Ikaika (Zodiac Animal)

So for my Zodiac project we had to design a character and give him a place of origin. My animal was dog so I went with a wolf (since they're in the same family) Also, his place of origin in Hawaii. I was doing plenty of research of Hawaiian culture and history. The name I chose for this character is Ikaika, meaning "Strong" in Hawaii's native language. I went through many other designs, but I ended up choosing this one only because of how much I wanted to portray Hawaii's culture. The male dancers of Hawaii was the strongest influence for this character. I watched many videos on the Merrie Monarch Festival and I saw different styles in dances, different looks, and different praises with highly intrigued me.

I used my forest/grassy reference for the background. I wanted to play with the shapes and make it pop. I think I captured that, but not entirely. I detailed the outfit so that it can also pop. I still have to design another character (human). Silhouettes of Ikaika and the human will soon be posted as well as a synopsis of both characters. Ikaika's design was also based off of the dog in the Chinese zodiac. He's Loyal, Smart, Diligent, and Courageous. Most pictures that I've seen of people of Polynesian decent are quite stocky/built, so I incorporated that in the final design.