[RIOT CREATIVE CONTEST 2017] Karthulhu the Ancient One - Motenai
polycounter lvl 18
LATEST UPDATE
Time to start working on this contest
I chose Karthus, mostly because i like dark themed characters, but i'm still not sure in which direction to take the character, if to stick with Classic Karthus or make a skin on my own based on Mind Flayer/Cthulhu with some cultist elements and candles. I'll probably give a shot to this last idea at first and see where it goes, if it doesnt work well enough i'll revert to classic Karthus.
By the way... name of the skin could be "Kathulhu"?
Here a quick reference collection to keep track of the main ideas
Time to start working on this contest
I chose Karthus, mostly because i like dark themed characters, but i'm still not sure in which direction to take the character, if to stick with Classic Karthus or make a skin on my own based on Mind Flayer/Cthulhu with some cultist elements and candles. I'll probably give a shot to this last idea at first and see where it goes, if it doesnt work well enough i'll revert to classic Karthus.
By the way... name of the skin could be "Kathulhu"?
Here a quick reference collection to keep track of the main ideas
Replies
I'm not any good at concepting in 2d, so i my way of designing something is usually throwing things in zbrush and add/delete/move/stretch after sculpting a basic anatomy and until things look decent.
Here is what i've got in the mix so far. I'm already pretty happy about the top area but still need to figure out something more interesting for the bottom, and of course the arms.
Feel free to express your opinions, nothing is set in stone yet and there's a long way to go.
Cheers
Cheers.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4gewn
@jonjon yeah i already follow Noodle Li, he's amazing, but that for the link anyway, i might actually use his works for more inspiration
Fantastic, nice progress my friend
Love it!!
How do you plan to make the candles stay on the shoulders? You don't want him to set himself on fire lol
@GravityBwlast well i think the classic dripping wax on top of the shoulder pad should do
I'm probably also giving him some candles on his scepter, but i still have completly to think that one through
I think i'm close to the final design, i mixed elements a bit on the bottom area, went with some more linear silouettes cause i think they fit better the character and make everything a bit more interesting to watch from the top.
I also gave a shot to the staff, i wanted to stick to the candles theme with it and overall i like the idea, but i might have to change a bit the shape to make it more readable from all angles.
I hope you like it....
Done with the Sculpt finally, i feel everything is at a good level of refinement.
I hope you like it
Very appealing, It looks like a character straight out of skyrim. ^^
I'm excited to see what will be the paint.
See you!
I feel weird to make a sculpted model and not bake a normal map on it so i did that too also if it's not really useful to the final result.
The polycount for now is around 10k polygons, but i might crunch some of that down in few areas.
I also did a quick base map to test the flat shading in the last image.
I follow you since the contest beggin, I have to say that it's one of my favorite !
F..king great concept, f..king great sculpt ! I really love your work !
Can't wait to see more !
I'm in love with the candles and the spell book.
4 is the kind of colors I'd naturally go with for Karthus, but it lacks something still. Also the greenish tints in 3 are very Cthulhu-like so that's cool.
I think when you'll render the textures further it would be nice to use colors from the depths of the oceans, like dark green and turquoise, maybe in the AO.
I'm saying too many different things to really help you decide which one, ahah sorry, hope it still helps!
You've for a pretty solid point on the green skin being very fitting for cthulhu and on the turquoise gradients, i'll keep all of that in mind.
Overall my favorites are 4 (which is very inspired to base Karthus) and 2 (which is inspired to Lightsbane Karthus)
Anyway i tried to analyze everything and i think i came to a final version of the color scheme that i think should work well. Time to get to paint
It took me a while to figure out the right texturing technique, but here we are, the texture is quite done
Not sure if i'm gonna change something in it, but for now i'm satisfied, let me know what you think.
Did you put some easter eggs on the pages of his book?
I hope you don't mind some suggestions. I'm sure you were planning to do that on the finals, but the cast shadow is a bit too dark and opaque to blend your guy with the environment. Other than that, maybe accentuate a tiny bit the dark gradient from top to bottom on the overall character? The gold trim at the bottom of his robe is floating a bit, but that might be just the contrast with the ground shadow. I'd also add some highlight behind his head and lighten the tip of his hood and shoulders to make his upper body stick out.
Now you have plenty of time to make an awesome pose! Can't wait to see your final renders!
yeah the shadow was way too dark and i'll have to tweak the intensity in marmoset, but good call on that one too
HiRes model is just amazing, especially his head and staff.
Well done, buddy!