featured crit
sara
Illustrated by: David Revoy
created by: Mandi Paugh
top three notes
note one: Green Colors
Besides the character, what draws our attention closer? Color!
note two: Fantasy Attire
Outfits tell a lot about a person. It helps us understand their setting, possible responsibilities, and culture.
note three: She Looks Like...
Sara looks as if she's from a certain video game franchise.
Intro
A video game programmer named Mandi Paugh, who graduated from DigiPen Institute of Technology is the creator of a Megaman fan site called mmhp.net which is short for Mega Man Home Page. Mandi also created a free culture character mascot named Sara for OpenGameArt.org Since Sara falls under Creative Commons, many fans of OpenGameArt.org have created their own versions of her. The version we’re going to break down was created by French artist David Revoy. True character design defines the characters' non-visual characteristics by having visual features that tell a story. When analyzing a character, we begin to gather possible information about them and their history. Once we have an idea of their history, we can begin to understand their characteristics, flaws, and motivations. We’ll still use this information to break down this character to figure out what makes this character unique, how it makes us feel, and if there are ways to improve it.
Note Three: She Looks Like...
When analyzing Sara, there’s something familiar about the character design. Video game players will most likely make a connection to Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda franchise. The series is about a young hero named Link who rescues his childhood friend, Princess Zelda, after she has been kidnapped. Sara looks like a combination of them or at least from that world. When you search “link from Zelda” the featured illustration of Sara appears in the search engine. Sara looks like she’s a combination of them or from that world. When you search “link from Zelda” this illustration of Sara shows up in the search engine. Below are cosplay references of Link and Zelda to show the resemblance.
Since Sara is under a creative domain, there shouldn’t be any legal issues. If Sara was designed to be a trademarked character, there could be a conflict due to the possibility of confusion. This note is a reminder for us to make sure we do our research on copyright and trademark rules. We’ll also note that it’s okay to use other materials as a reference or inspiration. The concern is when there’s too much of a resemblance.
Conclusion: What are the emotions you feel?
Most of the emotions we feel are likely created by the peaceful green colors we see. Knowing the environment and seeing the style it was illustrated in may help us imagine the smell of a beautiful forest. You might even be able to hear the sound of bushes ruffling from the calm breeze. Now that we’ve soaked in Sara’s surroundings, we can focus on her. Sara is making eye contact as if she's looking into our soul. It feels as if we can trust her, but it also feels as if she's hiding something. There are no signs of danger around her. Do we get closer? Does she have something to tell us? When a character in an illustration has the ability for us to feel like we’re in the same world as them, is when the artist did their job properly.
