up, meaning that the overall pocket width is limited. This problem actually led me to come up with the idea of having button-on accessories, such as the holster in the bottom right (if you can ignore the not-very-homunculus-looking gun in it). These can attach to the various buttons that are already on the coat, allowing further customizability.
G is a simple name tag or ID, which also fits on the existing buttons. The vertical system may not work so well, as not all employees have Japanese names and some may not even be able to read Japanese in the first place. I could make a horizontal strip that could extend from a collar to a shoulder button.
H is just a couple of designs for pockets.
Accessories
First of all, I noticed that the sleeve might feel rather strange when buttoned at the wrist, because then you'd have a lot of fabric bunched up there. My solution (A) was to have little tabs that stick out. I don't really know how to explain it, and I don't know if there's really a point in the first place.
The rest are just more button-on accessories: sheath (A), holster (B), canteen (C), and scabbard (D). For some reason I didn't think to draw a regular pouch/pocket. I'm sure there must be more ideas as wellI just thought of a button-on light source, for instance.
More Faces
More of the usual. I'm thinking maybe I should just give up on having female characters with female faces, but I really would want them to look pretty. I don't know.