Begginer Character WIP

Yogibear

Hey forum. I started this character sketch last week and started adding some more detail to it. I started with a Lick King idea in mind but Im not so sure now. I intend for this to be the first model I completely finish and render. Please let me know your comments and critiques. Thanks guys!

Recursive Sweatpants

I don't really know what to critique at this stage, really. The proportions and anatomy seem okay for a semi-realistic person as far as I can tell; if you're going for something else, then I wouldn't know. The only thing aesthetically that kind of bugs me is that the details on his chest and arms feel a little too soft; I think that using the hPolish brush to make the lines crisper would make it look a bit nicer, but I'm not all that experienced with sculpting myself so take that with a grain of salt.

Do you have any concept art you're going off of, or are you designing as you go? If it's the latter, then you'd probably be better off asking for feedback on something specific that you want to focus on.

TomGT

I think you meant Lich King, not Lick King haha.

You should break the bits of armor into several meshes so you can work out the anatomy more. I definitely think sculpting them into the main mesh is not a good idea as this can result in wonky armor pieces if not done well.

I take it you are referring to the Lich King from Warcraft, so I reckon you should consider how exaggerated certain parts of the character are. e.g hands, shoulders.

Hope this helps!

Yogibear

I did mean Lick King haha. I was going off a few concepts from the internet. I realize the armor should be done separately.

What is a good first project for a beginner to try and work through beginning to end? I want to do something I like but i keep running into major design flaws late down the road. Whats a good model for me to attempt?

Thank you all so much for the comments and critiques. I think they are necessary to improve as an artist.
Thanks again yall.

-Yogi

Brian "Panda" Choi

What do you mean by design flaws?

Yogibear

Specifically here I mean that I should've modeled the character then added the armor.

ooyoo

hey yogi, i would actually recommend getting a really good base nude body down first, with what ever style you are going for, although it might not really be what you WANT to do... it is very important to have a very strong base to start off of, so i would first try to make a base body that you like then create the armor ontop
thats just my 2 cents, hope it helps

Yogibear

Thank you ooyoo. I think thats what im going to do. Thank you all again for your help. I wil make a thread for the base nude this afternoon.

Brian "Panda" Choi

I'll argue that you'll save a lot more time if you put your designs to paper, figuring it out all in 2D so 3D just becomes a matter of recreating what you drew.

Like this:

BradMyers82

I prefer to do a mix of both, since I have a hard time drawing proper perspective. So you could make a base mesh. Then take a screen shot, and in photoshop start working on proportions some more and adding detail till you are satisfied. Then go back in rough in some more forms in 3d, then take a screen shot and paintover again. Just keep doing this process till you are satisfied. I find this is a really good way to work if you have an idea of what you want to do, but you are having trouble identifying all the shapes or actually drawing proper 2d perspective. but yea, working in 2d is way faster then 3d, no question about that.

Yogibear

That is a good idea. My 2D art skills are lacking to say the least. But becoming familiar with the shapes in a design in 2D will probably help my 3D art as well. I think Im going to attempt the monthly challenge just to work on some anatomy. Again thank ya'll so much for the help.

Yogibear

Hey guys I decided to start doing some anatomy sculpts to help build a base for me to work from. Ignore the pig looking face but I feel good about how it looks so far. Let me know where i can improve. Thanks again!