Creating Cassandra Farren

Hello Patrons!

As part of our new Behind the Scenes series here on Patreon, we'll be delving into parts of the creative process behind producing The Sojourn.

This week we're looking at the very first piece of commissioned promotional artwork for the series, created by Artist Leon Woon way back in 2018.

After existing only in my mind for many years, Leon did a fantastic job of bringing Cass to life across this concept art process.

My mental image of Cass had, for some reason or other, always taken the form of Canadian Character Actor Leah Carins (Battlestar Galactica, Interstellar), and I made sure to tell Leon as much before he got started.

In a rather interesting twist of fate, I later learned that Larissa Thompson, now the voice of Cass, had in fact portrayed the younger version of Leah Cairns' character in Interstellar. (She appears for a hot second in a home movie of a photo while Matthew McConaughey is sobbing uncontrollably. Go check it out!). So that was kinda weird.

I'd wanted Cass's costume to reflect her military past as well as her present life as a privateer, so the combination of a casual grey hoodie with a more military-esque duster was a quite deliberate choice. 

I'd also made it quite clear that characters in The Sojourn should have plausible and relatively conventional clothing. Not only does this make the characters easier for fans to cosplay, but it also grounds them in reality a little more. No matter how far we travel into space, I remain doubtful that hoodies will disappear from use.

It was at this stage in the design process that an offhanded splash of orange included by Leon, quickly became the quintessential colour for Cass and the Guinevere. I've always been very happy with the charcoal and orange contrast that's now the primary colour palate of The Sojourn.

Though not visible in this shot, Cass wears the Privateer's Hollow Star on her right sleeve. As explained in The Sojourn Visual Dictionary, the use of official Privateer iconography is encouraged by the Assembly Parliament, but is nearly always ignored by Privateers. Cass, being ever the stickler for the rules, naturally displays the symbol wherever she goes.

The first part of The Sojourn to be visually realised (unless you count some MS Paint doodles of the Guinevere by yours truly), this first piece by Leon really kept me excited about the project, and it wasn't much longer before the full cast of characters had been brought to life.

If you're interested in checking out some of Leon Woon's other work, check out his ArtStation! https://www.artstation.com/leonwoon

Stay tuned for more behind the scenes articles in future, and thanks again for your ongoing support.

Fair winds!

- Dan