水龙雷凌是游戏的第一主角。她在游戏中的正式设计没有体现出中式风格，而我在这里则是通过服装和绳结来营造一种现代化的中式风格。因为在游戏中她是跑得最快的角色，而且侠义心肠，所以我在整体上强调了一种英姿飒爽的印象。

我绘制雷凌的时候其实并没有打算绘制其他角色，但因为自由星球的玩家社区似乎很喜欢我画的版本，后来我才趁热打铁又去画了其他三位角色。

我在绘制这套图的时候正处于创作的低潮期 (2012 – 2022)，我觉得自己的绘画能力不足以支撑自己的自由表达，而无法绘制多个角度就是我的一大短板。通过挑战自己很少画得好的背面，我希望能将这套图作为一个练习的机会。同时绘制正面和背面，也有助于训练在设计形象时兼顾到不同方向的观感的直觉。

在这套图中我为主角们绘制了打底的紧身衣。这其实是为在服装设计中加入黑色而制造一个实用主义的理由。原作的人物设计全部是鲜艳的颜色，我觉得在视觉上太乱了，需要引入黑白两色来压一下，营造出视觉的节奏感。

因为我大学时的专业之一是工业设计，所以我会比较在意自己笔下的角色能穿着舒适、体面的服装。从实用主义出发的话，按照游戏中如此高烈度的跑跳动作，穿一套打底的紧身衣可以避免磨破皮，这也是我自己在骑自行车时得出的经验。

大部分的动作游戏的主角都是穿着夏装的，因为这样比较容易看清动作，画起来也比较容易。然而我一直觉得在冰雪主题的关卡里还穿得像热带一样是很不人道的事情——偏偏自由星球 1 就有一个关卡的舞台在高海拔的冰川上，于是我就为她们设计了御寒的衣物。

雷凌的冬装是参考中国古装的毛毡披风设计的。采用了白为主色，更加强调她的女侠气质。

我还为雷凌的服装道具绘制了单独的概念图，在实用方面进行了一些补充说明。

Lilac is the default protagonist of Freedom Planet 1. Her costume doesn’t look very Chinese in the game. Here I tried to use a modernized Chinese clothing style with a flower knot. Lilac is the fastest runner in the game, and she is a very heroic girl. I emphasized her personality by depicting her in a cool and elegant way.

When I was drawing Lilac, I didn’t have a plan to draw other the playable characters in FP1. But the Freedom Planet community seemed to like my Lilac design, so I followed up with other girls and Torque.

I was at the bottom of my low period as an artist (2012 – 2022) at the time. I considered my drawing skill not good enough to have true creative freedom. Not being able to draw a character from different angles was one of my biggest problems. By drawing Lilac’s front view and the rear view at the same time, I must make sure things matches from different angles, and they must also look good at the same time. It was a nice opportunity to study and practice.

I also prepared a leotard for each girl in this series of concept arts. This was actually an excuse to add some black and white to their costume designs. The girls’ original design consists of very intense colors. It might work as pixel art, but it was too much in HD arts. I added white and black to subdue the colors, which hopefully gave the design a better visual rhythm, too.

I studied Industrial Design in college, so naturally I pay more attention to comfort and modesty in costume design. Since the girls are running and jumping wildly in the game, a leotard as underwear can protect their skins. I took that experience from my daily commute on a bicycle.

Most platforming action game protagonists are wearing summer costumes, because in this way their actions are more readable and easier to animate. However, I always think it is cruel to let characters to navigate snowy stages in tropical clothing. So this time I also designed winter costumes for them.

Lilac’s alternative winter costume is a white felt cloak inspired by ancient Chinese army cloaks.

I also prepared descriptions for Lilac’s gadgets, giving each detail a reason to be there.