Gabi (Character Project)

[MickaelB]

Hi everyone !

I’m working on a girl character in Maya. I thought about make her since one year, when I saw this gabbyd70’s drawing.

Now I have free time so I can do it quietly.

I didn’t want the same proportion, or gesture. it’s the colours and moon that interest me.

For the proportions, I prefer to use my best inspiration CG artists, like AndyH (Andrew Hickinbottom), PapaNinja (Serge Birault), or Stroggtank (Carlos Ortega Elizalde)

So here’s my character

I’m proud of my lighting setup, I’m currently use linear workflow with MentalRay :

My todo list :
-Sculpt clothes
-Texture clothes
-Texture the specular channel of my SSS skin and finish the diffuse one.
-Create better eyelashes
-Finish skining
-FIND AN AWESOME COMPOSITION FOR THE FINAL IMAGE !

This last point is very important for me, and I have not a precise idea of what I want
I found many references of girl with headphone dancing, singing, etc… but I want something funnier.
I created a litlle turntable and a beanbag, and i think about creating boxes with music discs inside.

So i’m wainting for your advice about all of that

Thank you.

[AJ13]

Great job so far.

The eyes look a little crossed. It may help to leave the pupils where they are, but move the rest of the eyes inward. That might cause you to have an even amount of white space on either side of the pupil. I know pretty much nothing about characters, so I’m probably way off on that.

The hair could also use some thickness. I think AndyH uses a hair system for his hair, so it might be fun to play around with that. If your going to use polys, try to use long wavy cylinders to model large hair clumps.

The leg warmers seem odd with the high heels and shorts. I’m no fashion expert, but it may look better to remove them.

[MickaelB]

Great job so far.

The eyes look a little crossed. It may help to leave the pupils where they are, but move the rest of the eyes inward. That might cause you to have an even amount of white space on either side of the pupil. I know pretty much nothing about characters, so I’m probably way off on that.

The hair could also use some thickness. I think AndyH uses a hair system for his hair, so it might be fun to play around with that. If your going to use polys, try to use long wavy cylinders to model large hair clumps.

The leg warmers seem odd with the high heels and shorts. I’m no fashion expert, but it may look better to remove them.

Hi and thanks for your answer.

For the eyes I don’t think there’s a problem, maybe it’s the position of the camera and the focal length which create the crossed effect ^^
In fact the hair are just planes, so there’s no thickness. I use Carlos’ principe of hair modeling here, but I think I can create volume on specifics zones of hair.

For the fashion touch, what can I say, hmm I’m not fashion expert either, I may create socks instead of leg warmer and wheels, because my final image will happen in her bedroom on a beanbag, during week-end (“cool wearing”). I’m looking for a good gesture to create something which looks like as a figurine.

[MickaelB]

Trying a new pose today, but not satisfied yet.

I really want to feel a dynamic in the final picture, I have to work on that.

[dpendleton]

Great job so far.

The eyes look a little crossed. It may help to leave the pupils where they are, but move the rest of the eyes inward. That might cause you to have an even amount of white space on either side of the pupil. I know pretty much nothing about characters, so I'm probably way off on that. :blush:

The hair could also use some thickness. I think AndyH uses a hair system for his hair, so it might be fun to play around with that. If your going to use polys, try to use long wavy cylinders to model large hair clumps. 

The leg warmers seem odd with the high heels and shorts. I'm no fashion expert, but it may look better to remove them.

I think the leg warmers and shorts is an 80’s thing. I kind of like it.

[Eklectique]

It’s looking really good, I like it! Your inspirations came through first thing. lovely!

[MickaelB]

I think the leg warmers and shorts is an 80’s thing. I kind of like it.

Yeah that’s right, but I’m thinking about take them off.

It’s looking really good, I like it! Your inspirations came through first thing. lovely!

Thank you dude !

I’m always searchin’ some dynamic poses, trying that :

But I prefer when the character is less layed down. Maybe Gabi could jump on the bean bag on theses knees, playing air guitar ? ^^

[MickaelB]

I finally found the character pose, which is not dynamic at all, but I prefer like that.

I have to work on the facial expression more attractive, and sculpt well the bean bag.

Simple mia SSS test

[nfd77]

I think once you sculpt the bean bag the pose will make more sense. I really like the character, great work!

[MickaelB]

I think once you sculpt the bean bag the pose will make more sense. I really like the character, great work!

Thank you ! Yes the sculpt gives a better idea.

Here’s a test render, working on clothes shader (Lambert using Surface Luminance and Sampler, to give a fade apparition of the bump texture when it’s in front of the camera view, and a little incandescence on the sides).

Greyscale version :

I have to work on hair, she has to hold a strand in her right hand.

The facial expression is not good too, but better than the begining.

I have some doubt about colors, maybe I will found better ones. Don’t hesitate to give me your feeling about it.

[nfd77]

I have some suggestions for you.

I think the smile needs work. Right now it has that smiley face arc instead of a widened shape. I would desaturate the clothes a tad. The bright background is distracting too. I’m not convinced by the bean bag sculpt yet. Keep in mind how the weight is being distributed. I feel like her body should be much more inset in the chair. You might want to make a corrective blend shape for the elbow. It should have more of a point to it. Also slighty curling the toes would make the pose seem more relaxed.

That’s all I got for now. Just minor stuff. It’s coming together very nicely!

[MickaelB]

I have some suggestions for you.

I think the smile needs work. Right now it has that smiley face arc instead of a widened shape. I would desaturate the clothes a tad. The bright background is distracting too. I’m not convinced by the bean bag sculpt yet. Keep in mind how the weight is being distributed. I feel like her body should be much more inset in the chair. You might want to make a corrective blend shape for the elbow. It should have more of a point to it. Also slighty curling the toes would make the pose seem more relaxed.

That’s all I got for now. Just minor stuff. It’s coming together very nicely!

Yeah the smile was wrong, the mouth and nose shape has been changed. Now the smile is wider and with the mouth more opened. Right now i’m looking for good colors, need to test it in photoshop…
The bag will be resculpt maybe in zBrush instead of mudbox, I have more practice in this last one.
The elbow has been fixed, and the toes are less straight now.

EDIT : you can visit the final project here :
http://mickaelb.cgsociety.org/art/gabi-maya-girl-mental-cartoon-ray-music-mudbox-vinyl-photoshop-pin-up-3d-1177635