A small portfolio project based on the Italian novel Orlando Furioso written by Ludovico Ariosto, one of my favorite classic fantasy books.
Bradamante is one of my favorite characters so I took the chance to make an ideal fantasy character design with a lot of inspiration from the Japanese world. I keep the white color described in the book for her "normal" outfit and use a warm palette for the armor with white flowers. I sacrifice the classic pennon for the lion armor design as a homage to the Dordogne flag.
I've started with simple ink and watercolors sketches. I made fast shapes and then I went into the armor details as the gauntlet design pushed me out of my comfort zone.