Grenade Launcher fan art character [WIP]

PearseM1

Im making a fan art sculpt of this character by Alexis Rives (Deadslug) for a university module. I thought since I want to improve, I should share my progress and get feedback throughout.

This is the reference im working off;

I've already started the character and put a few hours into it so far, here's some progress shots:

I was debating whether or not to make the character just 1:1 in style, but I decided to go my own direction with it and challenge myself a little. Its still a long way off being completed, so I'll try to update this thread as often as I can.

Thanks for stopping by!

PearseM1

Just a small update, I've made the first pass on the bag/bullets

Not sure about the overall folds, so I'll probably go in and change those. Still need to clean up a lot of it and fix a few things.

I've also updated the boots a little;

They also need a lot more love, but the basic shape is there for now!

Going to do another pass on the jacket and face next. Lots to do!

PearseM1

Its been a while, but I was busy with other uni work (group project) but now im back to this character. Progress is pretty slow but im getting there.

This is where im at at the moment;

I went back and redone some things after the break, mainly the trousers. The old ones (left) didn't really have directions in the folds and more so just looked like a random mess, so I tried to fix that and add in some proper folds (right), although im still working on them as you can see the knee area is pretty bare.

I've also done the same with the coat and added in some pockets. I've also added in gloves too!

All in all, its a pretty small update with some minor changes. But im going to be working on this for the rest of the week, so I'll be able to update here daily or so!

PearseM1

Small update

I've almost finished the gun. I might add a few weld marks in some areas just to give it more character, specifically around the parts attached to the barrel. First time using booleans in Zbrush and damn, they're so handy for hard surface stuff.

Now on to touching up the bag, adding the bandolier and then polishing the rest of the character. Hopfully have it all finished and ready to retopo some point this weekend 🤞

PearseM1

So im going to call the sculpt finished. I want to work on it for longer but I have a deadline coming up and I still need to retopo/texture/render it!

There's a few minor things I'll clean up before retopo like the seam on the trousers, I just didn't notice until after I took the screenshots. But here's some screenshots on how its looking now, any feedback would be appreciated!

(just some inner details for the gun, since it'll be open for the final pose)

Going to start the retopo tomorrow!

Crazy_pixel

Looking good so far I really like her clothes!

In terms of feedback, you could make her hair buns bigger like in the reference, becuase that make your mesh even more interesting as overall shape. 

Do you have specific guidelines for the project, like triangle count, texture size or similar?

PearseM1

Thank you!

Yeah you're right, I'll try them out bigger to see how they look!

And there's no real limitations or guidlines for this project other than what I personally set for myself. Im thinking somewhere around 20k tris all in and 4 texture sets; head/hair, clothes, accessories and then the gun at 1-2k each. But those could all change when I get to it as they're just rough ideas.

PearseM1

Retopo for the body/ accessories is done! I just need to finish the rest of the gun tomorrow and then I can get to doing the UV's

I tried to keep it as low as possible, but I also wanted to keep all of the folds and round edges on things, so I put more polys where I wanted them. The topology isn't perfect and I could easily reduce/optimise it more in areas (specifically the shoes) but its perfect for what I intedend on doing with the model anyway. The fur part is also just a quick decimation with Zbrush.. which isn't great, but again its enough for what I need while also keeping the forms.

I'll update tomorrow once I get the gun and UVs done!

PearseM1

Took longer than I expected, but now everything is retopo'd and UV'd!

Its not the most perfect UV's or retopo, but its more than enough for what im doing. Now I can get to texturing finally!

I'll update once I have all the base textures in and work from there... Soon!

PearseM1

Ok so I've started messing with the textures and put it into UE4 for testing.

I've been trying a lot of new ways to set up my materials for this project compared to my past ones, and Im really liking how its coming together. Still tweaking everything as its only the first day of texturing, so expect the colours and materials to shift around.

PearseM1

Make a quick dirty rig to get a pose in

Still need to change a few of the textures, then I'll move on to the lighting then dressing!

pixelpatron

This is rad, can't wait to see the final!

PearseM1

Tried out a new lighting set up, wanted to do something like an explosion in the background for a nice contrast but it ended up being very distracting and took focus away from the chracter. The test explosion was just a sphere in UE4 with a displacement material on it

It probably would look nice if I put some smoke, decals and a custom mesh as the explosion, but I think the same thing would ring true no matter what. It would make the scene too noisy and take away from the character.

So I tried a more simple traditional lighting set up and I think it holds up a lot better, although I might still explore more things.

Almost finished with it all, just some minor touch ups left!

Any feedback on the presentation would be great!

PearseM1

So I think im going to call it done here, im happy with the lighting and material set up.

Just need to take a few proper renders of it now!

PearseM1

The project is now up on Artstation if you want to see some high res renders or the turntable!

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lVgOqa