Concept Art - Simon Queens
It's hard to place when I created Simon because he is a combination of two characters. The original Jeffrey Queens was created in 2005 and the original Simon Raleigh that was intended to star in Marie's school story was created in 2009. Jeffery's story was about a tennis player who was pursuing the love of a mentor to fulfill the hole of a father figure in his life. Simon's story was an emotional tale about a gymnast who lost a leg in an accident and taught Flora a lesson through his perseverance with his prosthetic leg. After I had to scrap this story because of the MMORPG change, I felt like Flora and Simon's relationship development fell hugely flat and I was endlessly trying to revive it.
Simon's official livNPC design was actually not decided by me, but by my sister. She wanted him to look like a rabbit since the character Jeffery was always being compared to a one. She made it very clear to me to make certain that his hair didn't go past his mid-chest, but once I entered Simon into the story, I kept breaking that rule over and over and over again.
It was later that I decided that Simon would be the only character with completely black eyes for the monochrome pages. I had hoped it would add to his rabbit like appearance. |
This reference sheet was drawn when I had intended for Simon to help Marie out in the kitchen. The joke was that he only knows how to prepare salad. The motivation for this was because Jeffery was a very good cook, but unfortunately Jiffy is not... I was also expecting to enforce that both Simon and Shasta wear gloves in combat, but that also didn't stick. I get a lot of confused questions about Simon's cycling suit. Some say that he looks like a superhero in it. Simon's jacket was based off of three jackets that I owned during high school.
Simon's debut chapter sketches. I was so excited for him that I drew him separately from the storyboard sheets. After scanning him, I had to go back and insert him into the panels, hence the page numbers next to his head.
I don't remember at what point in the storyline I wanted to make alternate costumes for the characters, but I found myself plotting out these Magic Item Transformations and working them into the plot.
This is Clockworks Rabbit (Hearts Ver.) and it was the first design that erupted in my mind without warning. It was inspired by the Clock Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Alice themed dolls are prominent in the ABJD hobby so naturally I've grown to dislike the motif, but the Clock Rabbit will always be my favorite character. I wanted a costume that had an android or cyborg feel to it, so the legs of the costume come to an unnatural sharp point where there would be obvious feet. I collected a lot of novelty clock-face hands to inspire his leg designs. Simon's hair has always been his floppy rabbit ears, but this time I elevated them. The chains linking from his tail to his sideburns help hold his rabbit mask in place. As mentioned in his character profile, Simon can't wield weapons, so this magic item is only an armor accessory. |