William 'Maddy' Osteller
Probably one of my oldest characters I've kept over the years. I have a weakness for long coats and big hats that don't make sense.
Back in 2008 when i was still in high-school I was really into Alice in Wonderland, read the whole book from front to back, and of course I HAD to make a Hatter character because that's what you did when you were 16. He ended up just sticking with me, though, through a series of events and as I grew, so did he.
His nickname is a keepsake from his original roots but as he is now, he's a man who has been cursed by an old sword he picked up from a tomb. While it's not actually a curse, he considers it so since he is 400+ years old, has watched his friends die fighting for freedom, overthrew the monarchy and set up an Oligarchy in it's absence. He really just wants to retire, but he's not allowed to as a young man finds him and causes catastrophic, if not world-ending trouble that he simply cannot let happen.
I made this specific piece for an art show I was in while in College around 2012.
Still keeping with that old design but I finally realized that curling the edges of his coat didn't make much sense even for me, haha
The silhouette on this is probably one of my favorites of any character I've ever made/drawn. I started to calm his colors down to be...less garish but still obviously the 'worst thing ever'.
Started to think about how he would dress during the different stages of his life. This is Before Present and 'Retired For Good'. But I had started to realize his original design didn't fit his character anymore as I started to really flesh out his story.
Taking a page from myself and from the game Bloodborne/Victorian Era clothing, I really got to find Maddy's look that fit his character but I could still keep his overall silhouette if I so chose while drawing him.
His hat is and has been a Mimic for a long time, but I found it was so much easier for it to hide in plain sight like most other mimics do instead of drawing all the teeth/eyes/hands when the focus is more on Maddy.
My most recent sketch of him. I don't draw him a lot anymore but I finally feel like his design matches his personality and I think it shows.