Monday Morning Monster; Industrial Steam Zombie Hunter Dot

Here's another steam-zombie-hunting girl from Edwardian England, this one a tough upstairs-maid called Dorothy, or Dot.  The industrial steam zombie can be seen here.

When Buffy met Jeeves...

I'll probably post more of these girls over the next couple of weeks.  It will do me good to finish them, and in the chaos currently operative at Studio Wondercabinet, it's nice to finish up half-done projects  instead of creating them whole and entire.
Here's a conundrum to consider... the green baize arm protectors were used by the better class of servant when doing messy jobs like pot scrubbing or heavy-duty dusting, to keep their uniforms clean.  The apron is a big piece of cow hide, tied at the waist, a variant on something I saw on photos of early 20th C. blacksmiths.  Both seem reasonable ideas for a zombie hunter of the lower classes, particularly one who wants to stay tidy, but I don't know if they translate to a theoretical audience who is not the artist.  You tell me.

Dot evolved in production.

Since the school-girl zombie hunters were a team, I started off with simple geometric shapes to make sure that visual distinctions were built in from the start.  At that point I thought the fifth hunter would be a teacher, as shown in the digitally painted thumbnail that followed.  Looking at the lineup, tho, it felt like one adult teacher and four schoolgirls would create an unbalanced team so instead I explored making the fifth hunter the same age as the other girls, but of a different class.
Frustrated with sketching digitally, I drew the revised version in pencil.
After I had a concept and a sketch, I worked up a 4-tone monochrome study to figure out the lights and darks of the piece.  At this point, helpful criticism suggested that she looked too much like a maid and not enough like a zombie-hunter, so I took away the mob-cap and gave her the leather apron and the protective sleeves.

Looking at the finished Dot, I am pleased with the way that the initial triangle remains visible in the finished character, and saddened that she lacks the strong blue element that marks the rest of the team.  I do like her face, tho.  There is something about her chin that speaks of that unflappable, silent dependability that the upper class has always expected from the help, if they cannot manage it themselves.

This week my main painting project will consist of several rooms of fresh sheet rock and several gallons of white primer.  Husbandman's broken foot will keep him from sharing the fun, and the contractor will be back after Christmas and must not be kept waiting.  Don't know if I'll have time to paint a monster -- or a monster-hunter -- for Boxing Day, but I'm gonna try!  Merry bloody Christmas one and all.