I like the design. It needs a little more polishing and love though.
I don't think you should do the little wood grain in zbrush, it's a waste of time and makes the bow look unfinished, it kills the slick elf vibe. By trying to add to much wear, roughness you make the design more difficult to read.
You would be far better off doing good uvs and letting the texture do the work for you. Some nice clean edges would suit the bow a lot more.
Sculpting tons of detail and noise makes you look like you are insecure in your sculpting, I often have to slap myself in the face because I am guilty of that too, always trying to trim dynamic my edges
But I do like the shape and the curves, maybe the two extra bow branches could be thinner and more elegant (but that's just me).
battlecow thanks for the feedback. It makes more sense to make it smoother and give the grain with texture as you suggested. Also fixed the extra branches and made them more elegant without making them look weak. I will post an update when I finish texturing.
nice model! i really like the design, but it looks to me like the texture is working against it. the design point up right? so maybe it should be complimented by a gradient, I did this by adding doge and burn gradient to your image, here's what i got:
really loving this piece... my problem is that this weapon lacks interest in it's colour palette... like... the silhouette, bakes, design etc are all there but it looks like there's just too much wood... like, just fire balling here... but would you consider maybe making those designs on the bow into something like silver? or a silver plate that has those designs on it? that's just my own input otherwise, good work so far!
Oh man! I love this. Only thing I would suggest is to maybe polish the wood a little. Meaning, just make it glossier, like polished wood is wont to be.
suspectlogic thanks a lot for the comment and paintover.
Kid.in.the.Dark I actually thought the same thing after I started texturing. I considered making the patterns as silver wrappings and make the tips of the bow silver as well. But the patterns are carved inside so I would have to go back to sculpting and make the patterns pop out instead of pushed in..I may still go back and do it.. Thanks a lot for your comment, glad you like it
Thanks for the comment Joopson..I will play around with the gloss map a little more.
Although I may not be able to say much with all the others putting in their 2 cents, I do have to say this:
I really like how even though the design of the bow is really exotic, and really strange, it doesn't necessarily look like it couldn't function.
Fantasy is fantasy, but when a fantasy weapon looks like it could actually work, I fall in love just a little bit.
The problem with a lot of fantasy bows, is it doesn't look like they could at all flex, at least not without cracking weaker points, or requiring the Hulk pulling back on the string.
ia.Pepper thanks for the comment. I feel the same way about fantasy weapons, that they should be functional no matter how high fantasy it is.. I actually put some thought into this to make it look functional, so thank you.
Replies
I don't think you should do the little wood grain in zbrush, it's a waste of time and makes the bow look unfinished, it kills the slick elf vibe. By trying to add to much wear, roughness you make the design more difficult to read.
You would be far better off doing good uvs and letting the texture do the work for you. Some nice clean edges would suit the bow a lot more.
Sculpting tons of detail and noise makes you look like you are insecure in your sculpting, I often have to slap myself in the face because I am guilty of that too, always trying to trim dynamic my edges
But I do like the shape and the curves, maybe the two extra bow branches could be thinner and more elegant (but that's just me).
OctoKube thanks a lot.
The design, colour, and details are fantastic.
suspectlogic thanks a lot for the comment and paintover.
Kid.in.the.Dark I actually thought the same thing after I started texturing. I considered making the patterns as silver wrappings and make the tips of the bow silver as well. But the patterns are carved inside so I would have to go back to sculpting and make the patterns pop out instead of pushed in..I may still go back and do it.. Thanks a lot for your comment, glad you like it
Thanks for the comment Joopson..I will play around with the gloss map a little more.
I really like how even though the design of the bow is really exotic, and really strange, it doesn't necessarily look like it couldn't function.
Fantasy is fantasy, but when a fantasy weapon looks like it could actually work, I fall in love just a little bit.
The problem with a lot of fantasy bows, is it doesn't look like they could at all flex, at least not without cracking weaker points, or requiring the Hulk pulling back on the string.