Welcome to behind the scenes where the magic happens! In this Concept to Crate, I’ll show you the visual development process for the new MiniCrate model, Widget Wonka.
Based on everyone’s favorite candy company owner, Widget (from Riot Quest) would be heavily inspired by the screen appearance with a bit of the IK sneaking in. I pondered who to assign this to, and concept artist Marisa Oh immediately came to mind. This sort of fun project is one of her clear strengths. So, with the description and original Widget concept art in hand, she created the first round of sketches.
I liked everything about A, but the lollypop handle needed to be big and beefy and weaponized. I also suggested she add a bow to the candy cane, use the wings from B, the hat from C, and button up the coat. Everyone agreed with that feedback, and I sent those notes off to Marisa.
A was the clear winner here! The last note was to lengthen the lollipop handle by a third and work up some pose sketches.
Pose A was going to create some potential issues with the wings and the lollipop. B and C had her leaning forward, which wouldn’t generate a great-looking model on the table. D and E were too reminiscent of her original pose. Pose F was the clear winner, as it captured a bit of that Wonka charm and the playfulness of Widget. With the pose chosen and the concept finished, all that was left was to come up with the official studio paint scheme!
This concept’s color scheme was a little more elaborate than usual, due to the lollipop colors and the little bits of candy in her pocket and on her coat. In addition to this, I opted for colors closely matching the original screen Wonka and then followed Marisa’s note of the candy shop canvas pink-and-white colors. With all that said, she was all wrapped up and ready to go!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek behind the visual development of the MiniCrate Exclusive Widget Wonka. She was a lot of fun to see develop, and it gave me an excuse to dive into some of my childhood nostalgia at the same time! To secure your golden ticket, head over to the MiniCrate site to get your own Widget Wonka today!
