[WIP] Pied Piper

MHilt

Hey guys,

Brand new to polycount and thought I'd jump right in by posting some work for critique. I'm currently an art student pursuing 3D character art and still learning the ropes. I'm looking to develop this character for games and want to focus on getting a solid grasp with realistic skin shaders and hair cards.

Sketch:


Pre-alpha detail turn arounds:


Hi-res sculpt renders:

MHilt

Added some environmental assets and rendered in Keyshot:

Brian "Panda" Choi

I'm gonna throw this in as more of a thematic critique and discussion.

The Pied Piper here is looking more like a Joker / Mr. Hyde archetype, which doesn't quite match the moral ambiguity of the Pied Piper character.

A man who was promised pay for a job that he followed through on.  But the townsfolk got niggardly about the pay, so he led their children into a mountain side.

It's not incredibly well defined that the piper is a BAD person.  If anything, it's maybe more akin to a Faustian Devil, where it's simply a more powerful being who follows through on a promise broken by the other party. (minus the whole it's Satan/Devil, so origins are different)

If you can add that character ambiguity, more mystery less sinister, to this, I think you might be able to elevate the character to something more than just a villain.

MHilt

Thanks for the critique Brian.

I definitely see where you're coming from in regards to creating more ambiguity. I was battling with themes for the longest, unsure which direction I wanted to approach the character. During my research into the tale, I was intrigued by the theories surrounding the legend with some suggesting the character is a symbolic figure of death, directly tied with the plague itself. Some even linked him to a serial killer or some other malevolent, vindictive force. I thought it would be interesting to develop the character based on those theories and caricature those qualities, which I think is where I lost a lot of that ambiguity you're talking about.

Here's a reference image I found during my research that heavily inspired his theme within that horror vein.


Would love to hear your opinion.