The Ice Giant was the second giant character design challenge taken after the Hill Giant. The challenge was to show scale using snow and ice elements. Because of the very nature of these elements, snow and ice is harder to show large scale compared to forest elements. The result and solution seen below by the high resolution model built by Maria Panafilova shows the use of rocks embedded in the snow packs and a range of icicle scales to show the large size of the giant.

Concept artist Norris Lin explored a range of great ideas on ice armor and weapons, and using icicle spikes to give him a menacing stance and appearance.

I also had him explore how mounds of snow grouping and ice show contrast and natural delineation of armor and skin.

Ideas C1, C2, and C3 toyed with the idea of having an ice fortress on his back like the Hill Giant’s back forest.

I wanted to be on point with the color choices for the Ice Giant and went with cool blues and experimented with saturating the blues on the armor to be warmer and provide contrast with the cool ice skin.

The helmet and beard design gave the Ice Giant some intelligence and a viking-like design.

I really liked an earlier design that showed a weapon embedded on his back that he can unsheathe. I thought he could just pull a large icicle from his back and use as a weapon instead of an ice axe which felt unnatural and out of place. The size of the feet were important to making the Ice Giant believably fit in a snowy environment. The bigger the feet the better it can traverse through the snow much like the idea of snow shoes expanding the footprint and proving a large surface area.