Thomas Wriothesley

More character design! Rough sketches for Sir Thomas Wriothesley, Lord Chancellor who runs Henry VIII’s intelligence service. When Elizabeth goes missing, Henry taps Wriothesley to find her. Wriothesley (“Call me Risley”), or Sir Thomas, or W. In real life, he dressed kind of flamboyantly (he’s sporting a leopard-print scarf in his painting—I did his caricature here. For me, I want him to look more business-like. I designed him without much reference to his portrait. The modern men’s business suit would aptly tell us about his character but of course I can’t dress him like that. Still, I want him to be dressed somberly. Also, his body type in my sketches is beefier than Wriothesley’s own. I want him to look like a boss. The American actor Ed Asner often played bosses so his body type was my starting point.

The sketch with W leaning on his desk seems a little too aggressive. W’s character is trying to run an intelligence agency staffed with at least one loose-cannon field agent. He should be a steadying figure. His character is patient and efficient in the face of chaos. The third and fourth sketches are closer to what I’m after. I think the fourth sketch is the winner.