Character Design: The Passive Aggressive Psychotherapist

I was asked to design a character for a mobile phone app. The character is an unsympathetic psychotherapist. The player asks the therapist a question, and the therapist replies with a snarky, condescending answer—sort of like a Magic Eight Ball with attitude.

Having met with the client to get a clear picture of the character's personality, I came up with this first round of sketches (click any images to zoom):

It was decided that the final character should look a little more angular and “cold” (think ice queen). And, amusingly, she would have a little dog. Here are a few more designs I came up with:

And here is the final character design:

In this app, there is the option to slap the therapist and her glasses fly off her face. But don't worry, no therapists were harmed in the making of this drawing!

It was really fun to pull out my inks for this project. I want to get a Niji Waterbrush and a Noodler and incorporate more ink into my sketchbook.