Frostfall Founders: Ember the Fireside Host

I really can't wait to get started when I saw the Frostfall Founders Character Design Contest of @cabalen. Having participated in drawing the building of the Harvest Hearth Inn few days ago, I thought I would chose to design a character who manages that building which is the Warmfaced Fireside Host. Check out Ember.

I want to depict the total comfort energy vibe as mentioned on the contest post so I gave Ember that big, happy smile and those wonderfully round boots. The apron shows she's ready to cook, and now she's got that amazing, thick braided winter scarf keeping her extra warm. It really makes her feel super cozy and welcoming. And you can see her little crumbly animal companion I imagine he sniffs every baked goods they produce. I call him Sable.

I used the warm palette like the pinks and light browns help give her that glowing cheeks from the oven look. She is the person who throws open the door with a huge smile, which is exactly what the prompt asked for. I think she totally captures the cozy, welcoming presence of the Inn.

Lore: Ember is Frostfall’s warmest founder. She can tell exactly how cold or hungry you are just by the sound of your boots on the porch, and her animal companion, Sable, always saves the best piece of pie crust for the loneliest guest.

This is the final edit and was ready for upload but I forgot that braided scarf and that warm glow on Ember's cheeks so I made a last minute revision to make sure I nailed those details. I added more line details on the bonnet, hair, shoes and apron. The winter trees and snow details on the background are from my previous drawing of the Inn and I thought they were distracting my attention so I removed them so the focus will be on Ember and Sable.

Here are the rough sketches of Ember and Sable they are not totally new designs they are from my previous character drawings

I love the shape of the pants of Sable from my original drawing so I kept it.

Ember has no name back in March when I first drew her and I remember saying on my post then that I am not sure what the character is I was really uncertain but today that uncertainty is made clear that this cat inspired character is now the most welcoming founder of Frostfall.

This is the original look of the then nameless Ember. See the uncertainty I could not even make her face the camera hahaha. Glad I did not scrap this idea.

This is the Inn where Ember and Sable are. What do you guys think of my characters?

Here is the character design contest link go ahead and join:
@cabalen/character-design-mini-series-contest-frostfall-founders