I will create an english nurse from the Crimean War. This was the first war in wich the brittish army used female nurses. Those where led by Florence Nightingale. So I found it apropriate to do my nurse as a little nightingale.
(History lesson: Crimean war, 1854-1856. Russia on one side, England and France on the other)
Hmm… hard to do a bird in a long dress and still keep it birdy! My sketsh looks like a duck, instead of a nightingale. Whith so little showing of the bird, I will have to do a much morr acurate modelling of the beak and the shape of the head…
you could make it looks more ‘birdy’ if she didn’t have such distinct shoulders. opposite of a bird. i would make them more winged and less arms-like. and to incorporate the dress, just have holes in the fabric where the wings stick out?
Nice bit of history. Unique choice of character. I would make a decision with the concept. Looks odd for her to lean over like that. Very nice entry.
Thank you! I just hope I can make the best of my idea, and that the finished modell won´t disapoint you.
Neil: Acctualy I went in the other direction and made the wings more armlike. I will post an image soone. And you are right about the shoulders.
Elysium: I have started to modell. One thing that instantly improved the charachter, in compare whith the concept was a straighter line from the neck down to the “waist” of the bird. In straight word, no breasts… It seems more birdy that way, and more balanced.
This is what I´v made so far. Its quite Beatrix Potteressq. More animal than human, that is. (http://wiredforbooks.org/kids.htm )
First I made a modell as close to a real Nightingale as possible. Then I tweaked the wings, to make them look more human, but most of all, to make them able to preform human motions. I alls straightened her back a little. And if someone peeks under the skirt they will only se lacy underpants!
All is quite lowpoly this far. I will work a little on the uv:s and the texture now. Which, with the low poly count will be nice and easy! Later on I might add some more polys. But not much. Shes only a small bird afterall.
I like what you’ve done so far Isabelle, nice work 
can you post a close up on the hands…?
A closup on her birdyhands! The “standard” is 3 fingers and a tumb. So Im thinking of adding a finger. What do you think?
if you’re ok with the poly count, another finger would be more suitable i think… go for it
Looking great so far - Nice costume, and the the posture and figure is still ‘birdlike’ rather than just a cheap cut and paste job with the head onto a human body. Nice head geometry.
The only thing i dont like too much is the arms / hands. They dont seem bird-like compared to the rest of it. Maybe make the hands bigger and get rid of the wrist.
The model is looking great so far- as for the hands, instead of adding a third finger, perhaps you can extend the second finger wider and longer, to look more like a wingtip… so it will be like a thumb, index finger, and a “mitten” shape for the other fingers (that resembles a wingtip and feathers) Something like this:
Great work. Keep it up!
Nice job so far on the modeling. I really like the proportions, she has a lot of appeal already.
Crit:I think she could have more defined eyelids, it looks like the geomitry is already there, just make them thicker, and think about how they are going to open and close. Try making the side of the face and/or eye so they are not so close to a 90 degree angle to the front of the face and see if this helps the front view. Also, again just my opinion here, but if she is going to administrate medicine hands may be a better choice than the half hand wing digitalskunkwurx suggested. Or you could make some cool tools for her to use with her beak to do the patchwork:)
Hurray! I got a lot of replays and advice. Thats nice!
I still dont know what to do with the hands.
I like DigitalSkunks suggestion. But then there is as Dtrimble said the question of use.
Initialy I was going to do wingpens (I think thats the world in english). But they should have been useless for carrying stuff so I added a tumb. Then it became more and more handlike.
Well, while Im thinking, I have started doing some work on the uv-mapping. Its coming along well. The only thing I´m unsure of is what to do whith the skirt, how much uvspace to give it. At the moment it uses up a lot… I might fold it a second time. Im not sure.
An early texture tryout. The apron is not done. At the moment its what my dictionary calls a “waist apron” but it shall become a “kitchenapron”. (Covering the chest area, as well as the front of the skirt) I´m mostly checking to se if I should add more uv-space to some areas.
Hey, it looks pretty good so far. With what you have right now, it seems to me the layout for the skirt isn’t bad, it seems to be the biggest part of your model and so prolly can use the biggest space on your map. Seems the picture you’re using is a little low rez and pixelated, but it might be the screen capture. But yea, good stuff, keep it up. Its looking very “cute” - HAHA…take that, a taste of your own medicine, how do you like it?
Oh god! Im been reduced to cute! Not fabulous, not cool, not magnificently beautiful. But cute!
tragic face
(jokes aside…i guess she is a little on the cute, childrensbook side…)
Good work so far!
I like the hands on the left better. They look more like feathers, and have more style. I’d consider making that area slightly bigger though. Proportion-wise (visually, not anatomically) I think the hands, reaching back through the arm could be bigger. Not longer, just wider in the other 2 axes.
BTW, the textures so far look photo-sourced. Is that the direction you’re going with the rest? I think this concept could look really nice with a painterly look to it, like a childrens novel, although if you manage a fairly realistic look, that’d suit it too…
