10 Key Descriptions of My Chosen Character in the Book

Here I have gathered various quotes in the original 'Dracula' book where Lucy's appearance is described. I will take each quote and gather the key words and phrases that will influence my design process.

1. "Lucy was looking sweetly pretty in her white lawn frock; she has got a beautiful colour since she has been here. I noticed that the old men did not lose any time in coming up and sitting near her when we sat down..."

From this quote I have picked up 'Sweetly pretty' and 'Beautiful colour' which means that my character, in her natural form, is very attractive. My plan is to design when she is a vampire, but this will be an important aspect as she is likely to have a very feminine hairstyle left from her true form, as well as feminine clothing, accessories and maybe even a hint of make-up.

  2. "Lucy is so sweet and sensitive that she feels influences more acutely than other people do..."

I found this quote to be relevant as I feel that her 'sweet' and 'sensitive' aspects means that she is probably very self aware, therefore she may chose to present herself in a way that is pleasing to others such as following current make-up and hair fashions to conform to people's preferences.

3. "All the time the roses in her cheeks are fading, and she gets weaker and more languid day by day;..."

This quote is relevant to me as this is part of the transitioning stage between her human self and her vampire self. The fact that the 'roses in her cheeks are fading' means that she has a lack of colour to her face, most likely pale, which is something important to incorporate in my design of her as a vampire.

  4. "I looked at her throat just now as she lay asleep, and the tiny wounds seem not to have healed. They are still open, and, if anything, larger than before, and the edges of them are faintly white. They are like little white dots with red centres..."

This quote is interesting to note as it describes a small injury on her neck, which is later relevant as we know it is a big part of the contribution to her becoming ill/vampire. Therefore, it might be worth adding to my design as it plays a big part in the story.

5. "Though she is still sadly pale and wan-looking. If she were in any way anæmic I could understand it..."

The fact that the character has specified that her complexion is similar to someone who is anemic, I feel it might be interesting to research into anemia and the typical physical signs that suggest that someone is.

  6. "My face is ghastly pale, and my throat pains me..."

From this, I note that paleness is a key element in the appearance of this character, therefore I feel it is not optional but instead vital to my design as it's mentioned various times.

7. "She was ghastly, chalkily pale; the red seemed to have gone even from her lips and gums, and the bones of her face stood out prominently..."

Again this reiterates the key element of her paleness. But this quote also tells about how there is no colour on darker fleshy parts of her face such as the gums and lips (and therefore most likely even the inner eyelids too such as the waterline) and also that she is very thin and defined in the face. This would suggest a lot of contour is necessary for this design to manipulate the structure. Due to her paleness, a contour with a greyish key tone instead of a typical brown-orange tone would be more appropriate as I would not want to add colour to the face.

8. "As the transfusion went on something like life seemed to come back to poor Lucy’s cheeks..." 

The quote tells us that when Lucy has access to blood, redness and life comes back to her face. As I am doing her in vampire form, depending on whether it's pre or post sucking blood, depends on whether I will add any colour.

9.  "Her teeth, in the dim, uncertain light, seemed longer and sharper than they had been in the morning. In particular, by some trick of the light, the canine teeth looked longer and sharper than the rest."

This quote is later in the book, near her death that is the final transformation into full vampire. These teeth are very important aspect of her vampire self, and I think it would definitely finish off my design if I am able to add sharp teeth to the final look.

10. "Van Helsing raised his lantern and drew the slide; by the concentrated light that fell on Lucy’s face we could see that the lips were crimson with fresh blood, and that the stream had trickled over her chin and stained the purity of her lawn death-robe..."

In this quote, it is said that when Lucy is seen in her vampire form, she has drawn blood and that her lips were 'crimson' with 'fresh blood' which would suggest that a fresh blood-like shade of red should be used on her lips. This has also gone down on to her clothing and therefore the is also blood on her chin.