Josephine Leighton

Playing with Illustrator, I decided to color my quick sketch from yesterday: Josephine. Having two personalities, I did color her hair two different ways. This is my first finished Illustrator piece, so please be kind when reviewing. Any useful Illustrator hair tutorials would be awesome.

This is the start of drawing head shots of ALL the characters ~psychoferret and I have between us (About 120 characters so far), but I don't know what Dorian/The Cat looks like, so for now it's only Jo/Josephine. I also don't plan to spend this much time coloring them, just be clean pencil sketches with color splashed on, but I needed the practice in Illustrator, so I used this drawing. Gotta say, I like the blending methods better in Photoshop, but the line/inking options better in Illustrator.





For those who care about this character:

Josephine is a 20-year-old who has three older brothers, all of them children of a small town baker.

When she was a child, their small town fell under attack, having to be defended by an army from a neighboring harbor city. One soldier, Gil, showed great strength and bravery before Josephine's eyes. She became smitten and wanted very much to be like him.

As she grew, she started saving money from the work she did in her family's bakery, secretly practicing with a wooden sword in her spare time. She intentionally ruined any marriage prospects, wanting to be a defender of the people instead of a trophy. With women not being allowed to be soldiers in her town, she planned to seek out Gil in hopes he would help her.

She travels to the large harbor city where Gil had came from, lying to her brothers that she is going there to join a nunnery. She finds Gil the day she arrives and tells him of her intentions, and even though he tries to detour her, she insists she can hold her own.

The City Guard happens to be painfully low on numbers, having been converted to Royal Guards, so Gil takes her under his wing. He not only helps her become a better soldier, but tries to teach her how to behave like a young man. The bowl-style haircut is Josephine's idea, and she cuts her own hair as a way to prove how badly she wishes to be a soldier of the people.

Jo's personal way of showing she is a great soldier comes from the fateful night she stumbles across The Cat, a burglar who steals trinkets and not-missed items from the wealthy members of town. It is later revealed The Cat is Dorian, who is also a wealthy member of town (stealing from his own). Though Gil and Oliver don't feel The Cat is a criminal threat, Jo dedicates herself to catching this criminal. Even if people don't realize (or care?) they are being robbed, it's still a crime! Through flirting and being fast across roof tops, The Cat enjoys playing cat and mouse with Jo. She is clumsy at first, but this type of chasing gradually builds up her stamina and speed.

She did mistake Gil's attention for love, falling badly for him. Sadly, he gives his heart to another woman (a Russian gypsy named Anouska).

Dorian is also one of the few people who figures out Josephine's true gender. And yes, as Josephine discovers Anouska has Gil's heart, her own heart becomes crushed... and she turns to Dorian for support.