Steampunk Myths and Legends Entry: Christopher Snow

#1

Christopher Snow is entered in the “Steampunk Myths and Legends” update: View Challenge Page

Latest Update: Work In Progress: Update - Modeling

#2

Hello everyone,

I’ve been looking at these challenges for a while now and it always amazes me the quality that comes out of them! Now I’ve finally decided to give it a shot! Hopefully I will have enough free time to make it! Oh well, that’s a couple less hours of sleep!

I decided to go out of the box a bit and pick a myth that would be very cool, but not very well know by most people, if at all. I picked the old Scottish myth of “Red Cap”.

“Red Cap is a thoroughly evil creature. He is a short, stocky old man with long gray hair and claws in stead of hands. He lives on the Scottish Border in ancient ruins of castles, especially in those with a bloody history of war and murder. He owes his name to the fact that he wears a red hat, which is colored by the blood of his victims. Red Cap moves with remarkable speed, despite the fact that he wears iron boots. He can overcome even the strongest man, unless the intended victim remembers to quote a few words from the Bible.” - Micha F. Lindemans

I plan on designing my own “Steampunked” version of Red Cap and placing him on a cliff overlooking the sea on a dark stormy day with an old Scottish castle on the jagged rocks behind him.

I will also be using Maya for the first time in a challenge, so should serve as some good practice for me, as well as ZBrush for the character.

I’m working on the concept sketch right now, I’ll upload it as soon as I’m done.

Comments and suggestions will be very welcomed along the way. And best of luck to everyone who is participating!

#3

Removed sketch.

#4

Removed sketch.

#5

Here are my sketches for this challenge to illustrate the designs of my own Steampunk version of Red Cap. I will not be pushing these sketches any further, as drawing isn’t my “forte”. So next little free time I get, I will be starting the modeling in Maya. And tweak and iterate the designs from there. Comments and suggestions are still welcomed though!

About the sketches, in the first one you can see Red Cap’s iron boot, which is now steam powered, thus explaining the fact that he can run very fast for someone of his size. Next to it is his steal pike which he uses to well…you know! :wink: And on the right his cap which will be pieced together from pieces of cloth and drenched in the blood of his victims.

The second sketch you can see his arm on the left, with gauges and stuff on his shoulder pad. But most importantly, the back of Red Cap, where all the magic happens. There’s a water tank on his lower back, the “engine” in the middle and an exhaust pipe coming out the top, capable of producing enough steam to power his massive iron boots.

I’ll keep you posted soon with some of the modeling!

#6

Sooo…I decided to change my concept. After playing around a bit more with the design and idea, I really didn’t feel it. I couldn’t find a good pose and composition for the image to make it interesting. And in the end, just wasn’t motivated by the idea anymore.

So it’s back to the drawing board, literally. Besides, it’s for the best, because I really don’t have lots of free time, what with working two jobs and all…so I decided to leave out the ZBrush for another time and just concentrate on improving my Maya skills for this challenge. This being my first challenge using Maya, I think it’s a wise decision.

I will now be working on the Fountain of Youth. I plan on creating my own Steampunk version of it and setting it in a 19th century Stempunked Hapsburg-esque architecture style square.

Don’t know if that’s really clear, but I will try to upload a reference sheet soon to illustrate what I mean.

#7

This is just a quick upload to get rid of that awful sketch next to my thread! :wink: Some modeling of the metal grates that will be on the ground around the base of the fountain to collect any excess water…

I’m sorting out my references right now and designing the fountain itself. I’ll keep you posted!

#8

Interesting concept! Cant wait to see what you come up with.

Good luck!

#9

Heyhey Christopher! Just saw your entry and I’m really glad you joined the challenge!
Still some more weeks left!
Let the fun begin!
:slight_smile:

#10

Thanks a lot guys!

Mat, nice to see you around here as well! :slight_smile: Should be a lot of fun! Looking forward to seeing your progress also, best of luck!

I’m working on my own design of a steampunk trash can right now, starting the modeling tonight, I’ll keep you guys posted!

#11

Here’s the modeling of the trash can I was talking about. I imagined one of those pedal trash cans powered by steam, and this it what I came up with.

I’m working on the base of the fountain right now, should have something up soon!

Edit: You ask why a trash can?! Well I want to model a couple of everyday objects to put around the fountain (i.e. trash can, lamp post, etc.) for the viewer to have a better sense of the scale of the fountain. Since I do not plan on putting any humans, these objects will be key to determining proportions and scale in my scene!

#12

Hi Christoper,

I will now be working on the Fountain of Youth. I plan on creating my own Steampunk version of it and setting it in a 19th century Stempunked Hapsburg-esque architecture style square.

Sounds really interesting! I’d love to see a concept sketch, atm it’s really hard to picture your idea. Especially if you don’t want to add characters to the scene, how will you show the idea of a Fountain of Youth? Anyways, nice start with the modeling , I’m curious now and looking forward to updates:) !

-sabrina

#13

Hey models are looking good:). But I’m not able to see the concept image.

#14

The fountain of youth! Nice, I confess I laughed after reading the title and seeing the image, because my first thoughts were-- no wonder Ponce De Leon never found it, he probably threw his trash in it as he passed it. :slight_smile:

I can’t wait to see the finished product— maybe I should go 3d-- no worries about perspective there. :slight_smile: Thanks for your comments-- I revamped my image, any thoughts appreciated.

#15

Sabrina - Thanks for the reply to my thread! :slight_smile: Yeah, I had done a few concept sketches for my old concept, but when I switched concepts, I decided to start directly in 3D because of the very limited amount of time I have to work on this challenge. I have a second job on the weekends and we are going to start doing a bit of overtime here at work in the next few weeks…so REAL SHORT on time! :wink: But I do have to do a couple of tests to decide on angle/composition/etc. So I should have a sketch up soon!

It’s a good point you bring up. No, I don’t plan on putting humans in the scene, because that would prove a very lenghty process. In my case anyway, because I’m not really a character modeler and more of an environment artist. Not to mention that this is my first project using Maya, so I prefered to stick with what I’m most comfortable. BUT, I also thought of this extra challenge as to how to convay the idea of “Fountain of Youth” without any humans. What I plan on doing is making everything that’s closer to the ground: old, rusted, dirty. And all the parts that the waters comes out of: new, clean, shinny —> rejuvenated. As if the water from this fountain of youth has a rejuvenating effect on the steampunk fountain itself. There’s also a symbol of cycle of life, from the fact that the water from the dirty, stingy basin at the bottom is cycled through to become pure and clean, then it falls back in the basing and becomes all polluted again. Hope this is clear! :slight_smile:

Roshan - Thanks! Like I said, I started in 3D, but I will try and post a sketch for my composition tests soon!

Aaron - Haha, no, I haven’t transformed the Fountain of Youth into a trash can! :wink: I’m taking a few liberties transforming it into a steampunk fountain, but I didn’t go as far as that! The trash can is merely for background and proportions in the scene.

Thanks for the interest guys, I’ll keep you posted!

#16

Here’s an update of the modeling of the base of the fountain. The fountain itself will be in the middle at the top of this platform.

Water will be flowing down those 4 grooves to the sort of sewer grates that I already uploaded. Like I mentioned earlier, the water at this level will be really dirty and grungy, as it’s basically at the last level before it goes to the sewers.

I’m starting work on the actual fountain right now. Comments and suggestions are very welcomed! Thanks!

#17

Hi Christopher,

thanks for your explanation how you want to picture your idea. It makes sense and sounds interesting now indeed:) , looking forward to watch the progress !

Nice day for you,

-sabrina

#18

Hello Christopher… I will keep my eyes here… the subject os orignal and I’m very curious to see more of it…
especially if there’s some “other” objects as trash and so…

Good continuation :beer:

#19

Really interesting concept, now that I know about it more! Your modeling is as always
clean and great! I was wondering what kind of technique you were going to use for the
water, I guess I have to wait a few more days and find out!
Keep up the good work!
:slight_smile:

#20

Sabrina - I’m glad that made sense and you better understand my concept! :slight_smile: It’s a little hard to explain. I’m hoping that it will be clear enough when you look at the final image to understand at first glance, that’s my goal. Hopefully I’ll be able to get that through!

Laurent - Thanks for following my thead! Your comments and suggestions will be very appreciated!

Mathias - Thanks a lot! Yeah, the steps are still a bit too clean though, but I plan on breaking them up later as they are part of the “older” portions of the fountain. As for the water, it’s a challenge I’ve been wanting to tackle for a while! And I thought this would be the perfect opportunity! I’ll probably end up using a couple different methods to get the look I want. I’ll let you guys know eventually when I get there what I end up doing!

–

And again, if anybody has comments or critiques, they are always welcomed!