{WIP} Virtue Of Venus (Flaming Angel Chick)

MrHobo

This is a character I started a while back and had to rush to completion. Unfortunately I had to skimp and outright drop a lot of the things I had in mind for her. Overall the textures were sloppy and disappointing the first go around, I feel it's time to change that... And I need a break from working on blood and filth from my last model.
I got some great feedback on the last model I posted up here, so let's see if lightening strikes twice...

I call her "The Virtue of Venus" The current polycount is 6666 (Eerie number, eh?) for her mesh and 924 for her lance... Spear? Weapon.



I was pretty happy with the way the sculpt turned out, not so much with the initial texturing...



Ive already started cleaning her up (Fixing semas, dropped the old tattoos, tweaks, etc.)
Here's where she stands now


Some shots of her weapon...


I know the spec and overall color needs some work still and I know that she looks bear right now, but the final plan is for her to have henna tattos like these all over her body.



To help in designing (and to figure out where they need to flow and meet) them I broke her body up into zones


Thats everything so far...
Sorry for how long of a first post this is, but I thought it would be better to get this out of the way in the beginning.
Any crits or comments to help this not suck would be most appreciated.

NthSimulacrum

Very unusual... but promising

A few main crits, first of all the alpha mapping for the flames doesn't seem quite right. It looks like there is a black line around each of the flames.

The fact that you don't know what weapon it is she's holding doesn't bode well. It's definitely not very well suited to be a lance , far too short for that purpose. It looks a little ungainly for thrusting attacks, and a bit expensive to be thrown like a javelin... I would either add some slashing edges or rework it in to a tall staff, or some form of ceremonial mace.

I'm not too sure about the blood red/ embedded high heels either, it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the design.

As for colour, I'd recommend going for a desaturated azure for the skin, with the Henna tattoos in a darker, more saturated blue. That would nicely complement the flames and the "weapon"

MrHobo

Thanks, I know I have an odd taste when it comes to unique characters but hey if you can do anything in 3D why not experiment right? So long as Im headed in the right direction.

I fixed the alpha map, so it should read better now and I completely agree about the weapon. In hindsight it makes more sense and looks more regal if it's a ceremonial staff. I'll rework it to get the staff look.
Spot on with the color too I (literally) threw on some azure to test it out (once I figured out what color that was) and the contrast is SO much better now.
As for the heels, Im honestly pretty set on having them like that. I might change the colors or remove the glow that they have now. I think overall it will mesh better when the tattoos are on them.

Started playing with the tattoos in illustrator. Just a test.

MrHobo

Spent the day gathering more henna reference (Much of it naked lady henna reference) and piecing together some basic components to the overall design in illustrator.

I'll be doing the res of the tat designs in Photoshop based off the reference I have. I also adjusted the proportions of the weapon to something more spear like. I figures I'd give that a shot before I committed to reworking it into a staff. Originals on the left. I think the middle one works best right now. I still want it to be sort of over the top.

MrHobo

Really, I thought I had some good proportions going. Hmmmmm. I'll look into and tweak. Thank You

Alberto Rdrgz

Proportions don't really bother me as much as the lack of shape you're getting

this will help, better than explaining, plus better to look at:

MrHobo

Im trying to avoid making her too curvy or busty, I want her body to be rather average in size and proportion. Not really sexy but definitely beautiful (in the way a painting or an old woman might be) and majestic almost in some ways androgynous, but not quite.
I checked her body type against some reference (This photo was found long after I finished her so she's not based off it) just to be sure though and so far she feel right to me.


I dont want to cast off a solid crit though, so if I hear anymore about it I'll reconsider my stance. Thanks also for the image, Im adding it to my reference folder for future work, definitely fun to look at:poly124:

...More progress on the tattoos. Soooooooo much more work to do... Why do I do this to myself?

MrHobo

I forgot to account for the fact that she'son her toes... And it looks like the thigh needs a little tweak as well. Sorry. Thanks for following up. I'll make the adjustments before be hit the hay tonight.

MrHobo

I put aside he tattoos so I made a lot of tweaks to the overall textures. First I adjusted the legs in the lower calves and mid thigh. Next I increased the saturation in the color map as she felt kinda washed out before. I also added blue to the base of the wings, to soften the transition from flames to body. Lastly I thought more about the feet. I agree that the blood red might be too intense, so I changed it to a blue. I think it works much better now and increases the rhythm overall.



For the hell of it a threw her into zbrush and posed her real quick. It's just a test but I think Im on the right track. I also just realized that Ive been posting with the post effects ticked on. Future updates will have it off... Now back to those tats...

Lucas Annunziata

Bitchin. I likes it, I don't think the glowing circles are working too well on the back of the leg. If you made them follow the form a bit more, maybe have 5 or six with a similar space to the others and a bit more of a curve it would look much better.

MrHobo

@darbeenbo- I think, I see what you're saying. I havent been entirely happy with the glow on the legs. I'll try packing'em tighter and curvin them a bit. Thanks

@dragonmoony- I agree about the body. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. They'll be a bit more variation in blue, and the tattoos will break things up a HUGE amount. Im jumping around on the texturing right now so I don't get too hung up on any one aspect yet. But for the flaming wings, Im not quite sure how to proceed. There's some slight variation right now in the blue parts of the flame but it's in value and not tone. I'm wary of altering the tone too much, out of fear it won't read like fire or flame anymore. This what i was thinking about in terms of flame type:
http://westwendovercity.com/resguide/images/flame.jpg

Thanks, both of you for the crits!

MrHobo

Spent the past 3 days building a solid rig for her. The skin weights almost killed me...

MrHobo

Got back to work on the tats after a lil mental block, feel like I got a good rhythm going now. Also added some more glow to the legs in both the front and the back.
Close up (No Post)


Also decided to test out how they would look with some color. Im not sure about how intense to make it...
Darker tats

Lighter tats


Opinions?

MrHobo

Been working on the legs a bit still lots of black to break up, small bits of progress. Decided to stick with the tats at 50% opacity,

MrHobo

YAY! Legs are finally done. Found a solution for the previously barren chest that Im happy with so far. I am having a hard time find good breast tattoo reference that doesnt look stupid poorly concieved or just plain bad, so Im thinking maybe just leave main volume of the breast blank?



I think Ive come a quite a long ways from what she used to look like. Also think I might be able to finish her tats week.:poly121:

MrHobo

Finally finished all that tattoos... That took much longer than I thought it would. Need to do another pass on the color map and paint some more warth into the face, I think.

The final design


And what it looks like on the mesh


I could use a few more eyes on this last bit... Im not exactly sure anymore how intense the tattoos should be...

MrHobo

Close to the end I think, I feel like Im starting to hit the point of diminished returns.
This pose has grown on me, so I think once I figure out what to do with her hands (Open to suggestions folks!) I'll be set.
Also new Marmoset is cats pajamas.