Hazel • any/all

Hazel is the main character of the Hazel Hotel universe, the first "little guy" I ever designed and the driving force behind the universe as a whole. They start the story as the new hotel manager and the viewer is introduced to the world through their eyes. They might come off as a fantastic people-person, but in actuality they're just very good at sticking to a social script. The moment something unexpected happens, they go silent and just stare at whoever they were talking to with large, unblinking, autism-filled eyes.

Gallery

25th March 2024, best Hazel drawing to date

7th June 2024, doodles with fineliner + highlighter

28th June 2024, doodle with cameos from Cam and Mo

17th April 2024, proportions part 1

17th April 2024, proportions part 2, starring Karl M

18th June 2024, meme based off of this image

2nd September 2024, first experiment with felt

Older drawings (chronological order)

1st June 2023, first art of Hazel, drawn in ibisPaint

5th June 2023, first physical drawing of Hazel

5th June 2023, Hazels eyes, and "Blanc" - an alternate version of Hazel

14th November 2023, thumbnail art for an article I never published

30th January 2024, tiny doodle

30th January 2024, complete gen 1 cast

2nd Febrary 2024, mini-comic featuring Mo and Cam

12th Febrary 2024, sketchbook 3 cover page

23rd February 2024, Hazel and angry (?) Cam

15th March 2024, off-model colour refs

Trivia

• Hazel was originally the counterpart to "Blanc", a look-alike of Hazel with white skin, black eyes, and no hat. This was back when I was planning on taking Hazel Hotel down the creepypasta route - which I don't plan on doing anymore!
• The function of Hazel's Mirror will ultimately depend on what medium and genre they're in. When it was a puzzle game, the mirror allowed Hazel to cast unconventional spells (i.e. turn people into trees), and then as I shifted towards the idea of a Mario-&-Luigi-style game, the mirror instead let Hazel transform into anyone they've seen before.
• Despite being the main character (and having the entire universe named after them), Hazel's design is actually my least favourite to draw. It's probably because they're the first guy I ever made and so I just stuck with the first design I came up with. It's different to my process nowadays, wherein I throw a bunch of concepts at the wall and take what sticks, then iterate on their design until it becomes really fun to draw.