The Sideshow - character - shaykai

[Shaykai]

Well i've just done all my concept and i will post it shortly, i just have to scan it in and such. Well since it might take me a day to scan it in, i'm going to tell you the story of my guy.

Name: Cabe Thorn Vilsburg
Nickname: Thorn
Birhdate: 06/6/1866
Appearance: Spiky bone 'thorns' are jutting from him in various places (you will be able to see it when i post my concept).

Biography:
Cabe was born in a small village in southern england in the late 1800's and when he was born two small bumps were found on his forhead a couple inches above each eyebrow. They slowly grew larger, and on his 6th birthday they started to bleed. Being a small village the doctor didn't know what to do, so he put a bandage on it and let it try to heal itself. A few months later two small, sharp, pieces of bones had broke through the boys skin.:twisted:
A few montsh after that more bumps appeared on his body. in various places. More bone started to break through the skin and was very painful for the boy (have you ever had an ingrown toenail? its like that, but bone, through your flesh). After a especially bad crop year the locals were convinced that this boy was the devils work (his appearance being devilish). After forming a mob, they viciously crusified him on the outskirts of the town. The next morning, still pinned to the cross, a group of circus folk spotted him, and thinking he would make a good freak in an attraction, snagged him off the cross. It took him weeks to recover, but when he finally did he was put in a cage during the day to be gawked and stared at. In the night he was free to roam around. He is not a slave and has come to love everyone at the circus like family.

The bones stopped growing when he was around 20 but instead of having them removed he stays at the freakshow with his 'family'.

What do you all thing of his biography, i know i'm not a great writer but i think i got his backround across. hehe he is kinda inspired from the fact i just had an ingrown toenail removed today, OUCH! lol. Comments and critiques welcome.

Shaykai

[slayerment]

This is sounding nice. I think the birthdate sounds very synthetic. I feel something more random would better suit this character. I'm looking forward to viewing your concepts. :) Good luck with he/she/it.

[Shaykai]

Thanks for the reply, i wasn't sure about the birthdate, seems a little cliche. Maybe i'll change that. This piece of work is going to be very 'dark' and i'm trying to avoid too many cliches. anyway thanks for the reply slayerment! oh yeah, nice website! truly killer idea.

Shaykai

[Shaykai]

Here is some concept art:

This one is just ideas that were shooting around my head. As you can see i started off with the devil/angel theme, then slowly moved away from that. You can see the early ideas i had with the arm on the bottom.
First Concept (http://www.incendiastudios.com/thorn2.jpg)


And here is what i'm kinda going for. Its a rough sketch but it serves my purpose well.

http://www.incendiastudios.com/thorn1.jpg

Comments and critiques welcome:

Shaykai

[ionanism]

You beat me to the punch on this one. A guy with bony protrusions was one of the ideas bouncing around my head for this too. You obviously put more thought into the idea that I would have. I don’t mind, I have another Idea I plan on using… if it works out. I’ll just have to cross the bone man off my list of other ideas to use.

I’m sure there will be more people who will “beat me to the punch” on some other ideas before I decide on one.

Good luck in the challenge.
I look forward to seeing how it turns out, it’s a cool Idea.

[Shaykai]

Well i'll create him to the best of my abilities for you :) Good luck to you as well.

Shaykai

[Shaykai]

Here is a little update. Started modeling today, hopefully this will be the first character i actually finish!! Any pointers and harsh critiques are really welcome because i want this to be the best!
(also i will be adding the 'thorns' after i get the body finished.)
Poly Smoothed:

http://www.incendiastudios.com/WIPthorn1.jpg

And the low poly version. (http://www.incendiastudios.com/WIPthornLOW.jpg)

C&C welcome!
Also i would like to add that i'm going for a toned, but kinda under-fed sort of look. I've been having lots of trouble with the stomach muscles and stuff, so any help there would be nice.

Shaykai

[JamesMK]

Since you didn't mind some C&C....

That torso looks veeeeeeerrryy boxy. You would need to make it a lot more rounded and "flowing" if you see what I mean... It's better to fix that now before you get any further.

Neat concept though!

[Shaykai]

hehe now that i look at it your very right. in fact, now that i think of it, i've had that problem on all my human models. maybe i should start with a cylinder instead of a cube next time? I'll work on the rounding and post an update tonight. Thx!

Shaykai

[azazel]

Starting with a cylinder is not a bad idea, I often work this way.

[Shaykai]

Thanks for the reply Azazel, i thought about scrapping what i had so far and starting with a cylinder, but instead i just tweaked it. I hope its more "round" right now. Not much of an update, but i plan on working on maya most of tomorrow so i should have the body all done by then (excluding texturing of course).

UPDATE OF THORN (http://www.incendiastudios.com/thorntothelimit.jpg)

Shaykai

[JamesMK]

Better now! :thumbsup:

[Shaykai]

hehe thanks :)

Shaykai

[Shaykai]

hehe late update. I'm fleshing out the legs (got the basic shape, i just have to add wrinkles, and figure out what old style pants look like. If anyone wants to post some references i'd be grateful. Also i'm testing out some 'bone' placement. I'm trying to not just place them randomly, i'm trying to follow where bones actually are and not place them in weird areas (like near the stomach muscles are, not too many bones there...). Also i don't think the bones are going to look like that either, its just a PLACEMENT test. Also any tips or critiques are very welcome. How do you guys like the arms? are you satisfied with the torso? the belt too modern? etc... lots of critiques!! this is the first person i'm actually going to finish so i want it to look gooood!!!

http://www.incendiastudios.com/bone.jpg

Shaykai

[slayerment]

Well, I'm sure you're probably going to change the pointiness factor later on, but I would say be sure you do that. Try to make it look more like a compound fracture maybe, instead of spikes. I would also recommend having some bones stick out and then go back in. Like have one kind of run the length of the humorous or something. I think that would be cool. Its looking great, keep us updated :).

[Shaykai]

Thanks for the critiques, i'll defintly try out the go in/out thing. I also found your reply to be very.... humorous... :wavey:

Also i'd like to add that i'm going to make the flesh 'surround' the bone, much like a horn would. Does anyone know what i'm talking about? how its slightly raised up and stuff? Anyway, here are some more shots so you can critique the rest of him!

http://www.incendiastudios.com/thorn3.jpg

http://www.incendiastudios.com/thorn4.jpg

C&C always welcome!!!

shaykai

[Shaykai]

Wow, the winners of the previous challenge were just announced and i found out there were prizes. Thats kinda cool, before i thought it was just all about the respect (which is still is for me). Right now i've been having lots of problem with my hands... basically the fingers are looking like a certain part of the male anatomy devoted to sexual activity... anyway. I'm working on them and hope to have an update with a head on his shoulders and hands on his arms :)
Comments and critiques are still welcome.

Shaykai

[pigwater]

head and hands are always a project in themselves ...good luck

nice to see this thing stating to take shape:)

you mentioned skin coming up surrounding the sticky outy bones ... right now it looks as if your bones are separate from the body, an individual thing ... it might be better if you take an individual poly from the body shape and extrude that, shaping it into a thorny bone .. that way you could model the raised up flesh around the bone like you were talking about ..anyways, your efforts are showin ... keep it up:thumbsup:

[Shaykai]

Thanks for the reply pigwater,
Originally i was planning on having the bones be seperate objects (that way it would be easier to UV texture), but i might try the extrude method. I just finished the fingers and they actually look like fingers! yay! Now i'm onto the shoes (going for a simple design since they are from the 1800's).
On a personal note i'm beginning to really appreciate cgmodels. Its really an art and gives you a fantastic feeling when you have a poly edge flowing with the model, going from the tip of the finger all the way down the arm and down the chest. Its a gratifying feeling. :)

Shaykai

[JamesMK]

Your making a lot of progress! I hate to sound picky, but you really have to check your box-o-meter :D The volumes are starting to feel very rectangular again... Just a very friendly suggestion! :wavey:

[Shaykai]

Hey thanks for the reply JamesMK, and i don't think your picky at all! I really need some harsh critiques because i want this model to be fantastic! Here are some screenshots, i'll try and work on the boxyness, but could you point out the specific areas that are looking boxy? Or is it all boxy? What do you think of the wrinkles on the pants? RIght now its mirrored but it will be different when i finally get it done. Also how are the fingers, the hand isn't complete at all yet, just the fingers. Comments and REALLY REALLY HARSH CRITIQUES welcome :):scream:

Fingers/hand (http://www.incendiastudios.com/thorn6.jpg)

Body, point out the boxyness please :) (http://www.incendiastudios.com/thorn7.jpg)

:wavey:

Shaykai

[pigwater]

shaykai.. drop me a message if ya want the pic again .. didn't want my scratches to pollute your thread

[Shaykai]

Excellent! i was hoping for someone to draw on my render to tell me what i need to do. The only thing that kinda confused me is the "the body has no straight lines" comment. Do you mean the wrinkle in the pants is too straight? Also i kinda wanted to show the ribs a little bit, but i should soften those edges up? I really really appreciate the reply :applause:

Its kinda late (4am) so i'm gunna go to bed, but i'll work on those edges tomorrow :) THanks again!

Shaykai

[pigwater]

i just edited it ... after i saw that .... keep the ribs, but go look in the mirror , they are not straight or horizontal

as far as the pants , sure keep the crease there if ya want it,it could be a fold ... but there is a line also in the torso perfectly in line with it above ,... break it up ...cause right now my eye just sees a line from top to bottom

night, and i look forward to your next post

[Shaykai]

Oh i see the line your talking about, lol and since i am a scrawny nerd i'll go look in the mirror for a rib reference :scream:

lol

Thanks again, shaykai go night night now.

[asela]

first of all i try to be very original with my concepts

obviously i was not aware of your thread. but i admit both of our entries are not far fetched.

if you dont mind, my lack of time in general prevents me from creating another concept. so i will continue my thread and we could both enjoy and learn from one another.
because this challenge is more about skill than originality i think well both do good.

but if you do mind (you published your thread first and all...) then i will continue but will not submit it for the judging.

let me know

and enjoy the challenge.

asela

[Shaykai]

Well i would appreciate it if you tried to come up with some more ideas because i seem to be farther along in the modeling than you. Also, i don't blame you for having the same idea, as you said "its not very original." I'll try and think of something different to do with my character as well. lol btw, your concept art owns mine. I think if you actually create that in 3d you will crush me. Anyway. I'm off to think of more ideas! (although i can't promise i'll think of any).

good luck with your challenge

Shaykai

[Shaykai]

I'm back to the drawing board literally. Been sketching some stuff, trying to think of a way to save all the modeling i've done. I think Asela's concept is way better and i really like the way he implimented the bones and stuff. So even though i posted first, i'm going to try and come up with another idea (but if all else fails i'll just do the bone one again). Here are some ideas, if you guys like them or if you don't, (or if they are allready taken) please say so.

1. Maybe along the lines of my first idea, having a person with lots of devil like features. Possibly small wings and a tail (not very original though).
2. I was thinking about supernatural stuff, like what if a vampire got involved with the freakshow, but his talent was being stabbed by the patrons and being able to heal it. Or something along those lines. Maybe just someone with spectacular healing powers.

Hmm... i think i could really swing the devil idea. Although there is a good possibility i would have to scrap the legs i have. But i could save the torso and stuff. I jus don't know about the wings, seems hard to believe even in a freak show. Although truth is stranger than fiction. Anyway, those are my ideas so far... I'll figure it out soon. Maybe i'll just start tugging some verticies and see what i come up with? Or do you have to have a concept first?

Anyway, :)

Shaykai


EDIT: Well... after an hour of screwing around, i'm pretty sure the devil idea won't work. I'm probably going to stick with the bone idea. Although that might change. I just want to get this done.

[JamesMK]

Stick with your initial idea, I say. However, it doesn't hurt to go back to sketching anyway. Draw your character a couple of times more (I know, lately, I have drawn at least five-six sketches from scratch before starting the polygon tango...)

You probably feel like your current mesh has forced you into a dead end somehow. And when you get that feeling (happens a lot), it might pay off to start over with some reworked sketches next to your keyboard.

Just go for it! The deadline is still almost a month away - you've got plenty of time to model and learn.

[Shaykai]

Thanks James! Maybe i will restart my mesh. Although there is a good chance i won't, because i have so many ideas running through my head for other models that i really need to get this done :) So many ideas, so little time. I will take your advice and go back to sketching :) Thanks again for the inspiration/reply!

Shaykai

{edit} ooooh 3 pages :)

[asela]

i agree with james, stick with the original idea.

it will be interesting to see how we approach the same idea differntly.

but i also like the devilish idea.

but as james said i think you can get some answers from sketching again and again.

best of luck i will follow your progress

asela

[Shaykai]

Ok asela, i think i will stick with it :) Now i just have to find a good head reference and then make the shoes. Hopefully i'll have an update later tonight :)

Shaykai

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