Teggs- Character Art Thread

teggs

Hi,

I have decided to start a sketchbook style thread to track my improvement sculpting characters and get some feedback to improve my work.

These are a few pieces I have worked on lately:








I have started detailing the orc character-the hands and feet need a lot of work still.

teggs

So I have worked on the orc some more. I am planning on giving him armor,teeth and claws but at this point I would really like some feedback on the overall proportions/anatomy.

teggs

Progress Update: I took some screenshots of the orc and sketched up some armor sets. The one in the pic below is the one I liked best and will be sculpting in soon. I also used a screenshot to draw in the anatomy over top of the character. It really helped me pin point some areas of the anatomy that could use some improvement.I may not go in and fix some of the areas because they will be hidden by the armor but it is good to know where I have struggled with anatomy so I can avoid the same mistakes in the future.

artquest

So far it looks nice, I really like the muscle studys you have done so far.

The most noticeable thing so far is how off balance he is. This character would have trouble just standing up let alone walking. You seem to be going for a hunch back look, but he's not actually bending his back which causes his center of mass to be located in the wrong spot entirely imho. You could address these things by altering his pose but ultimately I think he will just end up looking awkward. I would suggest adjusting his proportions a bit and shortening his neck/making it a bit more upright.

I'd also look at various body builders to see how muscles grow when worked out, Think of what actions your orc might do on a regular basis and try to give his arms that look.

DashXero

If you are dead-set on going with that posture, I'd suggest making the arms and/or hands slightly bigger to make it more ape-like. Kind of like that orc hero from Kingdom Under Fire: the Crusaders (or its prequel, KUF: Heroes)... I think his name was Urukubar or something... Come to think of it, you may want to take a gander at him...

praetor187

Looking nice so far. I like the woman bust, its has a nice Bouja zee feel about it.

codyaq2

A couple of anatomy notes that I see;
The sternomastoid actually connects to the sternum, not the clavicle.
Also the " trap tucked under the deltoid" I think you are referring to the terra major.
*edit : eeek miss read that u said lat, not trap, my bad *


This is off the top of my head, so I could be wrong
Looking good but!

RobSamuel

It's looking nice.

I think the pectoral muscles could do with being larger, or at least having a more rounded form. At the moment they are quite flat, which looks a bit strange when compared to the enormous shoulders.

teggs

Character Update:
After getting a bunch of great feedback on the anatomy I went ahead and adjusted the character quite a bit since the last update. I am still working on the musculature/anatomy and I will be doing another sketch of the anatomy over the character. I am also going to continue to refine the musculature of sculpt but here is what it is looking like now:



@artquest- Thanks for the critique Until you mentioned how off balance he was I did not really notice how much weight I had given him in the front of his chest. I went ahead and changed his proportions rather dramatically and tried to fix his posture. I shortened his neck, lengthened his legs moved his head back and up on top of his spine more. I also tried to give him a bit of a curve to the spine but nothing too dramatic. I also gave the muscles a bit more volume and mass and started collecting more references of body builders to continue to improve his musculature.

@DashXero- I took a look at the character from Kingdom of Fire and dropped to the lowest subdivision and quickly moved things around to see what he would look like with a bit more ape-like characteristics. I really didn’t like how the orc-ape was looking at that point so I decided to go back and fix the posture instead. Thank you for taking the time to write up a critique.

@praetor187- Thanks :)I definitely tried to give her soft features and those “bedroom eyes.”

@codyaq2- lol my handwriting is rather atrocious I almost avoided posting that muscle study because of it. I definitely was wrong about the sternomastoid. I am working on learning anatomy so I am glad you pointed that out.

@RobSamuel – Thanks for the feedback. I gave the pectorals more volume/rounded form.

Lombos

From a design standpoint I preferred what it was before to what it is now. I just imagined it running on all fours similar to a Gorilla. Now it's just the standard roided out Mutant/Orc/Monster, which can and does work. It just doesn't capture interest in the same way.

artquest

Ah I like the update, it's moving forward for sure. I agree with Lombos though. Try to stay true to your original intent and apply the critiques to further the design.

Also, little things can distract from what you are trying to convey or get feedback on. Things like -- he's looking out into space -- so maybe tilt his head down a bit, and because he has no teeth he looks like he's yawning. Its hard for us to not pick up on the really distracting things that aren't "finished" or planned out yet. You'll get more helpful feedback if we can see what you're going for I think. try to capture the entirety of an idea even if it's just a general shape or placeholder objects that help sell the overall composition.

teggs

When I started this piece I only had a vague idea of what I wanted the final piece to look like. I think at this point I need to evaluate where I want to take this sculpt. Overall I am happy with how this project is going. I feel I am learning a lot so I don’t mind trying different things and improving my understanding of anatomy as I go.

Here is another anatomy study I did for this project:


And this is just for fun: The Evolution of the Orc


@Lombos- I agree I feel the orc did lose some of the character/ unique quality found in the first version but hopefully I’ll be able to bring some of that back into this sculpt as the project evolves.

@artquest- I’ll keep that in mind when posting works for crit.

teggs

It has been quite a while since I have updated this thread. I worked on the orc a bit more since the last post but I have not been very happy with the results so the piece is unfinished and will probably stay that way. I feel I learned a lot from the sculpt and discovered that I really need to pay more attention to the weight of the character and how the character would be impacted by gravity.

It has been almost a year since I started on my quest to learn 3D modeling and gain the skills I need to become a character artist. So I decided now would be a good time to compile a bunch of screen shots of various pieces I have worked on in the last year. I am a bit embarrassed to be showing some of them but it really shows how much I have improved in the last year.