Another session for taking references and studying Hades's traits, and as someone whose main artistic inspiration has been comic since I was around 5-6 years old, playing around with Hades's expressions is so interesting because CBU3 does rely a /lot/ on his body language and with good reasons—Hades is a character who is insecure and very shy at heart, and has lots of trouble voicing what he truly means and feels, so to understand him you need to learn how to read non-verbal language. That is why there is so much detail put into Hades's body language and why his expressions are crucial to see beneath the surface. In fact I would say, as a concept artist, that Hades's face model almost seems specifically designed to completely shift his vibe at certain changes of expression, see here these shots—if you do not mind your local Meowth rambling a bit about the man. :'D First, I must say that Hades's finest side is the 3/4 mostly from the right side but left side works too, but it is how his hair falls from this side what sells it more for me, with his bedswept hair that gives him this vibe of 'nerdy-awkward-scholar-who-barely-concerns-himself-with-his-looks' and how it frames his face as pretty much curtains; this in character design is often used to highlight shyness/awkwardness—it is because it creates a 'barrier' when you look at this person from the side and not the front, like proverbial walls that hide them from sight. There is an interesting contrast there too because Hades's forehead is bare instead of featuring another shyness trait that are bangs over the eyes—however, these are more youthful and I believe Hades does not feature them for two reasons; 1) because Hades's character represents maturity, even if he is (was, at least, in this form) young, and he has his own journeys of growth but this is another topic; 2) because one of Hades's major themes is honesty and sincerity, as in FFXIV he represents Truth capital 'T', so past the curtains when you see eye to eye with him, you are met with truth, barefaced and pure. I could go on and on about Hades's character design, but do not let me ramble too much or else see what happens. :'D See what happens when you get Hades out of his trademark frown that gives him the permanent stern and thorny aura. Relax the eyebrows and get his eyes to open a bit more, and his expression softens immediately. I assure you the changes I did were very little—enough to change the whole vibe. His mouth also helps with this, you see, because in his usual frown it looks tense and tight-lipped, but in truth Hades's lips have this distinct shape—which surely has a name in English but I know not what it is—that if you get them a bit parted, especially with the recent updates to his model, they show his front teeth a bit, and if you ask me, it is endearing as fuck. :'D And there is another thing that happens regarding his traits! Happens both in his regular frowning expression and here, but here you will see it better—Hades's frown and facial structure makes it that, if you look at him from above, it hardens his expression, because the eyes are bit sunken and there are the dark circles and it creates this effect in which the frown becomes more stern. But!, seen from below, it has the exact opposite effect—it softens his eyes and mellows his expression. His model is truly fascinating and seeing how much it changes with different expressions and emotions is mindblowing. But, it tracks, not only because Hades's theme is Gemini and duality—Gemini is one of the most, if not /the/, iconic symbols of love, and besides love's paradoxical nature, it is the core of bonds, of humanity, and the core of love and the bonds we create is the concept of Death. It gets deeply philosophical, but simplified—Hades's character is meant to represent humanity, with its lights and its shadows, virtues and flaws. And one of many ways it does, is through his model. There, I said my piece for the day. Back to drawing I go. /flees 🫠