As a big component of the commercial game art industry is adaptability. I did a style study of a game I was playing and familiar with: Genshin Impact.
research + prep
I began this study by choosing an original character I had put on the back burner. His original reference sheet from 2020 is shown below:
Genshin Impact Official Art.
Genshin Impact is an open-world RPG by China-based company HoYoverse.
Upon thoroughly studying their character designs, I found they have certain elements to them, including gradients, asymmetry, flowing elements (such as hair, capes, ribbons, etc.), and a large amount of details, all being topped with references to the region the character is from. Whether female or male, human or non-human, these traits all carried over between each character.
Genshin Impact Official Character Art.
Based on the design elements observed above, I created a moodboard that meshed these ideas together, with references of traditional Korean hanbok due to my character's Korean roots. VOGUE Korea was a good resource for modern twists on said traditional wear.
Moodboard.
designs
For my first phase, I took different elements from the moodboard and made the beginnings of a coherent design and palette. I referenced modern hanbok designs that crop off, as well as the baggy pants in a design from VOGUE Korea. I kept the layers in men's hanbok with the long sleeves and short sleeves on top, as well as incorporating fire patterns.
Design draft #1.
Next came the style study. I referenced the "medium-male" model from the game as the features would fit my character better. When it came to brainstorming the splash art, I created a move-set that could be used as thumbnails to illustrate a final gacha splash art. After adjusting the gloves and shoes, and ideating a spell book design, I sketched a move-set below, taking the third component and made a splash art as follows:
Design draft #2 and splash art. Wish Template by Kimi Reed @Yumisarat on Twitter.
A few months after making the initial design, my art and understanding of the style had increased following my design work for the project "Roll to Ascend." I carried the glove and cropped hanbok design from the splash art over, but added more metal elements, redid the scarf design, and used Korean traditional footwear, gomusin, for his shoes. Below are the final design in my style and the Genshin Card style.
Design draft #3. Character Card Template (right) by @RayuneArt.