Hey Swizzles
You’ve got as many pages to look through as the Walrus! - who was kind enough to point out to me - very swiftly for a walrus - that I had had a similar idea to you 
I have decided to go with something different for now - but I wonder what you will think of my take on ‘valhalla’ 
Peace
Beno
I’ve tweaked the model a bit more, but the closer leg is still a problem. He’s also a little unreadable silhouette-wise, but I’m working on it.
Anyway, I’m also testing out lighting since I’ve never really played around much with it. Still a lot to learn!
Sorry I’ve been so slow with the updates lately. I’m going to try to pick up the pace and get things done faster in the next few days. Look for more updates soon.
nwiz25, o-l-d, JuanDB, Frotze, MoKhatib:
Thank you all for your kind words and compliments!
mdavid:
I know what you mean about putting him off balance in a good way. The whole point with these guys is that I want their poses to really suggest movement even if there isn’t any animation or motion blur. I’m still worried about his left leg, though, because it’s absolutely failing to read well. :sad:
icedeyes:
I noticed the issue with his elbow as well, and I’m trying to fix it. The area you were seeing was a weird lump on his arm that I didn’t smooth out. I still have to do that, to some extent.
Avatarist:
I saw that sketch of yours. I think it’d work pretty well, but I like your current one even better. Ninjas rock!
Since you are still worried about his legs, i would suggest swapping them, left for right… the one on the far end could use the extra space provided to make it easier to read, though it might ruin the effect the pose has right now… just something you could try out…
hot lighting mate! :eek: 
waiting to c the changes come about 
…
still very strong man! good work! 
nwiz25:
Thanks!
icedeyes:
My God. I’m speechless. That’s the most fantastically awesome suggestion that somebody’s given me yet. It’s so simple. I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing it. And it works! It looks like he’s going to smash people! YAAAAAY!!!
Updates soon!
Wow! That is beautiful! Wonderful dramatic lighting. I’m another one who’s impressed by George’s suggestions. He’s been a big help over at my thread too. Excellent suggestion to swap the legs George!
Hi Swizzle,
Looks good! You may want to suggest some of the subcutaneous boney landmarks in the joints of your figure. I think this will improve the leg that is closest to the viewer. An angular suggestion of the knee to contrast the curved muscle mass of the quadriceps and calf muscles.
Also, think about which muscles are being flexed the most to create the movement. Showing opposing muscle groups at rest and in action will create the sense of anticipated motion that your looking for here. I’d also like to see a bit of forced perspective with the foot, since this will be a single image rendered from one vantage point.
Keep up the good work!
This is still extremely rough, as you can see from all the weirdness, but I’m trying to figure out sort of how the final composition will look. Already I’m seeing problems; the leg that’s been such an issue is at it again!
Anyway, the guy in the middle’s going to be holding a sword in one hand and the flower in the other.
So… um… yeah.
Totaly amazing characters man!Love them!!!.
Indeed I agree a bit with you about your new pose as maybe the knee could be more bolded with his right foot almost under his upperleg.
Maybe curving his back even more and putting his face a bit more down towards the ground facing the humans in face of him(except if he’s attacking a dragon or so) could dynamise even more your pose.(now that’s some strange and long english phrase!
)
Impatient for what will follow!
totally terrific! The expressions are wonderful, posing/body language is great - keep up the good work.
Gord
After a few weeks of trying to figure out how to make this project work, I’ve come to the conclusion that I simply can’t do it justice right now. I lack the skill, motivation and software. Mostly just the skill. As such, I’m going to change my entry to something I know I can manage and have had in mind for a while.
I actually have some of the modeling done on this different project, but I’d prefer to show it in a little while once I have some more finished. Updates and images soon.
I can’t see you lacking the skill… In fact I liked your progress a lot (and I dont think I’m the only one)… maybe if its lack of motivation, that’s something more difficult to solve, but if you like your other idea better, well, go for it, and good luck, mate!!!
There’s a reason this is called the CGSociety CHALLENGE: You’re supposed to Challenge yourself doing it! If you only stick to things you know that you can safely do, where’s the growth? 'Cause in the end, there are very few prizes all in all for the Illustration category. Your main reason for being in the contest shouldn’t be to get a prize, it should be to gain the experience that you’ll get whether you win or lose. Stick with this: It’ll be more experience.
I also don’t believe for a second that you can’t get this done. Your character designs are wonderful, your modeling has been fantastic so far, and even though I’ve called you on some of the layout stuff, those are small obstacles to overcome that you have to deal with in any piece you work on. In short, I really encourage you to reconsider and forge ahead with this one. I think it’ll be rewarding, and I also really want to see how it all comes out. Good luck!
Totaly in with Michael for a 200%!!!
The thing here about participating is pushing your limits, and the satisfaction&experience that comes out of there is worth all the prices of the world!
I totaly believe you can do it!
cheers!
Thanks for the supportive comments, guys.
I know I'm supposed to challenge myself, push my skills and whatnot to the limt, but this isn't just about that. I still want to do the barbarian guys, and I would love to make them work, but there are currently so many problems with them that I don't think I can fix them short of rebuilding them and doing a complete overhaul of the composition because there are so many things that simply [i]can't[/i] work at this point.
Now, as far as the, um, new thing is concerned, what I have planned isn't exactly a cop-out. ;) There are several things I know I need to do that Modo simply isn't capable of (volumetric light, sparks, flares), so I'll simply have [i]different[/i] challenges.
Now, those things said, I will continue to work on the barbarians. Who knowsperhaps I’ll finish them in time. I’m going to have access to a couple of computer labs that have 3ds Max installed on all the machines, so that could certainly help with things I’ve been having trouble with in Modo, like posing them.
I am here to give you another pat in the back… but in contrast to everyone else, i think you should do as you please as far as changing the theme etc. is concearned… its something that should be fun and enjoying for you (especially since you have to use your free time to make it), so if this theme doesn’t quite do it for you anymore, change it… other than that i have to say i like your progress… keep us posted…