[Riot Art Contest] Golden Alistar
polycounter lvl 6
When I saw this contest, I knew there was only one choice I could possibly make:
I'm a bit daunted by all that fur, but hey - might as well dive in and learn!
-edit - Here's the in-game model/skin:
Concept sketch for gear, details, etc.:
Lorewise, Alistar's tribe of minotaur were massacred by the forces of [/URL]Noxus, a 'might-makes-rate' city-state where some of the meaner, nastier champions of LoL hail from. Alistar himself was captured and forced to battle in the great gladiatorial arenas of Noxus. Eventually escaping, Alistar has become an advocate for all those who are opressed by Noxus and an enemy of Noxus's champions.
As an escaped slave-gladiator, Alistar still bears shattered chains and shackles as symbols of freedom, showing all those in bondage that chains can be broken. His body is covered with scars from his fights in the arena.
The in-game Alistar skin had a stylized 'N' branded onto his shoulder, but I decided to make it a larger feature by having the brand be a stylized Noxus crest burned into his broad back - no doubt it took several slave-wranglers from the Noxus arena dungeons to lift the massive brand they used to mark their minotaur prisoners. The huge brand is an eternal reminder of Noxus' capacity for cruelty, and an incentive for Alistar to oppose them.
I'm a bit daunted by all that fur, but hey - might as well dive in and learn!
-edit - Here's the in-game model/skin:
Concept sketch for gear, details, etc.:
Lorewise, Alistar's tribe of minotaur were massacred by the forces of [/URL]Noxus, a 'might-makes-rate' city-state where some of the meaner, nastier champions of LoL hail from. Alistar himself was captured and forced to battle in the great gladiatorial arenas of Noxus. Eventually escaping, Alistar has become an advocate for all those who are opressed by Noxus and an enemy of Noxus's champions.
As an escaped slave-gladiator, Alistar still bears shattered chains and shackles as symbols of freedom, showing all those in bondage that chains can be broken. His body is covered with scars from his fights in the arena.
The in-game Alistar skin had a stylized 'N' branded onto his shoulder, but I decided to make it a larger feature by having the brand be a stylized Noxus crest burned into his broad back - no doubt it took several slave-wranglers from the Noxus arena dungeons to lift the massive brand they used to mark their minotaur prisoners. The huge brand is an eternal reminder of Noxus' capacity for cruelty, and an incentive for Alistar to oppose them.
Replies
Here's the first step
Gonna tweak his proportions a bit to bring him closer in style to the more recent characters.
Here's another bit of sculpting.
Pretty happy with general proportions now - next step: horns!
Gonna start in on the fur now - I imagine it'll be a pretty big job. It'll be pretty fine though, like in the splashart, so maybe not as tough a job as I think.
No Fur
Fur!
No Fur
Fur!
No Fur-eh, you get the idea. I'll proceed like this, with fur in a few major key spots, but the rest of his body will be left smooth and I'll give him a bit of fuzziness purely through texture.
Also started blocking in his gear, very roughly.
Sheesh, y'know, he's been buck-ass nude this whole time and it hadn't registered, but one little loin-cloth-dealie and it becomes really obvious. oO Better put in the rest of 'em quick.
Not completely satisfied with the fur, but I think he's suitably fuzzy and I should be able to move on from it soon.
Here's some further sculpting:
Sandals and shackles next - then there's nothing left to do but refine-refine-refine!
I'm hoping to get the sculpting completely done and be well into polypaint by the end of the month.
The minotaur needs some love!
I kind of feel the arms have too constant a width all the way down, and that it'd be stronger with a bit more change going on in the silhouette there, I dunno.
For now, behold more bits -
Just about ready to dive in and make final refinements! (note to self - do not forget nosering)
More progress:
Nose ring, teef, check. All elements in place and generally looking nice. Takin' the rest of the month to make some refinements, add cracks to his shackles, scar 'im up, and generally get the highpoly sculpting finished off!
i really like how much impression of fur you get from the simple strands you put down, good stuff
Put the finishing touches on the sculpt and started tossing on base materials and colors - polypainting this guy might not be the best idea, but if nothing else I'll use it as a starting point for the actual texture. Gonna bop between painting and low poly mesh modeling now.
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@ D_Wall - thanks, I've had a hard time with fur in the past and this is the first sculpt where I'm happy with how it's turning out.
Good luck