For some reason I really want to do a piece of art for Piltover characters in celebration of the release of Vi, who I am very excited for.

However, I have encountered a problem, and that is that Caitlyn looks bad. Obviously this is just my opinion, but I don't feel that she meshes with the rest of the Piltover characters. Her art draws off of a sort of old-west/steampunk vibe, whereas both Vi and Jayce are much more high-tech looking (almost cyberpunk), and the cityscape shown in the Vi artwork just doesn't work if you put the current Caitlyn in the foreground.

I'm trying to keep in mind though a piece of advice I got from a much more talented artist, which is that when doing fan-art, you can't add too much of your 'interpretation' into the character, otherwise it just becomes yours, and no longer resembles that which it was intended to represent.
I put together this sketch with some slight redesigns to her outfit while attempting to keep the same general silhouette. I tried to modify her dress slightly to have a more militaristic vibe to it since she's the sheriff, also gave her a badge. I'm not totally happy as I'd prefer the dress to go all the way to her neck and not have the cleavage showing (flirtatiousness doesn't mesh well with her personality or station), but I didn't want to change her too much on the first iteration.

Thoughts? Opinions? What, if anything, would you change about Caitlyn to help her mesh with the newer Piltover champions?

Edit: added second iteration.
Edit: added third iteration.
Edit: added fourth iteration, Holmes.

Looks pretty good, I would say adding a bit more of the steam punk elements to her gun though.

Yeah I just kind of tossed the gun off to the side for kicks at first. Hit it a bit in the latest iteration, also a teacup just because.
I want to add some steampunk to the character as well, like a hydraulic frame running across her back and down her arms to steady the gun while firing, but I'm afraid it wouldn't be a subtle addition and would end up overpowering the character. I've contented myself for now with metal braces/armguards at the elbows, but it may be a bit medieval looking. I've done a lot more fantasy armor artwork than steampunk in the past, so sue me.
Also toned down the mad-hatter-ness of the hat, to see if it still seemed Caitlyn-esque despite the change to the overall silhouette. I certainly prefer it, but I'm afraid I've lost the character.

Whoa, to think about it, you're right (about Caitlyn not having the same vibe as Jayce and Vi, etc)!

I really like your second design for her. It really suits what I imagine from Caitlyn, considering her super-Piltover-y voice. I mean really. Pro as heck design. But, after looking at the third one, I all of a sudden feel her second one makes her look like a train engineer. The darker stripes of the third one seem more bold -- more fitting for an officer. So something between the two is my personal preference.

I also agree with you that I feel she is a more conservative character, so the non-exposing designs (2nd and 3rd) seem most fitting (leaning towards the second because of her iconic hat). You're in no way alone on that thought I'm not too sure what to imagine about her gun, though. I'd suggest more steampunk-like shapes :P (not too sure about steampunk guns)

I see what you mean about the train engineer thing. The stripes seem a bit too prevalent. I wanted to keep them as a visual reference to the original.
I was thinking perhaps playing up the 'detective' aspect of the character a bit and giving her a drape about her shoulders like the classic Sherlock Holmes look. It's a visually distinctive piece of clothing that simultaneously suggests 'Victorian+ era (good for steampunk)", "detective", and "military/authority". A full coat I think would just change the character too much but the shoulder drape might be reasonable, it would definitely look British lol.

My concern is that it's a heavy modification and I'm wondering how many times I can alter this sketch before it starts looking like utter junk from all the erasing. Someday I'll learn to use Photoshop and get a proper tablet, til then I'm pencil sketching like I've done since childhood.

Pics of old Sherlock for visual reference.

Bump with another iteration. Added a bit more mechanization about the upper arms and lower legs. Think I'm close to where I want to be with this now.

<3 the little tie. ^_^

I'm torn between the last two. I think the monocle/scope that uses to be attached to her hat will be missed though.

Perhaps I try to apply too much practicality to my designs, but there's no way you could have something like that hanging off the side of your hat and not have you hat falling off constantly.

Really though, that seemed like another piece of her character that was separating her from the other Piltover characters because of how low-tech it was, which is why I ditched it.

And I'm glad you like the tie, I didn't think a long tie would look right and would also be too 'real-world'-ish.

Absolutely LOVE the gun <3 I also love the vibe I'm getting from her from the last image on the first post in general. I really think it captures her essence the best As far as your latest image goes, I don't think that's the right area to go towards with her. This is just my simple opinion mind you, but both Jayce and Vi have awesome looking gear and mech stuff because they're both extremely well versed in engineering. Caitlyn, while an incredible detective, does not have that sort of knowledge. So, I do think that if any visual update was in order, it'd be your 4th image on the first post Hell, I'd buy her myself if she looked like that! XD Great job on the sketch sir *tips hat to you*

This is Fantastic! Something that always bugs me about Cait is her outfit.
I read her lore a while back (If you have read it you should understand) and all I can think is, "Does Cait still wear the same dress as she did as a child? Is that why its so small?"

Anyway, I LOVE the 4th variation. Fits Cait's style better than it does now in my opinion.