#2. A Character A Day - Hyui-Ma (FAIL!)

Today I'm posting about a character I FAILED to construct.

To be frank, it was pretty annoying, but well, this kind of thing happens.

This character is called Hyui-Ma. (휘마) It is not a usual name, and he doesn't have a surname either.

Because he is a soul reaper. A newbie.

And he is a pretty incompetent one, too. I wanted a soul reaper for my fantasy drama story (Crossing, http://blog.naver.com/haejinsung) who messes up everything, including switching souls of my main characters with one another.

A soul reaper in Korea typically looks like this:

Image from here

Recently there was a drama about a soul reaper in Korea called 49 Days (49일, SBS, 2011).

The drama shows a modern version of a soul reaper, who has permed hair and wears both all-black suits and vividly colored clothes (when he is not doing his duty as a soul reaper).

Image from here

Which I thought was pretty interesting. Because I also wanted my soul reaper to look contemporary.

But he is a newbie, an incompetent, clumsy, gullible soul reaper, so I didn't want him to look too fashionable or savvy. I wanted him to look a bit awkward as a contemporary youngster. 

So, here is my initial sketch made a few days ago.

Actually I liked this pen drawing until I RUINED it with some reckless shading.

Then I totally... how shall I say, got it wrong in my second drawing.

This is my third drawing.
Notice that this guy looks extra LONG? That's because I wasn't really thinking about his proportions while I was drawing half asleep.... :P I intended him to be around 160-170cm, but I am afraid he looks more like around 200cm in my drawing... :(
He wears a loose-fit cardigan, t-shirt, and a 3/4 length trousers, all in dark, blackish colors. For black and dark red is the fashion code for the underworld ;P

Fortunately, I didn't forget to include the details I had in mind before drawing: 

He holds a gadget that looks like a cell phone but which is actually an underworld product designed for soul reapers. I love the string attached to it. It's a white tiger's tail. Not real, but who knows. 

He is also wearing that .. outrageous pair of shoes for a guy to wear. 

Teenage school girls usually wear something like this. Adult girls could, too. But as far as I know, guys never. But when Hyui-Ma was preparing his wardrobe to go down to the human world, he liked this pair of shoes because they were shiny and had cute straps. :)

Images from here and here

But I didn't like this drawing--let alone the Manneristic elongation but also his face was not what I really had in mind. So today I sat down to draw him again.

Starting..

Then failed.
I wanted him to look dazed and gullible but not ... er.. full of tears in his eyes?

So I tried a different look. He looks more sharp. Actually I regret erasing off this version. I could have kept this and just modify. :P

Because I didn't like the next version.

I tried to change his image....

Then I gave up and just began another drawing.

.....Not what I wanted. I couldn't find anything special about him.

And the third drawing ended up like this.

The reason I am a bit annoyed is that I felt like I didn't really get what he looks like. I mean not his precise appearance but his overall image.
Oh, well, I'll draw him again next time. :)


But I like his character. I have a particular fondness for characters who are not skilled at social life and at what they should do in this world in general. Maybe it's because I am partly one of them :P