#4. Brainstorming - Day 2 Shaping a Character

Today's subject for brainstorming is shaping my new character, Ji-Eun Tak(?), age 18. (탁지은) for my new story project #85. (http://blog.naver.com/haejinsung)

She is a rather blunt person. She is an introvert and not sociable. She doesn't get along with other high school kids. She is a loner.

She is also an artist.

She likes creating miniature craft arts. She likes collecting all kinds of stuffs whenever she finds them interesting. She wears a kind of weird clothes that she picked up in various shops (including e-bay..) that her peers do not wear. Or abhor to wear. Or can't even think of wearing.

This was the preliminary concept in my head. So I began brainstorming.

1. Her clothing: 

I was looking for clothes that have some vintage-ish feeling...

Patterns, prints, textures..

I wanted her to wear some weird(?) long jacket when she is not wearing her school uniform, so that she can stuff various items she found (on streets, shops, garbage cans, supermarkets, etc.) in her pockets...

 

Her styling code that I imagined was a bit like Susie Lau (www.stylebubble.co.uk) and Tavi Gevinson (www.thestylerookie.com). They really have their individual styles that are often quite daring! X) And also reminding of the adorable Jane Aldridge (seaofshoes.typepad.com) in a sense that my character loves unique and unusual accessories (but not on her hands and wrists -- she is an artist).

Next:

2. The stuffs she collects and piles up in her room:

For this, I leafed through the book I owned, called Art Making:Collections & Obsessions by Lynne Perrella (Quarry Books, 2007).

 

  

I wanted her to collect ALL KINDS OF RUBBISH (or objects) in her room in various unexpected places.

3. The kinds of stuffs she makes:

For now I am inclined to make her a craft artist, in particular a miniature artist who makes very small and intricate objects.

I think these works do an amazing job in capturing humanity in such a small size.

They are also mysterious -- it's as if we enter a different world.

So this is the result of my brainstorming today.

I'm not done creating this character (of course), but I think I'm getting a clearer picture of who she is and what she does.

In school, her classmates ignore her as blunt, unsociable, and gloomy. 

But when she is outside the school, she has her own distinguished style and a world of her own. She is a very unique person, the more you get to know her.

I think I like that side about her. :)