Catfish concept: Mermaid design

Meeting up with one of the narrative writers for this project I was informed that to go with the idea of 'The Lion Queen', each character could have something catlike incorporated into the designs, e.g. leopard print, ears, tail, patterned fabrics. To integrate this concept into the mermaid character, the idea of basing her on a catfish came to mind, which would also go with the unconventional mermaid idea it is I'm working on.
Left to right: A mind map brainstorming ideas for a catfish based character. Colour schemes, facial features, hair, and environment were discussed here. Drawings were then carried out in order to observe shapes of the animal and colour schemes. I then drafted up an initial catfish idea using these ideas and inspirations, keeping in mind this had to be turned into a costume later so fabric choices and production techniques were beginning to be taken into consideration.