Blood Alchemist's "thing" is that through horrible transformations their body is now made out of goo that is dark / shiny black coagulated blood. Beneath the tall, emaciated looking bloodflesh body is a heavily damaged skeleton with wrists, ankles and sternum missing, and a large crystal eye growing like a tumor in place of the brain, pushing aside the shards of the shattered skull. Due to missing wrists and ankles, Blood Alchemist has slightly inhuman hands and feet, with four and two fingers respectively. They have three eyes and no mouth on their face, but throughout the bloodflesh numerous eyes and half-formed mouths are scattered - an optional request was to try to make body eyes different in shape from the face eyes. Either try the face eyes narrow and angled and body eyes round, or vice versa. Their bloodflesh's consistency reflects their mood, boiling when angry, drooping down when sad, etc.
They usually hide their body from other people beneath bandages, but in private enjoy loose clothing with plentiful silver jewelry that accentuates what the inhuman body they are actually quite proud of. Specifications for the style of clothing very only "simple medieval".
The client expressed willingness to hear feedback about the design and about what visual choices I consider appropriate. After discussing and clarifying the details of this design, we've settled on a three-part reference sheet - 1) nude except for pelvis wraps; 2) home clothing with jewelry; 3) skeleton.
The three parts of the reference sheet would have the same pose, so first we need to settle on a pose that fits the character well. From the first sketches the client noted that the bloodflesh's consistency should be less droopy in a neutral state and that Blood Alchemist doesn't slouch, so a more dignified pose would fit him better.
Sketches to settle on the eye shapes for the face and the body. I also clarified toe configuration and offered an idea for two opposable thumbs for the four-finger hands, which the client gladly accepted.
The client felt that the pelvic wraps looked too much like a skirt, so they've been updated. We've settled on narrow body eyes and round face eyes for the moment. The client reminded about the third eye (which I forgot about) and asked to see how it'd look if it is was narrow, so here it is.
The client asked for shorter sleeves and pants. I've provided options for shirt-pants-simple-belt to proceed. The client also asked if the bloodflesh could be made darker, almost void-like - so here is an example on how it would look. We've discussed these color options and settled on the brighter palette for the sake of more distinct shapes, a more distinctly "bloody" feel and a better color balance.
At this point the body was largely finished, but I still nudge a few pixels here and there. Simple shirt and pants felt... too simple in my opinion, so I've added a few subtle details like edge stitching (the silver lapel pin was later discarded) and two options for the belt.
The client clarified that the crystal skull should occupy more space and the skull should be in much a worse state, largely remaining in the jaw area and far back. Here were the options for the skull configuration - with or without the shattered remains of the upper jaw. Crystal eye could be spherically smooth or with more crystally distinct edges. It's another of those details that the client didn't think of before and was happy to see these options visualized, and we've settled on A2.
The client asked if we could try more magenta, perhaps darker, clothing, so here were the options for the colors of the shirt and pants. Colors are easy to change like that.
The client asked if we could somehow add to the reference sheet the part about Blood Alchemist's flesh consistency changing with their mood. I offered to add portraits in a slightly higher resolution for an additional price. These were the options of how much exactly slightly higher (and for what price, since a lot of things were already figured out, but more pixels would require making new artistic decisions).
We've settled on two additional portraits - angry and sad - which are depicted here to the side.
I've arranged the elements relative to each other and, by the client's request, added a close up of the hand structure from the earlier sketch. I asked about what text labels would be appropriate and included them here. After I had the last look at it with fresh eyes on the next day, I've sent over the finished files.
P.S. This is an example of a "design" commission, so not all commissions would require this much step-by-step clarification. But I still think it is quite illustrative of what to expect - and if there is a weird and strange monster or monstrous character like this in your head, I'd consider it an honor if you commission me to illustrate it :)