For this project we had to design a character based off of movies such as Kubo and the Two Strings, Coraline, or The Nightmare Before Christmas. My class actually had a field trip to go see Kubo and the Two Strings in theaters, but I wasn't able to go; so I based my character off of the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas because it was around October at the time and I really wanted to create a witch or something like that!
scrapped ideas: bagel
This was my first character, his name is Bagel and he roller-skates around and leaves toasters everywhere and scares the crap out of everyone. The main reason why I scrapped him was because I felt like he wouldn't really fit in with the theme of the movie/the art style, and I also really wanted to design a more detailed character. RIP Bagel, he will forever live on in our hearts.
scrapped ideas: RANDO WITCH
After designing Bagel I realized that I really wanted to design a witch, so rando witch here was my first attempt at designing one, I really liked her design and I still really do, but I still felt like it didn't fit in with the movie's art style/general spooky scary vibe.
(and also her familiar: cocaine cat that i didn't bother to give a name)
My friends and I actually joked about him being the class's mascot. I think we called him crack cat or something.
fINAL design: Griselda (click for full view!)
After using the magic of Pinterest, I finally found enough inspiration to create the kind of character that I felt would actually fit in with the movie's style/vibe. I named her Griselda because it was the most witchy name that I could think of at the moment. She established a postal service in Halloween Town using her thousands of crow familiars to deliver mail. She also recruits her familiars to watch over everyone in the town to make sure they're safe/not getting into anything too bad. However, when Jack introduced Christmas to everyone, she became absolutely swamped trying to help out, so she wasn't able to keep as close an eye on Oogie Boogie as usual, so she wasn't able to see or warn anyone of his plans.