Inferno: Beatrice Portinari
Concepts and final designs of Beatrice Portinari for a personal project focusing on character and creature design (with a dash of weapon design) for Dante's Inferno; set in the 1830s.
Hairstyle studies/options. While I did enjoy the possibility of updos for Beatrice, I ended up staying with softer, romantic waves - emphasizing her youth and showcasing her as an idealised version of herself built up in Dante's head over the years that he now has to confront.
Once I established that Beatrice was to be a demon masquerading as an idolized dead woman, Beatrice's clothing and look concepts did change dramatically - I did not want her eyes to completely give her away at first (snake vs human); and went with the ghostly, clouded irises - her dresses changed from simplistic, modest gowns and shapes to more extravagant gowns - that, while still modest, are a direct callback to the 1992 Dracula film's Lucy Westerna after she has turned - stained by graveyard earth, modest while being gaudy and ethereal, hiding her under layers and layers of fabric, leaving the dress in direct opposition with how Dante would describe her. While I also toyed with costuming her in a pale version of the Virgin Mary's blue, I decided that the stained white was better from a narrative perspective.
In addition to the dress being too grandiose for some as humble as Beatrice, I also wanted to remove the laurel leaves from her design - as she is one of the antagonists, she is no longer a friend or a guide to Dante - there is a nod to the laurels in her gold brooch - but that is the only 'plant' motif I have given her.
In addition to the dress being too grandiose for some as humble as Beatrice, I also wanted to remove the laurel leaves from her design - as she is one of the antagonists, she is no longer a friend or a guide to Dante - there is a nod to the laurels in her gold brooch - but that is the only 'plant' motif I have given her.
Black and white quick study of the demon posing as Beatrice, guiding Dante.
