Designing EPOCH (Patreon)

When I first created this story, I always knew what Epoch was going to look like. Nothing about him has changed since I designed him years ago, except for maybe his clothes.

He has always had a cleft lip (I just really wanted to learn how to draw it) and his light green eyes. His brows have always been so close set they almost meet in the middle, and I have kept his long hair in a messy low hanging ponytail. I like that he has a haunting appearance, but that the kindness of his personality can be seen too.  

Epoch has been wearing the plague doctor mask since the beginning too, an aesthetic choice that became his profession. I needed someone who could go around fighting these diseases before they spread, and so Epoch became the medical practitioner/examiner. He also became the main character, my Prince, though I like to think that there are a lot of main characters in this story. I love all of them too much to play favorites, but there is no denying just how important Epoch is.

So I decided to sit down and do some study sheets to try and make drawing him a little easier. I changed a few things about his clothing, like bringing back the turtlenecks he used to wear in his older outfit designs, and high water pants with no socks (or shoes!) Aside from the rose gold accents, his clothing is very monochrome, and if I put white on someone it is probably because I want to cover them in blood at some point. 😅

His green bag is tattered and filled with supplies, books and whatever else he can fit inside. He also loves birds, and owns two. 

(Oh, and I threw in the small sketch of Epoch and Alex looking cool together)

Another thing I practiced was expressions, and only sort of succeeded at it. Consistency has been a sore spot in my art for a long time, but if I draw something enough then I will improve no matter what and I have to keep telling myself that. Just because I created these characters doesn't mean I know how to draw them that well yet. I did, however, figure out how the lip scar shapes his mouth, especially when he smiles. 

And for anyone curious about Epoch's body type (or just wants to see him naked?) I attached some sketches below. In my mind he is on the shorter side, with a thicker musculature and longer limbs. 

I have such a soft spot for this character, and I was never able to draw Epoch how I pictured him in my head until I painted him last year. It's hard to describe how good that feels.