Redesigning Hudson Stone - Main Uniform

After his face, Hudson's main uniform is the biggest thing that needed to change. While his face was just ehh, his main uniform was just bad. It was boring, simplistic, and looked like it was designed by a potato. It was in desperate need of a redesign.

Figured having the original to look at up in the corner would be useful.

1. Started to give him a belt to sit under his paunch, but for whatever reason, it didn't seem to work. Also, the early addition of breast pockets didn't work quite well, either.

2. Went back to the original basic design with the deletion of buttons and the addition of a more typical shirt collar.

3. A full-body shot, mostly to figure out how the outfit would work as a whole. I left several comments. Mostly because I like seeing notes next to unfinished sketches, but I guess it's useful to remember what I was thinking.

"Probably oughta keep the collar..."

At this point, this design was meant to be the final one. The collar here is more intelligible than the original. Plus, depending on how pressed or wrinkled it is, a collar can help add to a character's... character.

"Pockets too much like Sheriff...?"

Sheriff has very plain sort of breast pockets on his main uniform. While these two are on the same team, they're not in the same class, so to speak. It doesn't seem right for them to share too too many similarities between their outfits. The pockets were much too close to Sheriff's, and it sort of came off as lacking variety.

"I like the pants pockets~"

The pockets are back, both on the top and on the pants. Hudson is a general, but not only is his story not that realistic, he's supposed to be an explorer type of man, a bit rough around the edges, a fun uncle. Big pouch-y pockets lend themselves to that.

"Too much like Jay's boots."

The boots were a bit of trouble. Higher up, they look too much like Jay's boots (they're knee-high). Can't make them too bunch-y around the top because it throws off the balance of his ankles and makes them look huge. So I stayed with the design on the main body.

4. Thought about giving him suspenders. Thought better of it. End of story. NEXT!

5. Essentially the same as 3., this one leans a bit closer to his profession as a general of sorts. The only trace so far is the trio of metal buttons on his collar.

6. The pockets were looking very good for Hudson, but how could they be differentiated from Sheriff's pockets? For easy reference, here are the examples... drafted out of order. I'm not quite sure why I ordered them this way. At any rate, these are what Sheriff's pockets look like: simple and with a triangular-ish flap which may or may not be buttoned. Sheriff is portrayed as highly masculine and efficient, which accounts for the flap (triangles are associated with masculinity) and how they are fastened (buttons are effective for sealing things in and keeping them tidy).

7. These are what Hudson's pockets look like: boxy with two seams and and no way of securing the flap. Boxes (and squares by extension) are associated with strength, good guys, and the like. The pockets not having a way to seal the flaps, given how mobile Hudson is, might be seen as being a bit inefficient, a trait Hudson has. Yes, I put way too much thought into the shape of their pockets.

8. Drew him with far more militaristic regalia. Some brass(?) buttons, a more defined collar, and a different hat. Much of this pass came from looking at pictures of General Patton during his WW2 service. Actually, I know very little about General George S. Patton, whose name I had to look up. He was simply the only WW2 US general I could easily recognize. Bit pathetic on my part, but there it is. Funny how he ended up with a belt, anyway...

9. Tried to draw this milk carton-looking hat until it was stupid. NEXT!

10. The actual hat Hudson wears in this draft. Again, based on pictures of Gen. Patton.

11-14. His top, improved collar, special pockets, and all. Finally starting to settle on his outfit. His belt. Fairly simple. His boots. Simplified slip-ons. His pocket design.

#characterdesign #hudson #stone #thumbnails #genrechowderstudios