[WIP] Crossbow Tower

FluffyIron

Hey guys! Currently working through a hand-painted 3D piece referencing Dong Hwan Ji's crossbow tower. I'm currently still creating the low-poly base, and plan to create a hand-painted texture following the same lighting/texture as Hwan Ji's art. I'm also using Riot's modeling method, but I'm unsure if I should bevel the edges or leave it sharp edged to paint the edges on when I get to that stage, as I notice most of Riot's models do not contain bevels. Any advice or criticism would be appreciated! If I've missed any proportional issues as well, I would be glad to hear it!

Reference: Dong Hwan Ji on Artstation


Thank you for your critiques and advice!

9999thStarvingArtist

I would introduce some more waviness and curves to the edges around the base. If you are going hand painted, then straight lines should be kept to a minimum. Use them where they are needed and make sense, but the blocks around your base for example should bulge in the middle a tad bit and be a bit more uneven I think is what I am trying to say. maybe use a 6x6x6 block and use ffd or something to bulge it out. Also you should be able to use the smooth modifier to get what you are going for or maybe just bevel it once. I'm not sure what riot does or does not do but I would do what you need to to get a good piece of artwork. Sorry if this is bad advice I am still learning allot myself just trying to help out

FluffyIron

9999thStarvingArtist said:

I would introduce some more waviness and curves to the edges around the base. If you are going hand painted, then straight lines should be kept to a minimum. Use them where they are needed and make sense, but the blocks around your base for example should bulge in the middle a tad bit and be a bit more uneven I think is what I am trying to say. maybe use a 6x6x6 block and use ffd or something to bulge it out. Also you should be able to use the smooth modifier to get what you are going for or maybe just bevel it once. I'm not sure what riot does or does not do but I would do what you need to to get a good piece of artwork. Sorry if this is bad advice I am still learning allot myself just trying to help out

By that, do you mean the 4 corners? I do agree, i think creating a buldge/bevelling would help in painting as well. I get where you're coming from though, perhaps the bigger items should have a form of bevel/curve, and the smaller ones can remain the same (?)

9999thStarvingArtist

yep, the 4 corners. not sure what you mean by "the smaller ones", if you mean the smaller details then yes and no. If it were me I would keep everything a bit wavy and curvy so that nothing looks to straight in the final peice. Its a learning experience for everyone, im sure someone more qualified could give you better advice but you just have to make stuff and then look at it and ask "what could I have done differently?" and add on to and fix it or just work on something else. The thing about this art style you are trying to emulate is that everything is over accentuated, bold, wavy, and.... maybe entropic is the right word. I feel like that art style is all about order and beauty from disorder, or maybe i am thinking about it to much. If you are not going for something photorealistic but rather painterly like you are going for its less about creating a realistic model but rather a 3d canvas for your textures to go onto. If you try to put something that looks like a beutifull painting that has very few straight lines onto a blocky straight line model, it just doesnt come off right. Look at WoW, you dont see any houses with roofs the same size as the foundation, the roof is always bigger. The shoulderpads are big and would crush you with weight in real life but the art style of the game is about the ridiculousness and artfull humor that comes together to make something that looks immersive and fun. thats my 2 cents anyway. I haent done much modelling based on references so i dont have much advice to give other than the straight line critiqe, there are probably allot of procedures for modelling something like that that I am not familair with. Just to sum up what I am trying to say, I made a highlighted version of your reference. I marked all the lines I would keep straight in my model, the rest I would keep not quite straight or straight but based on a judgement call about keeping them that way just to keep the painterly vibe going with your model. Have a great night!

Phoenix995

i think that's good advice as well

try not to get some asymmetry etc in there and don't make stuff perfectly straight

and i would create different shaders already to put some nice colors on that model. So you can actually compare with the concept where pieces are to big etc.