Arzuros Monster Hunter Fan Art

n8lugo

Hello, 

So im doing another Monster Hunter piece. This time, a monster. The Arzuros. Basically a spiked crocodile/bear thing that drools a lot and likes honey. Im doing my own stylized interpretation of the monster and as such im doing my best to use ART of the monster as ref whenever necessary, and really trying not to use any screen grabs from the game itself. After talking with some other artist who do fan art, this time i tried to go as far as i could on the sculpt without using any refs, basically just going off my memory of what the monster looks like. When it gets to the point of some of the smaller details though, thats when i pulled out the refs. Ive included a ref sheet though for those who may not be familiar with the game. Same as with my hunter model previously, im going to use the sculpt to get the forms and some mid-level detail, bake out the AO and then paint the rest. I plan on only using diffuse and probably opacity. Either way, here is the ref sheet. and where the sculpt currently sands. Have at it!!


Next ill be refining the fur. I think im about done on the shorter fur on the belly, but the longer more bristly fur on the edges of the back shell will be a challenge. If anyone has any suggestions for that let me know. Also still have to refine where the finger/claws meet the scaly lump of hand as well as a few other things. So yeah, let me know what you think.

DashXero

Arzuruos is one of my favorite monsters (number 3 - after Nargacuga and Nerscylla)! I look forward to seeing how this project will turn out.
With that said, I think you are going into fur and surface detail a bit too early. There are forms and muscles that aren't very well-defined. The underlying structure of his chest and arms stick out the most.

Call me crazy, but that's what's sticking out most to me.

n8lugo

Haha I honestly, don't know what compelled me to do Arzuros, as I have so many other monsters I want to do (almost did a Narga!!) but I think it's the combination of scales, and fur, and other textures and that it was a smaller monster that lead me to the decision. But yeah you're right. Now that I look at it he looks like he always skips chest day. I wasn't too sold on the upper body scales quite yet either so I'll go back and develop those upper body forms especially, and give the scales another shot. Thanks for the feedback!! Also check out my Hunter model on my other thread or my tumblr!!

n8lugo

Quick update. I hope everyone had a good holiday and hopefully not getting trampled in the mobs of ravenous shoppers today. I'm about to step out for a bit and then all im doing today is working on this guy. But heres an update based on the feedback from @DashXero . I developed some of the forms on the chest a little bit but didnt want him to look like a body builder bear monster. But instead of just using an alpha for the the scales i actually masked them by hand and had more control over the flow. Hopefully it looks a little more organic but still stylized. 

n8lugo

Hokay, so i think im about done with the sculpt. Going to start retopo tomorrow. Im still trying to decide if i want to give him a big floppy tongue, like some parts in the game but ill decide that later. Let me know what you think. Thanks!!

DashXero

The chest is much improved. I can't wait to see what you're gonna do for retop. I think the floppy tongue is a must.

n8lugo

Been a hectic week. But here is the low poly with AO bake. Turned out decent, i think. Still have to do the teeth and i will start some clean up and painting le textures tonight.
 

n8lugo

Also, floppy tongue is coming!! I think im going to add that towards the end though

n8lugo

Le painting so far. Far from done. 

n8lugo

Calling it. More to see on my artstation. Thanks to those of you who followed!! Now, on to the next one!!!

DashXero

Pretty good. The geometry looks good, but I think more could have been done with the texture. The most glaring issue is that the everything is competing for attention. The claws compete with the chest which competes with the face... There's no real place for the eye to rest. This could probably be slightly mitigated with the use of a subtle gradient from head to toe. 

With your future projects, you may want to remember that detail isn't everything. The trick is to strategically apply details where necessary.

Still, pretty good. I really like the drool.

n8lugo

@DashXero THANK YOU for the feedback!! So, when you say gradient, do you mean a gradient in the level of detail? So, like, spend more time on the top portions than the bottom? Thanks again. 

DashXero

n8lugo said:

@DashXero THANK YOU for the feedback!! So, when you say gradient, do you mean a gradient in the level of detail? So, like, spend more time on the top portions than the bottom? Thanks again. 

That could also help, but the gradient I was referring to would be something of a quick fix where the bottom would be slightly darker and less saturated than the top of the model. It would be a quick texture fix that could make a bit of a difference in establishing visual hierarchy.

n8lugo

@DashXero  Got it! For now, im moving on to another hunter model. The plan is to conclude with a MH scene. 2 hunters, this Arzuros, and maybe some environment props, depending how how sick i am of it at that point. But i plan on revisiting all of the textures before the final scene and i will certainly keep your words in mind. Thanks again!!