Update #4 – Spirit Concepts

Update #4 – Spirit Concepts 

This week, I explored the concept of the spirit that accompanies Max on her journey.

The spirit is a benevolent nature being — a mentor and guide — who lives within the magical crystal that gives positive energy to the village. When Max accidentally shatters the crystal, it breaks into a thousand pieces, opening a hole in the earth that sends her falling into a cenote. She’s left with only a small shard, which still contains the spirit. When Max picks it up, the spirit emerges, and they have their first conversation.

To bring this important character to life — who will have many dialogue scenes with Max — I began by exploring different ways to represent the spirit. I considered ideas like a forest dog, an elderly woman, a mix of woodland animals, or simply a form of glowing light.

After consulting with Scott Gray, our scriptwriter, he suggested taking it in a new direction: imagining the spirit as a being made of light, human-like, with natural elements like leaves, similar to a gentle forest genie. Based on this new idea, I sketched four new concepts.

After reviewing the designs with Scott and the team, we chose Concept #4 — it had a clear silhouette and gave off a positive, welcoming energy.

Since this first meeting with the spirit happens inside a cenote, I created an illustration capturing that moment. I designed the composition using a strong S-curve and diagonal flow to give the scene movement and depth. First, I blocked the values in grayscale to make sure the silhouettes and environment were clear.

Once the composition felt right, I added color: warm yellows for the spirit and deep, dark blues for the cenote, using complementary colors to create contrast and focus.

And just like that, our spirit has come to life!

Step by step, we’re building this fantasy world and laying the foundations for Project Hope’s pre-production.