[FINISHED] Mermaid General - Handpainted Character

HarlequinWerewolf

Finished! Check it out here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/1nmGgL



I wanted to try out a handpainted character that was really colourful so I decided to make a stylised mermaid. I'm not a concept artist so any advice on the design is appreciated and I have no idea how to do handpainted so that'll be fun!

Here was my rough concept:





Currently sculpting. Everything is blocked in, just gotta start detailing. 





And trying to decide whether to keep the knives or not...

HarlequinWerewolf

Pretty much done with the high poly. I'll probably re-do the belts and stuff as I retopo but retopology is really not my strong suit, so I'm going to try and spend some real time on it, looking at LoL models for general reference but I'll definitely be a little higher poly.

I'm also not sure whether to give the trident some extra details or not...

HarlequinWerewolf

Got my retopo done but I had a frustrating time with the bakes on the first day so took a break and came back to it yesterday. Got my bakes done and blocked in the colours. It's all a little dirty and messy right now so loads of work to do. I really don't know much about hand painting so going to watch some tutorials over the next few days. Wish me luck!









Sitting at just under 13,000 tris. 

Also, I've just realised it's still set to lit which is making things look darker. Next update I'll switch to unlit 

HarlequinWerewolf

Threw in a basic rig in between additional bakes and procrastinating actually painting! It's scary



Still a couple of skinning issues but I'll fix that closer to finishing 

HarlequinWerewolf

Been picking away at the painting. It's really tricky to find the balance between too much and too little so this the millionth attempt at the face. 



I really gotta get around to doing the gold and metal but it's freaking me out a little so gonna watch some tutorials on painting it first

HarlequinWerewolf

On the home stretch now and working on some poses

HarlequinWerewolf

Pretty much done, any last minute thoughts are appreciated

HarlequinWerewolf

OK, so after some feedback, I was being too lazy with the bubbles so set up a proper simulation in Maya to get them looking better. I was also told that it looked like a stock photo so need to mess with the presentation style too



I also think I'll do a quick blue light pass over the whole character

HarlequinWerewolf

Calling this one done! You can check out more pics and viewers over here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/1nmGgL