Hello everyone!
I’m working on a piece for my portifolio and I would be very greatfull if anyone could help me with critiques so I can improve my character design.!
Here is the very abstract concept I painted using Alchemy. I know I need to improve forms and also think about the armor functionality, but I wanted to hear your opinion.
Am I going the right way? Do you like the overall shapes? Is there anything you would improve before start modeling?
I’m not a professional concept artist, but I work with it in a professional setting, so take this critique with mileage.
First thing first, I noticed you both drew the concept and also want to make a 3D model of it. In practice, that’s fine.
However, unless you’re aiming to apply for a generalist position, most art companies these days would rather hire someone who specializes in one job only. So either professional 3D Modeler or professional concept artist. And I stress this point a lot. Before I got hired, I too tried to be a “jack of all trades” guy but it actually did more harm when I was applying instead of doubling down on the role I’m in now.
As for your drawing itself, I would do lots of research and collect references. Assuming you want to go down the concept art path, it’s also nice to start doing drawings from many different angles and perspectives.
I’m being serious when I say you would make the life of 3D Modelers verrrrrrry happy if you can give us drawings that look and behave well in 3D. Many times I have gotten flat 2D drawings with no other angles, and they’re a complete nightmare to sculpt or bring into 3D.
You can take a look at this guy’s portfolio as an example of drawing 2D Characters but also showing the scale, weight, dimensions so 3D Artist have a perfect guide to work with.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8wn1Eq
Not to mention, a concept artist also needs to be well versed in the fundamentals. Demonstrate you know color theory, textures, material, how light behaves. Concept Art is a very important role because you would be the first person tasked with bringing an idea to life or give a previz of what someone is aiming for.
Or if you want to be a 3D professional artist, then I would recommend finding already existing concept art and making 3D Models very close to it. For example, if you’re applying to Nintendo, I’m willing to bet they would be impressed if you took one of their concept arts for the Zelda games and made a very modern and high detail version of it.
Of course, you don’t have to do Zelda or Nintendo if you don’t want to. I believe there are other games or movies similar to your style. Like Dark Souls? Or The Nightmare before Christmas? Or you can pick whatever is your favourite and make a portfolio piece out of it.
Hello @JordanNVFX! Thanks a lot for your reply!
Nice to meet you! I’ve worked as modeler in Brazil for many years and recently as a 3D character artist for a company and both as a freelancer. I wanted to improve my “concep art” skills in this project. After working many years as a modeler, I wanted to try something new and maybe concept art would be a way
These days I am very inspired by the work of Andres Rios, and of course Dark Souls is a reference to me… He uses 3D in his workflow but I’m not sure how he starts it.
I have already tried to block some forms in 3D, but I imagined a dirty model with a spikey / shattered armor… I was not able to find a reference for this. The closest reference I’ve found is this angel made of knives by Alfie Bradley:
But I don’t really know the right way to go from here. 
Any ideals? kkk
My opinon on modeling something like that in 3D. I would consider the following:
The first step is simple. I would block out a caricature of a man, especially since the face and hands don’t have anything obstructing them.
The second step is more complex. Is this a 3D model targeted towards Movies, Video Games or Mobile devices like cellphones? With movies, you have a higher budget to throw lots of polygons, materials, realistic lighting effects. If it’s a video game model, then you cut your expectations in half and model only the amount of detail that modern game systems can handle at 30 ~ 60fps. If it’s for mobile phones, then you make something very low poly with optimized shaders. Very similar to the Zelda picture I posted above (since it’s a very old game running on slower consoles).
The last step is time. The more time you have to work on a complex character, the more you can troubleshoot and iron out all the kinks. For a portfolio piece, I would try and devote as much as you can to make it look pretty. The final result is always what matters to clients or anyone who passes by.
For more tips on modeling a complex creature like that, I’m reminded of 3D Robots or even organic creatures like Birds that need to have feathers represented. I would try and apply the same techniques or use it as a basis.
Edit: I think the robot tutorials are the closest to getting the results you want. They both start off with a “skeleton” that the artist builds on top of. Piece by piece.
