Hiya, it’s Arimia here to talk about the process for designing Cecil, one of the main characters!

First, let’s look at some details on the project itself.

Crimson Waves on the Emerald Sea is a kinetic novel set in a Victorian-esque world with vampires (and less bigotry). The world isn’t 1:1 to our historical Victorian era and is most closely tied to the end of the Victorian era, around 1890s-1910s. All of the character designs are referenced from various photographs and clothing catalogues from Victorian times.

Cecil is the third one in the above image.

He’s 13 years old and from a well off family, so I looked at clothing catalogues for posh children from the time period. Instead of a loose, more work-man type ascot tie like Nemo (far left), Cecil has a tucked in one. His vest is also patterned.

Next is his face. He has bright emerald eyes, his primary color. His hair is black-ish with some green hues because I wanted to keep the hair colors mostly realistic for the characters. The freckles were an addition I thought would look cute.

Small aside: Nemo’s primary color is aquamarine while Cecil’s is emerald. Their ties are each other’s primary colors!

Cecil's sprite sketch.

Cecil's sprite line art.

Cecil's sprite flat colors.

Cecil is a runaway kid, but he’s very naïve and hasn’t left his home much. His poses are very simple but he has the most arm poses out of the cast.

Cecil is a kid who goes through a lot of learning and growing up during the story. I hope you’ll enjoy the trip with him!

— Arimia