[ON HOLD] Rogue Class Girl

dGreenberg

Hey everyone! I would usually post these updates on my Sketchbook, but I would really love to hear the thoughts and critiques from people on this forum, so I want to start with this new character here. I wanted to do something sci-fi, and watching so many great artists here really pushed me to get working on this project.

The concept is not one of my own, but I'll probably end up designing most of the front of her body. The original concept is by Bryan Flynn. Instead of going with more of a realistic approach, I want to do something a bit more stylized, but use realistic textures once I reach that stage. 

Here is my start on the base mesh and face in zBrush.






The head has been updated and separated from the full body, so it might look a little different in those shots, since I haven't re-attached it yet. The arms are super thin (maybe even too much for the style), but I'm feeling a little confident that those will thicken up once I get the armor on top of the base.

Unlike some of my previous projects, I really want to try and stay in zBrush until the entirety of the high-poly is done. I'm hoping that this will end up being a helpful learning exercise in human anatomy, hard surface armor, and just getting an overall bad ass character looking presentable. That being said, I would love to hear anything from those who have something to suggest or critique. 

dGreenberg

Working on some of the face. I'm not 100% certain on where I want to go with the style, but I've been really into James W Cain's bust sculptures recently, so I tried to bring that into it a little to push me forward.



I think I need to start in on the armor block-in next. I can go back and work on the face some more once I get the silhouette to read properly.

dGreenberg

Update that took way too long to post. I honestly need to find myself a better system for making hard surface armor pieces. I end up taking the zbrush pieces into Maya to clean them up, before bringing them back into zBrush. The proportions still need a lot of fixing in the helmet, so I might have taken two steps back for this stage. In posting this update I'm seeing more things that I need to fix, but it's all part of the experience! As always, critiques and suggestions are welcome and thanks in advance.

vavavoom

hi, the cheeks seem too far forward at the mouth edges i think. it gives her a kind of 'baby face'.
 the mouth plane is too flat.

dGreenberg

@vavavoom Great point! I'll have to fix that a bit and round out the mouth plane a little more. I think I'll end up wanting her lips to be a little bit pouty to match the concept, but probably not so much of a baby face. Thanks for the advice!

dGreenberg

It's been a while since I've updated this. Took some time off and took care of some other work, but I wanted to come back for a second attempt and try to do it justice. I felt like I needed to take a few steps back to move forward, so I went and started on a new base mesh to try and improve on the anatomy. I haven't touched the face yet but if you see anything that needs work in the meantime, please let me know! Are the ribs and waist too wide for the character? Should I bring out the lats further? It's still pretty low in terms of points and I really want to nail down the anatomy before moving on to the individual pieces.

dGreenberg

I've ended up adjusting the legs, butt, and ribs a bit more. I did a first pass at the head but haven't based her look off of anyone at this stage (just trying to get the face to look like a face). I'll do another pass on the face at a higher sub division before starting in on the armor pieces.

If anything stands out with the anatomy or there are any suggestions during the process, I'm happy to hear any thoughts!

dGreenberg

Just a face update. Will start concepting some different versions for the armor next.

dGreenberg

Alright! I'm not 100% with any of these so I'll probably be mixing and matching pieces here and there. First 3 versions didn't really change the helmet or limbs (mostly torso stuff), but after version 'D' I think I like the idea of the visor coming down and covering the face. I also need to think of something better than space slippers for the feet, but I might just figure that out a little further in. If anyone has any suggestions for what works and what to avoid I'd love to hear from ya!

dGreenberg

I wanted to try sketching things out further to figure out how parts of the armor will look overall. I won't be sticking to this draft by 100%, but it'll give me some understanding moving forward.



Time to get back into ZBrush and get this armor blocked out.

dGreenberg

Progress is slow, but I'm mostly finished with the left arm. It looked like the biggest pain to get out of the way so I wanted to start there and move towards the easier pieces afterward. Working on the right arm next, and the boots and helmet after that. 

dGreenberg

Had to fix some stuff with the rotation in the right arm, but that wasn't too bad.



I'm not too satisfied with how the upper shoulder piece on the right arm is looking (the wider piece) so I think it needs a lot of attention. Otherwise I might be ready to move on past the arms now. Boots > Helmet > Torso > Legs > Gear will be next to tackle.





I'll be pausing on the sci-fi girl after this update, since I really want to participate in the Artstation Character Challenge. I'll be jumping right back into things once I've finished the sculpt of the other character so I can approach her with a clear head and new ideas.