Over the last month, I've been busy working on getting more of the cast of Cupid and Psyche fleshed out. I'm probably half-way through the Greek pantheon right now. Most of the gods and goddesses are more of back ground characters, but its fun coming up with designs for them.
I loved the idea of having Athena be a woman of color. The Athena that lives in my head is basically voiced by Gina Torres and is pretty much Zoe from "Firefly" so it wasn't that much of a stretch. I decided to make her ponytail reminiscent of the plume that is on her helmet. As much as I love the design for Roman helmets (I prefer it actually), I had to give her a Greek one as she was loved by the Greeks where Ares was more popular with the Roman crowd (he'll be getting a Roman helmet).
Persephone's story is probably my second favorite myth, so I'm pretty fond of this young goddess. As a young springtime goddess, I had to put her in pinks and/or greens. Overall, she's very pink. When we see her in Cupid and Psyche she's in the underworld. I want her to almost glow against the background. A spot of light in one of Psyche's lowest moments. In my head, they become close friends after everything is resolved.
Hades was a bit of a tricky design. He has to look very much older than Persephone, but I also didn't want to make him look like an old man. So I pulled the "they're gods they can look however old or young they want" card. I imagine Persephone being about 18-19 to his early to mid 30s appearance. While its still a large age gap, it doesn't feel as creepy in my opinion as a grandfatherly looking man with this almost underage girl.
Our male lead, Cupid. Cupid was fun to work on, though the wings are a bit of a challenge. I wanted him to be carefree man-boy. He qualifies as an adult, but still has the energy and cheek of a child. He's impatient and has to get his own way. His major character development arc is going to be him maturing and becoming more responsible and understanding.
As I've said before I want Psyche to have very little fuss about her. Her sisters are going to be more elaborate in costume and hair. They're going overboard trying to look good. Aphrodite is going to be all sex appeal. I want it so that she doesn't look like she's trying to be pretty. She's naturally pretty and doesn't focus on it. She tries to hide it and fade into the background.
Until next time!
