Remastered Zombie Character (CONCEPT A)

StephenC

Hi all,

This will be my first post on Polycount. I am currently studying my second year of game art at AIE (Academy of Interactive Entertainment) and I've just started a personal humanoid character project inspired by games like Doom and Wolfenstein.

Attached is the current blockout, I eagerly await whatever critique or feedback you have (please, be as harsh as possible as I want to learn and improve).

Thanks!

- Stephen

StephenC

Hope this is easier to view!

aniceto

Good luck with your second year man. I graduated AIE nearly 10 years ago, and BY FAR the most helpful thing for me was posting on this forum. Not even exagerating.
If I had to do anything different, I'd watch Zack Petroc's gnomon DVDs way sooner and do some life drawing classes. So you should definitely do those things ASAP (if you want to be a character artist that is)

As for critique I wont be specific, but I'll recommend finding tons of reference photos, for anatomy/clothing/gore. just every element of whatever you're making. And try to copy it exactly. Also find works by other artists that have done something similar to what you're hoping to make, and use those as inspiration/reference. There's nothing wrong with copying elements from your favorite artist's work.

You should also post those same reference and inspiration images so we can critique your work easier.

As for harsh advice: I really wish AIE wouldn't encourage students to work from their own concept art before they actually start teaching design, because 99% of those humanoid character projects are garbage. You will learn a lot more by working from professional concept artists designs. It's also an important part of developing your eye/taste for good design.
I understand its part of their grading so you don't have a choice, but think about it for your next project.
I'd show you the awful clown character I made for my project back then, but I threw it out a long time ago...

StephenC

Hey man thanks heaps for your feedback!

As it so happens I've been going to a life drawings, however it's become rather pricey for my student budget at 15$ a session . I'll look into Zack's tutorials for sure! Thanks

In future I'll attach a mood / reference board and make sure I aim to replicate the source material as closely as possible!

Good point about developing my eye for what works well with design. That's something I hope with time will come, however at the moment it's sort of like stabbing in the dark with some things. I suppose for now I should just focus on function over form?

I'm sure polycount will be a worthwhile investment and I'll be posting updates in the near future as the concept is developed.

Thanks again for your feedback!

- Stephen.