Lumea is a bit like Nova, the character we created for the Canada Line Project. Nova was originally going to progress through a physical development through the episodes but her final design remained as a more childlike figure, like in this animation for episode 1.
We had done some test footage when the idea of her development was still in the air and one of the images of an older Nova that James and I created really resonated with me. Though we had to shelf the image in the end to keep the episodes matched up, I felt close to this representation ofan older, wiser and elegantly grown up Nova.
The character of Nova was stemmed from the idea of her being a personification of a star, or some sort of cosmic entity. In some earlier concept art I did for the character, I made a series of 'cosmic giants' based on colors and visualizations of space photographs.
When I created the idea of Lumea, I thought about her being like one of these entities, roaming around space and time infinitely and pensively. The design of her puppet body was based on the idea of dark matter structuring the universe. Her body is unseen in the dark environment, but provides a framework for the scattered lights on her joints and eyes. I also did some artwork last year for my anatomy class that inspired this sort of exploration of both the inside and the outside of the body.
The more I worked on Lumea the puppet the more I felt I lost the spirit I feel Nova has. The wire I had originally hoped would give a gestural quality just looked rigid and cage like. In a few discussions with Martin, she was just known as 'the robot'.
I sat down and did some sketches of what she would look like as a girl, and at the time it was mostly just to loosen up and draw a bit. But I got back what I felt was the spirit of Lumea - a bit sassy, a bit sexy, and much more alive.
I like her gestures in these images, particularly because I feel like they carry through as strong silhouettes. I thought that if those were animated next to her as a puppet... how funny that would be, that her 3D silhouette be so mechanical, while her 2D silhouette is fleshy, emotive and active. Her 2D silhouette is what I am calling the opposite of her shadow. Because this piece is about her exploration within a space, I think that seeing the two parallels of Lumea also notes on the exploration of a mental space as well, Lumea's bright mind compared to her tired body perhaps.
Lumea:
Age: Very old compared to people, but still fairly young in the realm of cosmic entities. She is older than Nova.
She is represented with a warm orange color.
She is naturally explorative, and accepts change and new environments readily.
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