Developing the character further

I like the idea of puns and makeshift items. The toadstool's cap doubled as an instantly recognisable conical hat, and if there was any doubt of the eastern theme, the toadstool would wield a samurai sword.

The more I thought about the sword, the more I questioned its place with the character. Would a sword be too violent, even if it was never really used? Maybe, maybe not. But then I had the perfect remedy. I decided that the sword would too be a makeshift item. Instead of being a sword, it will be a twig shaped like a samurai sword.

This idea sat with me much nicer.

As I was putting the pieces together, I thought about all of the references I looked at of Disney characters. Where do I want my toadstool to fit into that? Do I want him slim and lanky like Jafar? Or big and choppy like Shan Yu?

The answer lay in the arms and legs, as the stem needed to resemble a toadstool stem as much as possible, and not much alteration could be made to it.

This didn't look too bad. I thought, at first, I would create a base mesh where the character is slim, and his arms and legs match the proportions of the sketches above. If I didn't like it, I could make it bigger. At least that way I could see what both versions look like.