After thorough research into Dorian's background, class and through descriptions in the original story and the adapted film version I have created some simple initial designs. I decided to use pencil just to draw out the main features on the face and create the visions I have in my head without thinking about colour so much yet. A recurring theme throughout my designs is facial hair which I think I will defiantly include as well as some ageing around the eyes and on the forehead. All my designs are developments on each other as I have almost designed them in stages which progress and get more and more gory so that I can later pick my favourite one to produce as my final look.
1. Elderly Dorian:
At first I decided to just design an aged Dorian, to get an idea of what sort of face shape I wanted and how I wanted to set out the underlying look of Dorian's character after he has stabbed the painting. The first step would be the ageing, of course. So I have drawn him lots of age lines on his forehead, around the eyes, smile lines and also I hollowed his cheeks to show a gaunt and elderly man with not much life left in him due to excessive 'pleasure seeking' in appearance. I like this as a basis for my character but feel that the overall design is too simple and I would like to add something extra to make my character stand out from the other students also portraying Dorian Gray.
2. Dorian with a serious blood infection:
My next thoughts were the effects of drugs on Dorian's body and how that would/ could be reflected in his appearance. The main drug that is spoken about throughout the book is Opium. I thought that if Dorian was smoking Opium he could have easily have thought to inject it and by sharing needles he could have contracted a deadly or seriously damaging blood disease. ( see blog post of effects of excessive drug use for the science behind this look) I decided to draw large veins travelling from the neck and forehead towards the middle of the face to show the slow spread of infection while also making the veins gothic horror-esque. My idea was the veins could be carrying an infection of some sort that he has contracted but also hold the malevolent side to him that is known throughout the book. I wanted the veins to look like they were bursting to get out of him because he is so consumed with immoral thoughts. Almost like he has been possessed.
3. Dorian with an STD:
I then researched the effects of sexually transmitted diseases that were prominent in the Victorian era such as Gonorrhoea and Syphilis. The film adaptation of Dorian Gray depicts Dorian sleeping around with a lot of men and also men. In this era with no contraception or idea about protected sex the inevitability of Dorian contracting one or more sexually transmitted diseases as well as giving them to others is highly likely. My idea was to progress on the infection being inside the body, like the veins, to being portrayed outside instead in a more horrific and gruesome way. The lesions on my characters face would have been thanks to the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. (see blog post of effects of excessive, unprotected sexual intercourse for the science behind this look) The syphilis in this design has culminated in the oral region and is showing through a full beard of sideburns, showing the severity of the wounds. I also added ageing again to show the other, less damaging effects of trapping his soul and moral conscience in the painting. I also added ageing to the neck as extra detail.
My favourite look so far is look number 2 as I don't really want to add too much gore to my character as the book doesn't describe Dorian like this at all. The veins will also be an interesting look to recreate as I don't think many other girls who have chosen Dorian Gray on my course have thought of the conscience still residing inside Dorian after he has stabbed the painting. The idea that he could still continue living out the rest of his life in this horrible and immoral way however now the effects a reflecting in him naturally while still looking gory and horrific to the viewer. Sometimes I think that realistic and plausible reasons for wounds or lack there of can be more terrifying than a large gash across the face or burns for example that weren't described in the original book. I want to now develop my ideas further and add colour to change and adapt them and begin to practice them for my final look.
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