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The Bi-Monthly CHARACTER ART Challenge | August - September

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Welcome to the Bi-Monthly Character Art Challenge!

Challenge will run until the end of September
Previous Challenge Thread

How it works
  • Every new challenge, 3 Character Concepts will be provided
  • You're free to approach any of the concepts however you like, as long as you stay true to the essence of the original concept.
  • You have until the end of the deadline to complete any of the given concepts.
Guidelines
  • Leave at least one critique per post. Being able to effectively receive, and give constructive criticism is an invaluable skill as any type of artist.
  • There are no software restrictions; you're welcome to use as little, or as many different software packages as you like. However do try to make the final result game-ready
  • Post your work in progress in the thread. You're welcome to cross post on different sites (Artstation, Facebook, etc.)
  • Before starting your character, break down the concept and plan your work accordingly. Being able to effectively estimate how long it will take to complete a project is an important skill, especially for freelance artists.
  • Your final presentation should be posed and rendered in any real time engine. (Marmoset, UE4, Cryengine, Unity, etc.)
  • Don't be afraid to ask questions, but don't hesitate to find the answer on your own - chances are, the answer to your problem has already been answered within these forums
  • We're all here to grow as artists. Learn as much as you can, and share what you've learned.
  • If you feel anything should be modified or added to these guidelines, please let me know!
Resources


Concepts

Please credit and link to the artists when posting on other sites!

East by Paige Carpenter


Zeal by
Monte Miller


Anubis by Tuncer Eren


How concepts are chosen
  • Trying to keep it consistently one male character, one female and one other non-human (robot, creature, humanoid, etc)
  • Trying to keep the 3 concepts look like they are part of a theme or could fit in similar universe.
  • Concepts must be full body and clearly drawn. There shouldn't be a lot of guesswork on what the details or proportions are. Turnarounds are a good thing to have, but not required
  • Concepts shouldn't be too complex or too simple to allow people to get them done in the time-frame while also finding something interesting and giving a challenge.
  • Must be able to link back to the original source artist to they can be properly credited, places like Pinterest can lead to link rot and that's not any good for the concept artist.
  • If you have any suggestions of themes you would like to see in the future, send me a message!

Replies

  • trezzinator
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    trezzinator polycounter lvl 4
    i'm just an environment artist bystanding lurker, but I just have to say: I could NOT be more in love with the dude and lady character concepts <3<3<3<3 They're amazing and I can't wait to see people's interpretations! 
  • jewski-bot
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    jewski-bot polycounter lvl 4
    I'm not so much a ZBrush artist, but I'm seriously considering Anubis for this challenge.  I think he would be a challenge without becoming overwhelming since the two human characters have a bunch of components I'm not entirely sure how to approach (I have an idea as to the execution, but am not sure of technical implementation).

    @trezzinator, you should try your hand even if characters aren't your focus.  You never know when something might come in handy!
  • Justo
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    Justo polycounter
    Lovely concepts :) How are these belt&dagger setups called? It's been a while since I've tried looking for these for another thing. "Turkish traditional clothes" gave me some results. Any other words I could search with? Do these daggers perhaps use a different name, characteristic to the region?


  • Alemja
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    Alemja quad damage
    Justo said:
    Lovely concepts :) How are these belt&dagger setups called? It's been a while since I've tried looking for these for another thing. "Turkish traditional clothes" gave me some results. Any other words I could search with? Do these daggers perhaps use a different name, characteristic to the region?

    I think this just might be a "waist sash", it's just a piece of cloth that has been wrapped around a couple times and the dagger is stuck in-between a couple of the wrapped layers.
  • ashraful mobin
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    ashraful mobin polycounter lvl 10
    Hi Alemja
    I like the Anubis character and I want to join this challenge. Question is where should I post my wips ? in this thread ?


  • Alemja
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    Alemja quad damage
    @ashraful mobin Yup! You post in this thread that way everybody can see each other's progress and give feedback
  • adrxzero
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    adrxzero polycount sponsor
    These concepts are fantastic! I look forward to seeing what people end up doing with them.
  • apollo580
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    apollo580 polycounter lvl 9
    I'll be giving this one a shot, probably the Persian dude!
  • Drocho
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    Drocho polycounter lvl 2
    Yeah, I think I'll take a shot at Anubis for this one.
  • jewski-bot
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    jewski-bot polycounter lvl 4


    I figure I better start early as I'll have a steep learning process ahead of me.  Like I said in an earlier post, I may have a familiarity with terms, but not so much in technical implementation.  Also, I'm sure I'll have plenty of anatomical anomalies like too big eyes, rail thin arms,.......... neutered dog...  :D
  • Ajk
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    Ajk polycounter lvl 3
    Lovely concepts. I've started working on the anubis. Trying to strike a balance between making anatomy stylised and realistic.
  • jewski-bot
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    jewski-bot polycounter lvl 4
    @Ajk, off to a good start!  Did you begin with a base mesh, or try to zsphere it from scratch?  It looks like you have multiple meshes for the toes, ears, fingers, and main body.  I look forward to your progression!
  • alibaba17
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    alibaba17 polycounter lvl 5
    my try on the anubis concept, the cloth will be a pain to sculpt
  • JoseGR
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    JoseGR polycounter lvl 5
    One question, how will you guys sculpt the arm clothes in the Anubis' A-pose?? How would the relax state of arm clothes look?
    I may be joining the challenge^^
  • Sunray
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    Sunray polycounter lvl 7
    JoseGR said:
    One question, how will you guys sculpt the arm clothes in the Anubis' A-pose?? How would the relax state of arm clothes look?
    I may be joining the challenge^^
    I think it's easiest to sculpt/retopo everything except the clothes pose it and do the cloth in pose. 
  • Sense42
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    Sense42 polycounter lvl 6
    I wasn't sure if joining this challlange, but I think I'll do it. My pick is Zeal.
    Here's an intial block out. I need to adjust some of the anatomy and proportions a bit more and than I'll start making her cloths.

  • yav_yen
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    yav_yen polycounter lvl 5
    Justo said:
    Lovely concepts :) How are these belt&dagger setups called? It's been a while since I've tried looking for these for another thing. "Turkish traditional clothes" gave me some results. Any other words I could search with? Do these daggers perhaps use a different name, characteristic to the region?


    Hey man! You can try keywords like 'kuşak folklör foto' for the belt and 'geleneksel hançer' for the dagger. Hopefully you will find something that suits your style for this character.
  • yav_yen
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    yav_yen polycounter lvl 5
    Hello everyone! I'm quite new to the forum. So, this will be my first challenge and my second post on the forum. I love all of the concept arts. I've been thinking about sculpting a female character with some oriental style for some time. Zeal seems to be the perfect fit. Here's the initial block out. I'm looking for a slightly stylistic look.
  • JoseGR
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    JoseGR polycounter lvl 5
    Sunray said:
    JoseGR said:
    One question, how will you guys sculpt the arm clothes in the Anubis' A-pose?? How would the relax state of arm clothes look?
    I may be joining the challenge^^
    I think it's easiest to sculpt/retopo everything except the clothes pose it and do the cloth in pose. 

    That could work, yes. I thought there would be a way to make the A-pose version with the clothes but I see it would be really difficult. If I have some freetime I think I'll finally go for Zeal (although I have to say Anubis concept is pretty cool too)

    @yav_yen Looking good but I would make the head bigger, right now it's kind of small


  • alibaba17
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    alibaba17 polycounter lvl 5
    progress so far


    @yav_yen welcome to the challenge
  • adrxzero
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  • jewski-bot
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    jewski-bot polycounter lvl 4
    I second the above comment, excellent work thus far @alibaba17!

    I hope to rejoin this challenge come Saturday, but it looks to be an uphill battle for sure!

  • Sense42
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    Sense42 polycounter lvl 6
    Second update. I didn't liked where the model was going so I restarted from a sphere. Here's my initial block out. I have to tweak it a bit more before movinf on detealing and dressing.

    @alibaba17 You are fast! However I think you can push a bit more Anibis' proportions. Slightly longer bust and a bit bigger feet. Also I think you can work on a nive curve on the back (S shape)

    @yav_yen Nice start. I would suggest you that even with a placeholder for the head make it to the right dimensions. It will help with proportions checking. I think also that your tibia is weirdly angled for a relaxed A-pose. I would rotate leg's bottom part so that feets will be closer
  • yav_yen
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    yav_yen polycounter lvl 5
    Thank for the feedback. I worked on the base, adjusting the proportions as suggested but then decided not to spend too much time on body details once I got the proportions right. Well, most of the body will already be covered in clothes. So, I started blocking out some shapes for the clothes. Here is a 3/4 view with perspective on.
    @Sense42 Thanks for the feedback! I fixed the proportions a little bit. I don't know what I was thinking when making the legs so far apart=) I tried to fix that, as well. I like your second base mesh a lot. Maybe rotate the hands a little bit forward along the Y axis. Also, I think the feet could be slightly bigger. Do you have any suggestions for the belt? It's giving me nightmares already :s

    @alibaba17 I'm loving your interpretation of the concept, so far :#<3 Maybe it's because of the orthographic view but the hands and the feet look bulkier in the concept. Maybe add some meat and anatomy details on the legs as well.
  • Sense42
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    Sense42 polycounter lvl 6
    @yav_yen Thank you for feedback. I was thinking to make the belt in two separeted pieces: one for the part that warps on the body and one for the hanging part. Also if you post front and side view it'll be easier to give you feedback
  • alibaba17
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    alibaba17 polycounter lvl 5
    didn't do much for this character, mostly change the proportion and the feedback you guys given, thanks alot!
    I found I have this "bad habit" to not dare to push the shape, there aren't any "S" or "C" curve in my work. So I tried to adapt this now into my work. 

    make a gift to show the different


    @adrxzero @jewski-botthank you very much!

    @Sense42 ya, I made the hand and feet bigger. i just found out recently using sphere and build the muscle form and dynamesh from there save you alot of time from sculpting the muscle like what you did in your piece. Might try that for my anubis when i have time.

    @yav_yen thanks for the feedback, the fingers in your piece are too thin and the neck I thick is quite long. I'm not sure, maybe after you add in the cloth will fix it?


  • Sense42
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    Sense42 polycounter lvl 6
    @alibaba17 new proportions are really better! You're going to do great! I learned that blocking technique from Shane Olson's course and live streaming. You can try to stretch a bit upper arm (bicep and tricep) imo. I see you have followed the concept, but I think that it doesn't work too well in 3d.

    Here's current state of my Zeal. I started to dress her by now I think she has proportions off. I'l try to adjust the with transpose master, if that doesn't work I'll restart from the base mesh I guess.

  • alibaba17
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    alibaba17 polycounter lvl 5
    Sense42 said:
    @alibaba17 new proportions are really better! You're going to do great! I learned that blocking technique from Shane Olson's course and live streaming. You can try to stretch a bit upper arm (bicep and tricep) imo. I see you have followed the concept, but I think that it doesn't work too well in 3d.

    Here's current state of my Zeal. I started to dress her by now I think she has proportions off. I'l try to adjust the with transpose master, if that doesn't work I'll restart from the base mesh I guess.

    Yes, I saw his video in pixologic live. For me she looks ok, mayb make the waist and knee smaller to have a better shape
  • yav_yen
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    yav_yen polycounter lvl 5
    Hey guys! It's nice to see some progress here. I've gone ahead and fixed some of the issues with the hand and head proportions. Currently I'm working on the layers of the cloths. I've also applied some basic polypaint, just to preview how things are going.

    @Sense42  Your current mesh looks nice but honestly I liked your previous blockout better :/:/ The lower part of the arms seem to be bent too much. The head looks great from the front view but when I checked it out from the side view, I realized it should be placed a little bit forward. Other than that, everything looks great! :):)

    @alibaba17 Wow! Adding those curves really made a difference. I specifically love how you positioned those fingers. Looking forward to see how this will progress. I tried to add some volume to the fingers. I might shape the hands a little bit further as I go but I don't want her to have giant hands :D I guess I will have to constantly play with the scale. I also fixed the length issue with the neck. Thanks for bringing this to my attention :)

  • Prabh
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    Prabh polycounter lvl 7
    Can anyone tell me 
    when the exact start date of that challenge 
    Apologies for that but
    i am new in polycount .
  • Prabh
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    Prabh polycounter lvl 7
  • Alemja
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    Alemja quad damage
    @Prabh Started on August 1st and ends September 30th. The next one will start on October 1st and go until November 30th. This is a challenge, not a contest the whole focus is getting better at art and you are more than welcome to continue working on your piece after the new challenge is up.
  • Prabh
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    Prabh polycounter lvl 7
    Alemja
    Thanks 
    I am a bit late 
    but i will try to post anyone of these character in few days.

  • JoseGR
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    JoseGR polycounter lvl 5
    Joining the challenge as well! I'm going for Zeal. Still at an early stage but little by little. The face is still far from the original concept^^U
    I guess I'll be blocking the clothes over the model these days to fix some proportions.






  • Babuira
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    Babuira polycounter lvl 4
    Hi guys! Heres the body for my character.
    Still need to work on the hands and feet!
  • stavsd
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    stavsd null
    Hey Guys decided to give Anubis a try  , i'm looking to improve my anatomy skills  and  think this will be a cool thing to make

    my progress so far , would love to hear some C&C :D

    have fun !


     
      
  • yav_yen
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    yav_yen polycounter lvl 5
    Hi every one! It's been a while since the last time I posted here. I'm happy with the overall proportions. I wasted quite some time on the hair. It's taking way longer than I expected but I feel like I'm slowly getting there. Would appreciate some feedback at this stage.

    @JoseGR Welcome to the challenge! You're off to a good start. I think arms should be a little longer. You model looks pretty skinny right now. If I were you, I wouldn't go into extracting the clothes until I'm satisfied with the body shape. Just keep on working and sharing:)

    @Babuira Nice start! I've found the East character somewhat intimidating to work on, with all the accessories and tiny details:( Good luck with all of that and don't forget to share your progress.

    @stavsd so far so good! I guess the buttocks area could be bigger. Also the legs seem to be skinny. You may want to add some neck muscles to match the concept art, as well.


  • cryhouse
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    cryhouse polycounter lvl 4
    Hi everyone! i will start zeal this month!
    here the debut for the body:


  • carvuliero
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    carvuliero hero character
    Hello all , great start
    I did have some spare time and decide to give few tips to random participant maybe help them improve 
    "Cryhouse" just happen to be the lucky one this time 
    I know is still rough sculpt so I will point just a few things mainly proportional :
    -If we to use reference image as a measuring stick , your head is too long and shoulder to lower placed 
    -also bottom of her genitalia and buttock(buttock is lower then genitalia at least for woman) have to go dawn if we are to suppose that middle of the character is where greater trochanter and pubic bone are 
    -one more thing you can use joints to change direction which will give you nice flow and strong silhouette
    -ok last if this is to be realistic character widest point on the shoulder should be wider then widest point on the hip(only exception I have seen so far of this fact is wide hip female with tendency to collect fat on her outer thigh) 

    Keep doing what you doing final result will be amazing 

     
  • carvuliero
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    carvuliero hero character
    JoseGR your block out overall look great ! just few construction problems need to be fixed :
    - clavicular part of pectoralis major currently doesn't exist
    - missing waist line 
    - neck need some more love , normally is 1/3 or 1/2 of head height 
    -she will need a lot more forehead even more then what I gave her

    Have fun


  • JoseGR
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    JoseGR polycounter lvl 5
    @carvuliero  @yav_yen Thank you for the feedback guys! Made a quick retopo and projected the details to apply the suggested changes, to make the arms and neck a bit longer, to revise the insertion of the pectoralis, etc. I would say I'm happy with the body so I focused on the head this evening. Not looking so good yet but let's see how it turns out.





    @Babuira I guess you're going for East, difficult character :p  You should take a look to the proportions, right now his legs are too long.

    @yav_yen I'm pretty sure that the hair is gonna be difficult... Still trying to figure out how to make it. Don't know if it's already too late but I would slightly reduce the length of the legs. Right now your model is about eight heads. I would also try to achieve a more african look.



    Hope it helped!


  • Babuira
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    Babuira polycounter lvl 4
    Hi guys. New update for the body. Worked more on the face, feet and hands. I think its time to retopo.

    @JoseGR
    Nice start. I think you could benefit from using a lower resolution to work on the big forms. 
    Protip on using low resolution with smoothing: Lower the smooth z intensity on the smooth brush. The lower the resolution, the lower you have to go on smooth Z intensity in order to retain the forms you sculpt in. This will let you focus on the shape alot more. This method works extremely well with dynamesh. Dont pay attention to the polygons. If you sculpt zoomed in, you will want to up the resolution to see the shape better, but what works best is if you sculpt from a distance, generally viewing no less than 1/3 of the entire model. Also, remember to use the move brush alot. Cheers!
  • carvuliero
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    carvuliero hero character
    Solid progress @JoseGR  but still you can improve few things like 
    - the neck : there are few images included that will help you that issue 
    -buttocks : Its look to long to me 
    - face : you should give her fuller jaw(masseter) and cheeks + overall more baby fat , she is still young 

    Keep pushing


  • carvuliero
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    carvuliero hero character
    @Babuira  you have some interesting approach, sculpt looks a lot like ancient greek sculpture
    I have only 2 things as suggestions :
    - leg/torso relationship : MP(middle point) YMP(your middle point) you can try reducing distance between this 2 points
    - over all gesture : your model right now is in a medical condition called kyphosis (I know in the reference he is leaning back and turning his shoulder slightly but that's just to give him some pose and character , just pointing this out you can always use it as a character trait)
     
    Best



  • carvuliero
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    carvuliero hero character
    @stavsd cool pick Anubis look like a lean mean machine ,If I were you I would use someone like bruce lee as reference 
    Few suggestion on my side :
    - shoulder waist lower hip relation : you should establish this relation first -> shoulder > lower hip > waist ,its up to you to define exact measurements  but as he is god you can use something like golden ratio 
    -neck : he have massive neck so give him one please 
    - pectoralis major : your pecs are too long 



  • JoseGR
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    JoseGR polycounter lvl 5
    @carvuliero thank you so much for the feedback, it's being really useful. Great references for the nose, hadn't realized that it had that catlike look. I'll also work on her frontal bone that currently is missing^^U

    I have a question, what do you mean with the line in the green circle?? You mean that the above area should be more rounded because of the gluteus?


    Thanks!
  • carvuliero
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    carvuliero hero character
    @JoseGR you are welcome .
    Line is just a comparison between concept thigh thickness and yours , its nothing to be concern , your model  is slimmer and younger version so its look perfectly fine to me 


  • carvuliero
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    carvuliero hero character
    Hey there @yav_yen , you have more or less everything block out 
    Just a few notes for you to consider :
    - leg gesture :  you have nice curve in her torso but it stops below her pelvis 
    - cloth on her rib cage :  that piece should inherit shapes of underling anatomy , its like a balloon right now 
    - arm connection  : check attached image , you can clearly see that distance from behind is shorter and front and back connection point are almost on the same lever slightly favoring front 

    Best







  • gnagel
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    gnagel null
    Bit late to the challenge, but giving East a shot!
    He looks more slimly muscled in the concept, but I pushed the muscles a bit for the sake of practice (still rather new at sculpting, so feedback more than welcome)
    Probably going to poke at anatomy a bit more, then start blocking in clothes



  • 9lg
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    9lg polycounter lvl 2
    Hey everyone, new to the forum and a little late to the party but here is the Anubis character and my current progress on him. Still haven't quite figured out how I'd like to deal with his head/face so I've mostly focused on his body and some clothing. I plan on doing most of the detail of his shoulder piece in Substance Painter so I've kept it pretty simple in the sculpt.


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