{"id":303,"date":"2015-10-29T13:08:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-29T12:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solennelegoff.com\/us\/?p=303"},"modified":"2023-08-21T10:43:40","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T08:43:40","slug":"character-design-el-garner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.solennelegoff.com\/us\/character-design-el-garner\/","title":{"rendered":"CHARACTER DESIGN: EL GARNER"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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CHARACTER DESIGN: EL GARNER<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Giving my characters a visual identity is very important to me…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Maybe because I’m also a bit of a drawer, I always have to put a picture to an idea to make it more concrete and avoid a lot of mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back in 2008, when I was doing my initial research for “The Hawthorn’s Souls”, I wanted a young girl with angelic blonde hair for the visual of my heroine, El Garner<\/strong>. My first reference was a photograph of the French actress Cl\u00e9mence Po\u00e9sy<\/a><\/strong>. I loved her fresh, natural look, her big blue eyes, and especially her elfin air. Eventually, when I wrote the first draft of my novel, I found the idea of blonde hair a little too “clich\u00e9”. So El became a brunette, and I chose the face of Alexis Bledel<\/strong>. Then came the second version of my book, and then I reworked the whole story and rethought my characters for a third version, the current one (the one that goes back to basics, as I explain here<\/a>), and El went back to being blonde, honey and ash to be exact. And I fell in love with a photo of Gaia Weiss<\/strong>, who was my only model for El for a long time. But as my heroine grew in psychology and complexity, my visual references logically evolved into what I present in the character sheet above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I chose: Brit Marling<\/strong><\/a> for her feisty, tomboyish, messy-haired, gorgeous look. Gaia Weiss<\/strong><\/a> for her warrior aura, her animal beauty, her charisma, her magnetism. Gabriella Wilde<\/strong><\/a> for her naturalness, her smile, her freshness, her charisma. Marine Vacth<\/strong> for the beauty of her eyes, the strength and animalism she exudes, and because she also has that tomboy look. Cara Delevingne<\/strong><\/a> for that thing in her eyes that says, “I’ve got a demon trapped inside of me somewhere. Teresa Palmer<\/strong> for her uncanny resemblance to the illustration I did of El Garner, even though I didn’t use any part of her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El is a mix of all of these female characters, all of these traits brought together in one face and one illustration. But if I had to choose just one, it would be \u2026.. Gaia Weiss, without hesitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for El Garner’s look, my references are American Vintage<\/strong><\/a>, among others. But just to clarify, El is not a fashionista. El doesn’t care about her style, she’s the type to slip on the only jacket hanging on the hall coat rack, even if it’s her father’s yellow wool cardigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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