Mike Full Body

Here's the full-body shot for Mike. (It's a little more detailed than the Donovan shot, but then Mike is also more well-defined. He works hard for those ab muscles.) He's a lot thinner than Donovan is, both in frame and muscularity. He's also got longer legs, proportionately.

Working through several different sketch designs, I'm finding I have to thin down his neck, as compared to the original character headshots. Originally, I had this very specific image as to his build, which was directly informed by the thick neck and apparent shoulders in the headshot, but I was finding that it was too similar to Donovan's, albeit slightly shorter. (This would have worked better if Donovan had been, say, tall and lanky, but not when he's built like a linebacker.) One aspect of character design, when designing characters in pairs or groups, is to clearly define and create oppositions in the characters. I couldn't have them both be the same build.

This works, tho. It also puts a slightly different dynamic together, in that Donovan is thick and square, with blocky shapes. (albiet, built with curves, but with broad proportions..) Mike, on the other hand, is more sinuous, with that same V-shaped taper reflected not only in his torso, but also in his head. The basic shape of his head is roughly square, but wider at the top than at the base of the neck, and the V that starts from the front of his throat, at the clavicle, is extended up through the top of the head, where the side-most spikes of the hair stick off in either direction.