BACKSTORY

Chrysosandalaimopotichthonia, or Sandal for short, comes from a family and society where necromancy and blood magic are normalized and almost celebrated, much like Día de los Muertos.  There are guidelines the family follows with their magic and treatment of the deceased or else terrible consequences shall befall the members who break these guidelines.  Together with her sister Nova, she travels the land to find cures for her and her sister's secret ailments.

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Sandal is a character I played in a Dungeons and Dragons one shot.  I worked with a friend to create the world she and her sister are from, selecting various symbols that promote a more positive experience with death than my past projects.  Sandal is a "Speaker for the Dead" where she eulogizes about the more positive qualities of a deceased person.

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The symbols I incorporated are dragonflies, rose quartz, peridot, frangipanis, poppies, lotuses, and stargazer lilies.  All of these are built on the idea of life after death, peace, heaven, and everlasting love.  And why not throw a few skeletal parts in there as well.

As soon as I saw the squirrel's hip bones, I thought, "This would be perfect for her headdress!"  The shape was wonderful.  And it was a perfect base for the minerals and flowers on top to make it more than just bones slapped on her head.

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This is game ready and rendered in Unreal Engine 4.  For the specular highlights, I really wanted to replicate what happens on a dragonfly's wing with a sort of artistic bend to it, but replicating it in Unreal was a bit of a challenge.  I tried a few times to replicate the look, but ultimately I found a solution online that worked wonderfully.