Hexahedron - Thanks for the comments. I’ll look at these two options and find out what i can mix between them.
Martin - Thanks man!
Before I make any decisions about which helmet style to choose, or make variations on here is another plate of headgear to choose from:)
Hey man! Good stuff… I actually like the second sketch in second post best. I think the weapon/healing-thingy there looks really cool and the figure is ok too. I do think you should experiment more with the full figure. None of the head/helm designs strike as anything spectacular to be honest, looks like gear for a regular fotsoldier. Maybe you are thinking to much about the functionality, try to think shape/composition first and then work it into something functional. That way you’re more likely to get something visually appealing. I love the idea of handpainted flowers on the chestplate and stuff like that in the mood sketch on the first page, very cool idea. Kind of bring a positive vibe to fellow soldiers. Keep it up!
-Niklas
I agree with FrozZT. Your design is well thought out, well researched, and well functional (as much as one can make such fantasy functional anyhow…)…
but, it isn’t very visually exciting.
I think our threads can learn something from each other, as I started out wanting to make something cool, which wasn’t practical, where you started out wanting to make something practical, and might not have something that really pops design wise.
I suggest some reading into the Warhammer 40k universe. Your thoughts and background mentioned that these claricon warriors would be on battlefield after battlefield, but I haven’t seen much dirt or grit, or evidance of experiance in any of your design decisions. I think the people at Games Workshop and thier artists are very conscious of the fact that for a character to be a hero or veteran in any war, they would show scars, medals, battle damage… ect.
Get back into the minds of your character and your audiance before you step back into your own as the artist.
i love your sketching style :love:and i am saving all your images…
in the second set of head gears, i liked the 2nd one…
Hey Nick.
With your last post man I would have to say mix up 10 and 11. 11, design wise is appealing and different, but the open mouth area I dont think would do much for practical protection. I think taking the closing hatch from design 10 would be a nice fit with 11. The guy looks as if he likes cigars, so it would be a nice touch. Haha. Perhaps the nick name for the hatch could be a smoke hatch.
Thanks a lot everyone for your support! It’s great to get this much feedback. Now I can really get rolling.
Well. It looks like for the helmet designs we have a couple of winners.
Designs 6 and 10 of headgear plate 001 and number 2 from 002 seem to be the ones that are most appealing so I will make a 3rd plate with these designs and variants thereof.
As for the body armor and clothing the paladin-esque and the crusader-esque designs seem to be the favorites among posters in this thread, as well as other friends I’ve asked in person so I will take those and work on fleshing them out. I personally like aspects of all of them, but want to keep it simple, so will work on desigh plates for the two popular choices soon enough.
[b][color=RoyalBlue][color=Red]function versus fashion[/color]
[/b][/color][left]I would tend to agree with the statements regarding the apparent functionality of my designs, but their visual dullness. I guess in a way this reflects my attitude towards most things in life. I’m something of a utilitarian by habit, which doesn’t bode well for a hopeful young concept artist. When I work on the design plates for the next set of sketches I will loosen up a little with the design and throw functionality to the wind for a while. I just think that if you’re going to tack something onto a design it should be justifiable and have at least the appearance of usefulness.
BaronImpossible, Hexahedron - Thanks for the comment 
FrozZT, bangbangteng - Thanks for the honesty, it’s always good to get a solid honest crit. I realize now my designs, although perhaps being functional, are not necessarily visually pleasing so I will do as suggested and research some of the gaudier designs and figure out how I can augment my own with what I learn from my studies.
bangbangteng - I totally dig what you’re saying about the battle damage, wear and tear, and mechanical/material fatigue you’re talking about, however, I won’t worry about any of this kind of thing until I’m getting closer to my final designs. Thanks for the suggestions though.
namnocilis - Thanks for the compliment 
I think that’s about the first time I’ve received such a compliment. Thanks for the design suggestion too.
AirFlow - Combos you say? Coming right up.
[/left]
Sorry for the hiatus lately. I’ve been quite sick and unable to do much. I have worked on about half a sheet of designs though.
Here’s my late latest update.
Being sick with a lung infection + working overtime = suck.
Please keep the crits and comments coming, you’ve all been very helpful in helping me choose my direction here.
I’ve decided that I want to go with a little bit of a Native American Indian influence for this character. I played with that idea little bit in the mood sketches on the previous page and liked where it was taking me.
oh! :sad: you should really take care of health… don’t overstrain, if health is gone…everything is gone. Hope you are fine now…
In the new sketches
i liked second row > 3rd one and last row > 4th one.
Hey Nicholas, cant believe i missed ur thread from so long… Cant tel u how much i loved ur story… its amazing… feels real… love the research u have put into it… and i like ur sketches too… good job… i like the head gear in the last image last row 3rd one… the one wit the angel wings on top. kinda looks kool… maybe u can improvise on it… anyway good job…
Yea man! I totally love all the head gear designs you’ve been developing! I think I would of stopped after a single page because I was out of ideas. They really have a post apocalyptic feel to them, which I think is perfect!
Keep up the great work! This is fun!
I like 5, 9 and 10.
I think you need to kinda veitnam customise him, make him look like a bad ass marine, and give his some hardware that will keep the steroid abusing (alien demon) cybo scum off him.
Thanks for the input guys. Great to be getting so much feedback and compliments.
Here is the first of several sheets of armor silhouettes.
I don’t want to go for an overbearing kind of look, i want this character to have the posture and appearance of compassion, while still looking like he can handle himself.
I decided to go with a Native American Indian influence in some of my designs because I think that it’s an under-tapped source of inspiration, and the semi-cliche Indian shaman was the first thing that came to mind when magic healer was mentioned… I will be working on variants of this direction as I begin to work more details into the design.
Namnocilis - Thanks for the concern about my health. I attribute my current health problems to seasonal change, and I recently got off some metabolism meds I was taking for a the past few months. No worries though, I’m quickly recovering. Thanks again.
HellGuardian - Glad to have you joining my thread now, I’ll also keep an eye on yours and drop in from time to time. Thanks for the suggestion regarding design direction, I think I will take the wings into consideration a little futher while I develop further concepts and flesh them out more thoroughly.
Numabrush - Thanks for the compliment The early stages of concepting are some of my favorite, gotta love it while you can
Robert - Thanks for the input on which designs I should run with, I’ll take them into consideration as I flesh them out more. As for the customization I’m one step ahead of you already ;). I’ve got some ideas about little designs and messages and whatnots painted on and bolted onto the exterior of the armor, I will make these details more apparent as I get further along in the process, don’t want to worry too much about these kinds of details this early on.
I have several plates of silhouettes prepared and ready for showing off, but access to photobucket seems to temporarily be blocked where I am… It happens from time to time, gotta love communism. I will post them up just as soon as I can.
Ok, here’s the next stage.
At this point I’m not looking to mix and match designs anymore, at least not for the headgears. I have chosen a set of silhouettes that I plan to flesh out a little and make my final decision, although if one of them pans out it may be radically different from what I have posted beforehand. We’ll see.
As for the body armor designs, I’m open to mixing designs a bit more.
the armor is supposed to be a chest plate only, and i’m tossing the idea around of having a segmented abdomen piece as well, although I’m not sure yet.
I definitely like the idea of some hanging drapery attached to different points of the chest plate, and in the functionality direction the rear of the body armor will house an automated sentry unit that can be deployed for defensive purposes while the Clericon is performing field surgery or magical rites. Thanks Airflow for the suggestion regarding that.
C&C welcome as always. Here you are.
Hey Nicholas,
Cool concept and sketchs Like a lot the “medieval style” helmets. The helmet with feathers and the helmet with wings look really great!! Think that a full armor for the torso can be work really well, like the second row of thumbnails . Good luck and waiting for more updates!! Cheers!! 
Ferx - Thanks for dropping by my thread man Always good to get new perspectives and insghts. I like a few of the fuller torso armors as well, but I want to keep him light looking so none of the armors are going to be too bulky, but I’ll play around with them.
here is an update and getting close to the final decision on headgears, and I’ve pretty much got the armor I want to run with selected and fleshed out in my head, so I’m not going to do many silhouette variants on that, will post up some orthos of 3 different designs tomorrow.
here’s the headgear. The final design will be selected form these, and then details such as hoses, ornaments, lights, optics/repiratory augmentations etc., will be added to the final choice in the form of accessories that are detachable and stowable in a backpack type storage compartment on the final armor design.
I am honestly loving every minute of this design process, tedious though I’m making it.
As always crits and comments welcome and requested.
