Naija (Aquaria) - ZBrush Sculpt

mossmouth

Hi! I'd love to get some feedback on my third ZBrush sculpt - it's Naija, the main character from a game I made called Aquaria. Here's the original concept art I did for her when the game was released in 2007: http://www.bit-blot.com/aquaria/naija.html

I'm a 2d artist who's trying to get into 3d modeling, with the eventual goal of making some 3d games. Really excited to join the forums and start learning. Thanks!

P.S. If you care to see, the sculpt I did before this was a birdman monster: http://bossquibble.deviantart.com/art/ZBrush-Birdman-343929493 I wouldn't mind getting feedback on that one as well!

DWalker

Overall, a good start.

The feet should be longer; in the concept, they are as long as the calf, with most of the additional length in the toes.

The ears also seem shorter than the concept, although it is a bit tough to tell from the views you have given. When working from a concept, it often helps to match the pose and camera angle.

The foreshortened views also make it difficult to judge her proportions.

The face overall seems a little masculine, not matching the young pixie look in the original. The jaw especially seems a bit strong for a young female.

The eyes are normal-sized for a human, but much smaller than the concept. Larger-than-normal eyes make sense for an aquatic creature; look at the eyes of a seal or other marine mammal.

stickadtroja

since i already wrote what i thought about Naija on tigsource, ill comment on your bird thingy instead;

i like the muscles in the front but the back is really lacking. to top heavy, and no muscles or ribcage. the head is really nice though.

mossmouth

DWalker wrote: »

The foreshortened views also make it difficult to judge her proportions.

Whoops! Those were artsy shots I took for my blog. Here's a better view of her:



Thanks for the feedback, though. To be honest, I wasn't aiming to have the render look exactly like the concept, since it was done so long ago (and in a more cartoony style than I was going for here). Irrespective of the concept, how does the model look? Are there any obvious noob mistakes I've made?

@stickadtroja: Thanks, man! Good to see you here!

neoshaman

Hello derek, I think you should state your intention a bit more: about the naive gaze of wonder, the boyish figure and the athletics swimmer body with hint of strange aquatic creatures in the facial features. Thinking of it a T figure would have been better to judge the design instead of the character being in motion? However a better turn around with side view would help too (especially side close up of the head)

Steve Schulze

Ah, I loved Aquaria.

I think you're off to a very solid start here, but you need to take a step or two back and develop and detail up the body and costume. A lot of her is still quite soft at this point and a little blobby in places, most notably on the feet.

I'd probably take the time to work out what extra details she might have on her anatomy as a fishy/froggy person that can now be seen on a higher fidelity model as opposed to a simpler stylised pixel art. She would probably have gills for example and perhaps some more webbing, and more detailed markings on her back. Take a look at frogs and fish for some good examples.

I'd consider modifing the costume a bit too. I know it's more or less consitant with the one in the game, but realistically she'd pop out of that thing the moment she started swimming.

Keep up the good work mate. I'll look forward to seeing you develop her further.

mossmouth

Thanks! I'll work on details and blobbiness, then. And look at lots of references!