[WIP] Hillbilly

martinhernblad

Hi all,

I'm hoping to work on characters professionally one day, but after watching some showreels it became clear I need to update my portfolio. Previous to this I made a character in my spare time, although he was fully geared up with clothes and armor to hide my bad anatomy. So this time I want to do the opposite and improve on my anatomy to show that I can do both.

This is where I'm at after a few days of sculpting the body, the current plan is to make a sunburnt, aged hillbilly with jeans hanging on suspenders. Perhaps a shotgun or two.

Would love some critique on the overall look or details

martinhernblad

I felt the face was abit fleshy so I tried to improve it this morning. One of the main goals for me here aside from the anatomy, is to create a believable face. Something you can imagine breathing or speaking, which is pretty damn hard. also managed to get a few strokes down on the pants. 

martinhernblad

Quick lighting test

martinhernblad

Got some more work done on the pants, boots too

Acrlixe

The detail work looks good, one comment I would make is that right now it doesn't read like a hill billy. I read that you wanted to add some characteristics to him like a shotgun ect. But perhaps you could push the sculpt further in that direction? because right now it just reads as a unfit man in baggy pants(well rendered pants too)  I find for my concept art I make a story for my character and work towards that story, does he have a story? Just my two cents, good sculpt so far though good job!

martinhernblad

Thanks for your input! Yea he is looking pretty generic at the moment isnt he.. I drew over it quickly in photoshop to show you what I had in mind, but there is definitely room for improvement. I shouldnt prioritize quality over personality

martinhernblad

Quick pose test with a previs gun

Maxilator

I actually like him having just the pants more, it looks more grounded to me, the other version looks a bit like a caricature of a hillbilly. He reminds me a bit of a more gloomy Trevor from gta 5, maybe he could have some shitty and washed out tattoos.

martinhernblad

Maxilator said:

I actually like him having just the pants more, it looks more grounded to me, the other version looks a bit like a caricature of a hillbilly. He reminds me a bit of a more gloomy Trevor from gta 5, maybe he could have some shitty and washed out tattoos.

Haha sweet, i need to put in some old tattoos for sure, thanks for the idea. looking forward to texturing this one! 
I do agree with going for subtlety over stereotype, but I'm having trouble finding the balance between subtlety and boring.
Here is a test with and without the suspenders

Acrlixe

Looking good, I think I like the just pants version as well. The tattoos are a good idea, they will offer insight into who your character is. Would be neat to explore characterizing the gun a bit too.

Kanni3d

Great work so far. Really like his pudginess in his torso. I feel he can really use some facial/bodily hair to push that unkempt hillbilly sense a bit more. I know this isn't the stage to do this yet, but him expressioning would also sell it even further.

ChenTheChen

I agree with Kanni. In my head when I imagine a hilly-billy I think missing teeth, unkept grooming and an annoying, slightly confident--albiet stupid expression haha. The sculpt work itself is very good, well done!

Edit: Hat helps too! But the 3/4 orientation makes him look more youthful I think. Try keeping it straight.

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

I really like the skin. I think if you go with the suspenders but maybe work in some gravity to the pants so you get the baggy suspended slack going on around the connection points it'd look dope. Also, the outsole on the boot looks like it comes up strangely high, I dunno if that's based on a real model though 

Polynaut

Looking good so far.. maybe a can of chew or a wallet outlined in his back pocket would be a nice touch.

martinhernblad

Thank you guys so much for the input, 

What I did not calculate in my timing was the influx of projects at work in December, I slept on the bloody office couch last night! Hoping to chip away at this starting next week. Anyway, my coworker recently caught me staring at his crotch looking like I was fascinated with his bulge, but I was actually looking at the bulges of the pockets, and realizing how so many clothed CG characters are carrying shit all. This is something I need to correct, and yes Polynaut, as a Swede I always have a can of snus in my backpocket so there is no shortage of reference there, it would be a nice touch indeed

Some great advice here, thanks again.
Martin

Tomtegubbe

I have not much to say except one thing that springs to mind, don't take this the wrong way people. Isn't hilbilly a slur for poor working class white guy from southern USA? Doubt there are many hilbillies on this site but if one would be to enter it he might be offended. Or maybe hilbilly isn't a slur in which case this would be comparable to sculpting a nerd or a hipster guy who likes anime and computer games. 

I wonder what would happen if I would make a thread in which I sculpt a Social Justice warrior or a feminist, or a poor working class mexican or black person. I wonder if there would be a double standard or if it would be just as okay as sculpting a hillbilly. Maybe a hillbilly is okay since there are none of them frequently visiting this site. It's nice objectifying people when they're not around to see it.

That said, great model.

VeryCrunchyTaco

As one who grew up around rednecks and hillbillies, this is awesome.  Some patchy facial hair and maybe some more asymmetry to the face (maybe a droopy eye) would look cool.

Also, he should totally have a fish hook on his hat.  (Or a Make America Great Again hat.)  But, that's just what I think would look fun.  Looking forward to seeing more!  

Are you planning to model teeth or anything for him?  Because you could add some fun details in there, with chipped teeth, or just missing one or something.  

Eric Chadwick

Hillbilly is not a derogatory term.

Nice model, looking forward to the texturing!

martinhernblad

Yes! I will definitely do teeth, I think it'll be a vital part to bring some character to his face, but something I rarely do so it might take a few tries.

This is slightly unrelated but an important step.
I got some advice from the main game company I want to apply to within the next few months, which was to learn the Substance pack and make a good prop.
Time is really tight atm so in the few moments of peace I've been trying to figure out Designer & Painter.
In order to use it on the character I needed to learn it first, and if I were to make a prop to practice with I could make one to fit my character. So I made a big one in order to practice large scale surfaces and will make a really detailed gun to do some closeup detail. Not quite done yet, but I'm getting closer. Super nice programs.