Throughout the book there are multiple illustrations of the character. There are also a comic book and some merch that can be bought.
click on image for source links
Thoughts:
All of his looks are very similar, even the ones that aren’t original illustrations, but artists’ interpretations. The character already has his signature look which makes him recognizable and in my opinion, this makes it harder to create my own version.
click images for source link
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_of_Dreaming_Books
Protagonist Optimus Yarnspinner (Hildegunst von Mythenmetz in the German text) is a Lindworm(dinosaur) who inherits his authorial godfather’s possessions, including a perfect story written by an unknown author, in search of whom he travels to Bookholm, a city devoted to literature above labyrinthine catacombs containing many valuable books, among various monsters and perils. There, a publisher directs him to antagonist Pfistomel Smyke, who possesses the most valuable books on the market and controls the book trade by musical hypnosis. At his house, Smyke reveals his plan to eradicate all forms of art in Zamonia; drugs Yarnspinner; and transfers him to the catacombs.
Waking, Yarnspinner attempts to reach the surface, but falls victim to a trap and re-appears in Unholm, the monster-infested rubbish dump of the catacombs. Wandering out, he falls victim to a Spinxxx, a spider-like monster, but is rescued by a Bookhunter (one of the murderous mercenaries who explore the catacombs in search of ancient books), who thereafter tries to eat Yarnspinner, but is killed by an unknown force. Yarnspinner then finds the Booklings, friendly gnomes devoted to memorizing books, tending to the dying Colophonius Regenschein, the only good Bookhunter. They are attacked by evil Bookhunters led by Regenschein’s mortal enemy, Rongkong Koma; and Yarnspinner escapes to Shadowhall Castle, home of the ‘Shadow King’, the mysterious author sought by Yarnspinner: a human surgically altered by Smyke, to be taller, stronger, and possessed of impenetrable paper skin, that bursts into flame in contact with sunlight or moonlight, who tutors Yarnspinner in the art of writing. After the Shadow King frees the Booklings’ library and gains entrance to Smyke’s personal library, they are ambushed by the Bookhunters, who are hypnotized into killing each other by the Booklings. At Smyke’s bookshop, the Shadow King kills Smyke and sets himself and the city afire. Yarnspinner, having fled with the antique and fearsome Bloody Book, leaves the city, having attained the Orm, the universal source of creativity.
This is a photobash of the character I will be creating for my first assignment.
I have chosen “The city of dreaming books” by Walter Moers as my inspiration and I will be creating the character of Hildegard Mythmaker, a lindworm/dinosaur that lives in a city full of poets and writers, until he finds the best text ever written in his mentor’s library and goes on a journey to find the author.
This photobash shows the main character (represented by the game character Spyro) reaching for a book in his mentor’s library, which will contain the manuscript that triggers his journey.
Year 2 Animation Blog 