BA5 - Character Design.

Ok so as I start a new project involving 3D character design I get really excited about all the possibilities that I could work with. So with any design process I start off doing silhouettes just to get some quick renditions of ideas down without getting too pinned down by one idea.

 These are some of the very early ideas I came up with I wasn't really with any of the outcomes early on, I knew I wanted to create a creature that was more organic then metal plating or with Armour.

After really refining out some of my designs I tried t create a wide variety of different sized and shaped creatures. After getting incredibly frustrated with my outcomes I decided that it might be best just to practice in Zbrush and try coming up with concepts in 3D.

After a couple of attemps and many tutorials in and outside the classroom I started to get the hand of Zbrush.

RESEARCH

I love the Gears of War franchise for its high level of detail it puts into every aspect of the game but for me personally I have fallen in love with the design of the Locust. Being able to see the hard metal plates fused to the skin and the scaring of the tissue. I will definitely be bringing these qualities across to my work in my final outcome. 

Another favorite for creature design is the work of Guillermo del toro, This man has managed to capture my mind so many times when watching his films and I feel that I would be letting myself down if I didn't try adding such a dark fantasy element to my work.

After researching dark fantasy and monsters I thought to myself, what about Lovecraft?

Kniwing very little about the stories of Lovecraft I decided to go out and purchase the Necronomicon.

As you may or man not know that the hearth of Lovecraft's mythos revolves around; 

Cthulhu, 

Azathoth, 

Yog-Sothoth.

So after doing a lot of research on these subjects I started to realise I wanted to do some kind of aquatic creature. This way I could get away with having more abstract looking shapes and colours and still make it fit within the lore of my world.

 So this was a concept image I came up with after doodling on the back of a letter and took it one step further into photoshop. I wasn't really happy with this because it looked to much like Abe Sabian from the Hellboy series. I did like the incredibly long legs though and gave me a lot of ideas for different body types.

This was a quick 30min speed paint I had done for a challenge online (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1402563099961950/?fref=ts) that made me think about different ways of using textures on the character.

VIRTUES

As part of the project we were told that we had to incorporate one of the seven virtues into are characters main design. I chose Temperance, from the information I'd gathered I took that Temperance can mean; Restraint, justice, self-control along with the protection of others and there surroundings. 

I thought this would fit well with a character I was playing with in my free time that I could incorporate into the project. I wanted to create a sea guardian, a protector of the ocean and its life. It's name was going to be "The leviathan". 

MODELING

 After looking at my body refrences and concept images I used ZSpheres to bulk out the basic form of the character I wanted to create.

 Sculpting into the body I tried to create what looked like a muscular system to help me work out where objects would sit correctly on the body.

 I used the masking and extract tool to create clothing and started to create subtools which allowed me to add details against  the body.

 By slowly increasing the number of subtools I could add more objects to the form creating a unique form. I wanted to create something that was not symmetrical and even on both sides.

I attempted to create what looked like corral for some of the armor plating. I really liked the idea of having living plant life on my characters body.

This was my first outcome, after looking at it and receiving feed back I felt that the body was abit out of proportion. I also wasnt really happy with the head, I felt it looked to much like a reptile rather then a fish person.

 So I re-sized the body.

After looking at other influences that I found interesting such as the Film 'District 9' and comics such as 'Swamp Thing' I went back to the drawing board.

This is my my final design for the character, I am incredibly pleased with the outcome considering I've never done 3D character design before. I think I will definitely be taking this further in the future.