Considerations of character design.

I finally got past a crucial conversation scene, but it took me a week and four drafts. The problem: lots of important information to be revealed, but it's talking heads and I'm boring myself after five panels. I used to love doing conversation scenes, but I've come to realize they can easily get legs and run away from you, especially when they serve as info-dump as well.

Five scenes are left to fine-tune before the final go-through.  

A pretty crucial problem is a particular relationship that I, for spoiler reasons, can't reveal yet, but it's at the very heart of the story and the very core of what drives one of the characters. However, it's a past relationship, not so much a current one, and I think flashbacks should be used only very sparingly and then handled with the utmost care. But if the relationship appears too theoretical, the air might go out of the story.

At least the visuals are a little more straight-forward. Here's what's new in character design:

Rada's physique was a little blah, a little ill-defined, a little wimpy, flat and inconsistent, so I got the advice to base it on a real person's, and who better than former MMA fighter Gina Carano? 

(That question is entirely rhetorical). 

So, something like:

I didn't realize just HOW MUCH it helps having a 

solid reference when it comes to drawing characters.

 She's much more of a joy to draw now. 

I have also made a size chart of the most important characters on land:

(Mr. Tall Bodyguard is now called Manfred. 

And here we can see Waldimar's older brother 

The King for the first time - suave and as well-kept as Waldimar isn't.)

With the merpeople, I've been trying to circumvent the little problem of gender distinction without slapping awkward-looking and un-hydrodynamic breasts on the females, so I introduced some curves. Not sure if it's too subtle. 

(Two ladies to the left, gentleman to the right.)

And on I go...