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Description

Iolite - Io for short - was always something of a loner. Their impressive hardness and combat prowess meant that Kongō-sensei allowed them to patrol and fight alone for most of their life; while out on patrol, they avoided the other gems as much as they could, though they were always cordial when they did run into someone. Their life continued this way for almost a thousand years, and they were, for the most part, content being so alone.
This changed, though, when Kongō-sensei assigned them a partner in the form of Sinhalite, whose previous partner had recently been lost to the Lunarians. Despite this tragedy, they remained cheerful and upbeat, and their friendly, optimistic nature finally brought Iolite out of their shell. The two quickly grew very close, and for the first time in their life Iolite actually wanted to spend time with someone.

Iolite and Sinhalite remained partners for some two hundred years, spending nearly all their time together, but it was not to last. Sinhalite was broken in battle and taken away to the moon, leaving Iolite devastated. They’d been fine on their own before, yes, but now they knew what it was like to love and be loved, and they could no longer go back to being alone. They fell into a deep depression; even after they were assigned to work with the young, inexperienced Amethyst twins, they were but a shell of their former self. Sinhalite was gone, after all, and Iolite didn’t want to live in a world without them. They tried to get the Lunarians to capture them, but each time their attempts were thwarted, usually by the other gems protecting them. They tried to hibernate year-round, but they were unable to do so. Finally, they left the school one moonlit night and walked into the ocean, letting the water close over them the way the sky had closed over Sinhalite.
They were never seen again.

So I watched Houseki no Kuni (Land of the Lustrous) recently and now I’m kind of obsessed? I love these funky lil gem people so much so I decided to make one of my own lol. So yeah! Meet Iolite!

Design Notes:
-Based on the gemstone iolite
-I tried to emulate the exaggerated limb proportions the canon gems all have, hence why their legs are so long.
-I also tried to emulate some elements of the anime’s art style; you can see this most clearly in their face.
-Their hair required several different layers to get it looking right! I wanted to give it a proper gem appearance to fit it in with the canon designs; this took some figuring out, but I ended up using a lot of shading and highlight layers, a subtle facet pattern, and finally some faint sparkles, and I think it turned out really nice!
-Their lonely, quiet personality is based loosely on the song In Iolite by Ghost! More specifically, they’re based on the overall vibe moreso than the actual lyrics.
-I incorporated some common elements of my own design sense - namely, the waistcoat and the hair swirls - so as to make their design more my own while still keeping to the shared aesthetic and design elements of the canon characters.

Description

Iolite - Io for short - was always something of a loner. Their impressive hardness and combat prowess meant that Kongō-sensei allowed them to patrol and fight alone for most of their life; while out on patrol, they avoided the other gems as much as they could, though they were always cordial when they did run into someone. Their life continued this way for almost a thousand years, and they were, for the most part, content being so alone.
This changed, though, when Kongō-sensei assigned them a partner in the form of Sinhalite, whose previous partner had recently been lost to the Lunarians. Despite this tragedy, they remained cheerful and upbeat, and their friendly, optimistic nature finally brought Iolite out of their shell. The two quickly grew very close, and for the first time in their life Iolite actually wanted to spend time with someone.

Iolite and Sinhalite remained partners for some two hundred years, spending nearly all their time together, but it was not to last. Sinhalite was broken in battle and taken away to the moon, leaving Iolite devastated. They’d been fine on their own before, yes, but now they knew what it was like to love and be loved, and they could no longer go back to being alone. They fell into a deep depression; even after they were assigned to work with the young, inexperienced Amethyst twins, they were but a shell of their former self. Sinhalite was gone, after all, and Iolite didn’t want to live in a world without them. They tried to get the Lunarians to capture them, but each time their attempts were thwarted, usually by the other gems protecting them. They tried to hibernate year-round, but they were unable to do so. Finally, they left the school one moonlit night and walked into the ocean, letting the water close over them the way the sky had closed over Sinhalite.
They were never seen again.

So I watched Houseki no Kuni (Land of the Lustrous) recently and now I’m kind of obsessed? I love these funky lil gem people so much so I decided to make one of my own lol. So yeah! Meet Iolite!

Design Notes:
-Based on the gemstone iolite
-I tried to emulate the exaggerated limb proportions the canon gems all have, hence why their legs are so long.
-I also tried to emulate some elements of the anime’s art style; you can see this most clearly in their face.
-Their hair required several different layers to get it looking right! I wanted to give it a proper gem appearance to fit it in with the canon designs; this took some figuring out, but I ended up using a lot of shading and highlight layers, a subtle facet pattern, and finally some faint sparkles, and I think it turned out really nice!
-Their lonely, quiet personality is based loosely on the song In Iolite by Ghost! More specifically, they’re based on the overall vibe moreso than the actual lyrics.
-I incorporated some common elements of my own design sense - namely, the waistcoat and the hair swirls - so as to make their design more my own while still keeping to the shared aesthetic and design elements of the canon characters.