Norigae Project + a
Here I showcase my continuing personal project called the Norigae Project as well as other unrelated works.
Norigae Project
Norigae (노리개) is a traditional Korean accessory worn on their hanbok (한복), or traditional Korean dress, mostly by noblewomen in the Joseon dynasty. They come in all shapes and colors and are often adorned with rare material such as jewels, gold, silver, and more.
In the world of the Norigae Project, these beautiful norigaes are personified and given special abilities. These Norigaes come in all forms and timelines.
Norigae 01 was the first of the series. I saw the beautiful norigae from a search site and wanted to create a character using the shapes and colors of the original accessory. Because this was the very first one of the entire series, I mostly stayed true to the original form, not veering away from its Asian origins.
Norigae 02 was when I started to get adventurous. I decided to create a character from a completely different timeline (sci-fi future) to contrast the very first one of the series. Imagining 02 with 01 in the same room was a visual that was too appealing for me to pass over. I also decided to give more thought into her powers and went with neon-colored whips after seeing the 8 strings fanning out from the original accessory.
These are some of the action sketches for 02.
Unlike the preceding ones, Norigae 03 gives off a different vibe. While the first two are more free in their movement, 03 is more stagnant and restricted due to her costume. Through this (as well as the hair accessory), I was aiming to give her more of a regal aura, which is something that I felt while studying the original norigae accessory. Black norigae isn't something that is commonly seen in the traditional norigae color schemes, so when I found this one, it gave off a different feeling than the other ones.
Some sketches that I did before deciding on a final version.
After taking a hiatus from this project, I came back to it with a desire to diversify the world. Even though norigaes are mostly for women, I wanted to add a male character in the mix to add something new to the series. I decided to set this character in the present day timeline to set it apart from the previous characters.
While observing the original accessory, I realized that the parts in the circular piece of the accessory looked a lot like small throwing knives. Jumping off of this, I started to imagine a quiet, somber character that summoned these knives out of thin air and threw them at enemies like a modern-day assassin.
Unlike the other characters, Norigae 05's started off as a sketch that I drew when I came across the original accessory. I decided to do a full concept sheet after seeing how well it would fit with the Norigae world.
The colors of the accessory were so representative of Korea that I decided to add details that would communicate its Korean roots. I made 05's face to resemble a tal (탈), traditional Korean masks, that were often used in traditional plays. I also added one of the traditional Korean knots that are often found in decorative pieces like the norigae on 05's lamp.
Other Works
To end this entry, I would like to add other works of mine (both personal and from CG Spectrum) that I am proud of.
Cosmos is an entity created out of a black hole... or more like what comes out of the other side of a black hole. Its hat acts as the funnel that spits out all things that are sucked into the black hole. It can take any form, but it mostly roams around in this form.
Cube Island was my submission for an assignment at my time in the CG Spectrum program. In the brief, we were instructed to create a stylistic, floating, prehistoric island that included a weapon rack (called out on the side), fire (called out on the side), and shelter for the character for this world. I wanted to push the "stylistic" part and created a world where all natural objects were in rectangular shape, whereas all man-made objects were circular in some way or another. My main source of inspiration was Maplestory 2 and Minecraft.
This was another assignment from my time at CG Spectrum. I created an environmental asset piece that would go with a character that I created for another assignment. This piece shows the front and back of a corrupted castle.
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