Hello fellow CG artists!
I am incredibly excited to share my journey through the world of 3D art, finding my own style and building my skills. Please watch this space and give feedback on anything I share if it interests you. I welcome all feedback and general comments!
Thank you for taking the time to check my work out and please, do not be afraid to be too honest.
To start this thread off I would like to show some of my most recent work. I will then move onto the character itself, that this thread will be primarily focused on.
These models have been about improving my character design as much as skill or style. At this point I decided to take a step back from humanoid characters in an attempt to be make something unique. Although I appreciate this model, I feel there were more pro’s than cons upon it’s completion.
Character 1
As a general idea I love it; there’s a certain quirkiness about it. This is why I named it Scrizzy.
Pro’s
[ul]Overall style is fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously, but isn’t childish either.[/ul]
[ul]It’s base isn’t too complex and adds context, adding characteristics that help bring the character to life. [/ul]
Cons
[ul]There are too many details in too small a space.[/ul]
[ul]Multiple details appear pointless and therefore out of place. Such details create an inconsistent feel in the overall design.[/ul]
Despite these fundamental design issues, I still had great fun creating this character but was ready to move onto something else - the next phase of finding and refining my own style.
My next character is called Arc Demon. I wanted to go for something a bit more serious, and have fun with anatomical features previously ignored.
Character 2
With this character I got to add a hint of sci-fi I find myself coming to love. Inspired by accomplished artists, I too wanted to create a character with no eyes! I found designing such a thing incredibly interesting, due to the way the mind plays tricks on the eyes. Creating a model with no eyes means the brain will look for something similar. This can have a negative affect on the perception of this model, but I should be clear by what I mean when I use the word ‘Negative’.
From the beginning, I wanted this character to be brutal, merciless. When I see a character that remotely represents a bipedal being, but without the usual features of bipeds we are accustomed too, I feel slightly uneasy. As if something is wrong, or rather not quite right. This in combination with an oversized (but in proportion!) jaw, sharp teeth and a very long agile tongue creates more aggressive full on feel. This is an image that I want to make people take a second to focus on, instead of swiping straight passed it. If I have achieved that then I feel I have learned a useful and exciting lesson - I say at the risk of sounding arrogant, but truly meant as humble as possible.
What I learnt
Another fundamental flaw. This character’s round, dish like head is counter intuitive. To sell the idea of a brutal character it’s design must be consistent. Although I love this model, I have to accept that a large portion of it’s design is perceived against its original purpose. This may be salvageable with context if used in video games of film via an ancient majestic composure, but I find this hard to reconcile.
You may notice the lack of detail in some areas such as the lips, gums and teeth. I think this would help sell the design but ultimately still be inconsistent.
Maybe its possible this lack of design consistency could actually assist with ‘difficult to look at’ feel I was going for - or maybe that’s me grasping at straws, what do you think? Again, I find myself having difficulty reconciling this. Regardless, I find myself revelling in the lessons learnt and feeling inspired to push on!
Another thing I find myself discovering is a more refined vision of what I want to create in the future; bringing me closer to my goal of creating high quality characters, both in technical skill and design. Now leaning towards a quirky sci-fi feel, I push on!
My next post will be the main focus of this thread and I go from start to finish with my next and best character. I also look forward to adding lots of colour towards the end. Please give me any feedback you may wish to share as I will take it all onboard and am sure it will be helpful one way or another!