Steve Gonzalez concept work - Overwatch character
polycounter lvl 4
Recently I was tasked with creating a concept for an Overwatch character that I'd like to see in-game. I wanted to make something unique, something that wasn't really in the game already. I noticed there was plenty of animal imagery in the game (Reinhardt = lion, Winston = gorilla, D.Va = rabbit, Widowmaker = spider, etc.), but aside from a few alternate skins of some characters, no character embodies the traits resembling a wolf. Though McCree and Soldier are technically American, there were also no Native Americans or Canadians, so I figured, why not both? Here I will be posting progress on my original Overwatch character design, warts and all.
I was pretty heavily inspired by Princess Mononoke, as you can probably see. C&C more than welcome and is encouraged! I'm looking for feedback on the overall design, what things that I can use to help in concept work, tips, tricks, etc. Thanks for stopping by!
Not really sure what I'm doing at the start, and it certainly shows.
"Okay, let's start over."
I liked where this one was going. The silhouette was pleasing to me, and the concept of a constantly mounted character intrigued me - since D.Va gameplay splits between her in and out of her mech, how about this guy rides a robot wolf all the time?
The robot is an Omnic, and I took inspiration from Bastion and Zenyatta when coming up with a shape language, which at this stage doesn't really show that much yet.
Mistakes were made.
Some thumbnails of pose for illustration:
Begin the "final" illustration!
I was pretty heavily inspired by Princess Mononoke, as you can probably see. C&C more than welcome and is encouraged! I'm looking for feedback on the overall design, what things that I can use to help in concept work, tips, tricks, etc. Thanks for stopping by!
Not really sure what I'm doing at the start, and it certainly shows.
"Okay, let's start over."
I liked where this one was going. The silhouette was pleasing to me, and the concept of a constantly mounted character intrigued me - since D.Va gameplay splits between her in and out of her mech, how about this guy rides a robot wolf all the time?
The robot is an Omnic, and I took inspiration from Bastion and Zenyatta when coming up with a shape language, which at this stage doesn't really show that much yet.
Mistakes were made.
Some thumbnails of pose for illustration:
Begin the "final" illustration!
Replies
This is a pretty neat project! Overwatch really has some awesome character designs and tell a lot of story with just their designs alone. I think your project is off to a pretty solid start, but I think jumping to the illustration stage at this point might not be great for your character.
I like the idea you've got here, but I think you could push your character and the mount a lot further. With your mount although I really like the details you put into the limbs and joints, all I can think when I see it is this:
Out of all the designs you have for the wolf I think that the circled one below not only is the most visually interesting, but helps make it not feel so much like the zoid picture above.
I think you could possibly mix together the two looks of a robo/tech wolf to go more with the nature theme. Something along the lines of showing parts of the wolf while still maintaining the Omich style.
As for the main hero themselves I think there's a handful of design things you can do to jazz it up. Pushing the overwatch look a bit further on their look with tech/steampunk. And looking at your colored concept I personally think switching up the color scheme might help because the tunic/outfit and the characters skin tone are reeeeally close to one another.
And I remember @JuliusKing38 did an awesome Fan-made Overwatch character over the summer that I think would help you on getting your task in a good spot. http://polycount.com/discussion/172426/jade-fan-made-character-for-overwatch
Hope all this helps and looking forward to seeing more progress on this!
I think doing an Overwatch character that focuses on Native American themes is cool, and I really like the idea of a mounted hero!
You have a good start with the robo wolf design, but I think the costuming on the character could use some work. A big consistency throughout the Overwatch heroes is tech and armor. The spear and gauntlets fit that pretty well, but the clothing elements feel off.
Hanzo would be a good character to reference I think, he has elements of old-school traditional Japanese clothing but they have added armor and the textures of the clothing feel more modern and sci-fi. I actually think adding armored boots like these to your character would look like a more practical way for him to attach to the mount: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/overwatch/images/e/ee/Hanzo_Portrait.png/revision/latest?cb=20160503193816&path-prefix=de
Mccree might be another good reference. He's more or less just a cowboy but they've added plated armor throughout his design and tied it in with typical cowboy clothing to make him match the rest of the roster better.
If you're looking for more inspiration/examples of Native American themes in Overwatch, Pharah has these two skins that could be good for ideas:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lhfQQ9-laQg/maxresdefault.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xB4psAD6azw/maxresdefault.jpg
I hope that was helpful and good luck with the project!
Thank you both very much for your input! I've actually been updating the look of both characters recently, and I'm starting to think they look much better than before. For one, the boy (who's about 12) looks much more like his age this time around, and I think I'm starting to get a feel for Arnold Tsang's shape language a bit more. However, I am in a bit of an echo chamber over here, and outside input is always appreciated.
Here's an updated look for both characters. I didn't see your suggestions, @Joebewon until just now, so I suppose the wolf still looks like a Zoids mech, but I also looked constantly at Bastion and Zenyatta to try to fit more into the style of robot/mechanical things that's already present. I made him some sandal-like things that look decently tech-y, @BeanyCoffee, but I'm very interested in what you think of how they look. I'm going to keep going.
What's even better is that a friend of mine wants to model / sculpt them! I'll be getting started on that with him very soon, and I'll post progress on that part of the project as well. This has been very educational, and has helped me gain a better appreciation for the character creation process. Let's keep it going, eh?
some flat colors
illustration as of March 2nd