MoxyDoxy
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Power Girl Redesign
🕑 Added 2017-02-25 05:09:28 +0000 UTC My take on Power Girl. I know people are touchy about costume redesigns, and I didn't want to do anything drastic. Still, some of the changes I made are significant, and I want to address them and give you all my thought process behind why I committed to these changes:-Head/Hair: There is very little iconism involved in her hairstyle or head area in general. It's not like Superman's curl or Wonder Woman's tiara. Power Girl is unique in that she is one of the few medium-cut heroines out there (at least on any sort of permanent basis) so I made sure to keep that. Otherwise, I think versions where she has loose locks in the front are pretty good.
-Physique: Artists have usually drawn her a bit beefier than the average superheroine, but I wanted the "Power" to be very apparent; not by my standards, of course, but by normal people standards.
-Shoulders/Cape: I considered no cape, but without the red, the color palette becomes a bit bare. I chose to roll with symmetrical pauldrons of gold instead of the singular because I think the asymmetrical style is a bit awkward. I wanted a blend of form and function as it relates to her, so a shorter cape felt less cumbersome for her purposes.
-Suit: The significant change I made here was taking away the sleeves. In addition to establishing a musculature, I felt the suit should show it off accordingly. It also minimizes the amount of pure white that's in the ensemble. I think solid white is the enemy of interesting character design, so I also gave her suit a subtle two-tone feel (now that I look at it, it may be a bit too subtle) to break up the monotony. I like the idea of the elevated lines in her suit which other artists have used to help break up the white of the uniform.
-Belt: Instead of going with red or blue, I went with a non-contiguous gold girdle-thing. The center piece forms a triangle with the pauldrons, and allows some balance between the vertical flow of the white while not having the eyes slide away from the uniform continuously, which is what would happen if she didn't have a belt. Also by not making it red or blue, I have compartmentalized the general tone of her costume to make all of her parts more readable in general.
-Gloves/Boots: I also gave these a two-tone treatment to not make them just boring. I stayed away from straps or buckles for the boots because one of my goals was iconism and practicality, and so I kept everything pretty simple here. Maybe the dark blue parts partially detach for an easy time putting on and taking off.
-Boob Window: I kept it, but made sure it was in the outline of the family crest. I like boobs, but I honestly don't think this part of the costume is integral to the costume. However, it does serve a design function here by also breaking up the monotony of white.
Let me know what you guys think. Follow me on Twitter as I'm thinking of posting more there: https://twitter.com/MoxyDoxyArt
Comments
CJoe
I enjoyed reading your thought process to create this version of an iconic heroine. Every choice has a good reason to be and the final result has a strong coherence, I like it a lot. You're right on the dual tone of her leotard, it may me slightly too subtle, as the darker part just looks to be in shadows. But too much difference could be distracting, as her cape and boots already bring a sharp contrast. Your version of her belt is a nice find. It punctuates the white nicely. As for a boob window, I think it's a part of her visual identity : white top + boob window = Power girl You did a great job. Thanks for sharing your process.
