Blade Nare

Rima

So, I really need to stop procrastinating and just do a proper character. So I decided to pick one from one of the previous character art challenges. Q-peng's "blade nare" concept. For now, I'm just aiming to push it as far as I can go and see what my limits are.

I annotated this to roughly work out the proportions. I'm guessing a bit there, but the back pose was more neutral than the posed art, so I'm working off that. She's a bit more leggy than the usual 7 and 1/2 legs, so I'll need to account for that. With that in mind, this is what I've got so far from working on it for a bit today.

I just double checked my measurements with the transpose tool, and I realised it's a little too short. I'll need to fix that when I start actually putting the legs in properly. I'm also fairly sure the arms I blocked on aren't the right length, so I'll fix that, too. A few other changes are needed.

In terms of the anatomy I've put on so far...I need to fix the shoulders. I don't like the looks of them. The arms just aren't attached correctly. I'll amend it tomorrow. I also don't like the ribs or ab area. Looking again at the back view on the concept art, I should adjust the waist, too. She seems to have a fairly waifish figure. Thin waist, slender arms. Thicker thighs, though. The references I've been using are relatively slim, but not quite that much, so I'll have to adjust it. I haven't sculpted women or slim characters much lately, so I'll have to be careful. If I just keep working on it, it should eventually turn decent.

Fabi_G

Very cool that you started a full character

Regarding nailing down the characters overall shape/proportions, you could try capture them with simple/low res geo first, to set some confines to work within. A Blockout step if you will, balancing all elements at first and getting the "feel", without caring about anatomical details.

What kind of execution do you have in mind for the character? Taking the visuals of a existing game for reference might help when it comes making decisions and looking for examples. It would be interesting to see the references you're using too.

Keep it up!

Alex_J

cool character

i'd also recommend starting with a simple low poly base mesh. this way you can stay focused on the most impactful decisions first - proportions, shape, silhouette. It is more efficient to nudge a couple vertices that affect the silhouette compared to sculpting on virtual clay. give it a shot, you might find that for characters like this, zbrush is more of a hindrance than a help.

Rima

Ahh. A load of stuff happened, then my tablet crapped out and died, so I've only been able to get back at it recently. Since it's been a while and I hadn't made much progress, I decided to just restart, and try to focus more on the advice I'd received. In particular, focusing on blocking it out as low res as I can. I turned the dynamesh down as low as it would go, and have tried making the body from that. Going too high too soon is truly my worst habit. Much too impatient. It still has a bit of density, probably from the size of the sphere I started with, but it's low enough that it's forcing me to focus on the overall shape more.

I need to do the arms right now, fix the feet (I cut them off here because they're just blobs right now), probably modify the legs, fix the back, I think...Improvements overall. Need to be totally solid on it before I increase the density. I'm quite rusty since I wasn't able to sculpt for some time, so it's a bit slow going.

I'd added a few more notes on my annotations; it's just made me realise I need to fix the waist again. It's quite thin, and seems a bit stylised with the waist to hip ratio. I keep making it more realistic without thinking about it because I'm less used to that. Habit, I suppose. At any rate, at least I'm able to work on it again. Tomorrow I'll try fixing the errors it has right now, then sort out the arms. I can see a lot of faults that I can't let slide.

pxgeek

Glad to see you're making progress!

Have you considered doing the blockout in separate subtools using primitives...something akin to this?
It may ease you into getting the gesture first without getting too overwhelmed with anatomical detail, which sounds like the trap you're falling into.
(You could also do this while using Dynamic Subdivision so you can make edits while still keeping the contours clean)

Sorry, I'm mainly echoing the previous comments, but i hope it helps.
Keep at it!

Rima

pxgeek said:

Glad to see you're making progress!

Have you considered doing the blockout in separate subtools using primitives...something akin to this?
It may ease you into getting the gesture first without getting too overwhelmed with anatomical detail, which sounds like the trap you're falling into.
(You could also do this while using Dynamic Subdivision so you can make edits while still keeping the contours clean)

Sorry, I'm mainly echoing the previous comments, but i hope it helps.
Keep at it!

I have considered it. I might try it for the arms; this kind of dynamesh resolution just can't hold the shape of a diagonal. I find it a bit clunky in general, though, which is why I don't tend to use it, but I'll try adapting it in this case and see how I get on. It's definitely a trap I must escape, though. I have yet to become proficient enough to see what it'll become while it's still a pile of crap, so I always become too preoccupied with the anatomy and not enough on the shape.

Rima

Well, I made new arms and feet. Blocking the basic shapes in using inserted meshes was quite helpful, actually, since they're not bound by the low poly and grid-stuck form of the dynamesh until they're meshed in. Made a few revisions in general, too. Something still seems off about a few places; I'm not too happy with the legs, especially the knees, and the back feels weak. Not enough form, maybe? But it's currently a full body, more or less, so that's progress.

Got a bit more free time to work on it; I'm going to increase the resolution and try to refine it and stick in the things that have been bothering me because I don't have the resolution to properly establish them. If I keep sitting on this level tweaking things, I'll just end up in perfectionist procrastination town again.

Rima

I haven't been productive recently. Perfectionism is kicking the shit out of me, as usual. Too much going back and forth over the same bits because they don't look right. I'm going round in circles.

I pushed it as far as I could at low res, then increased it. I've started taking advantage of the increased res, but only really done the torso a bit so far. Started on the legs a bit, but haven't touched the arms except at the shoulders. I'm spinning my wheels. It just doesn't look right, but I'm not exactly sure how, or how to fix it. Something in the gesture of the upper legs is bothering me, and the back's not very good at all. The shoulders in general, too. I adjusted the proportions to try to match better to the stylised ones of the original art, but even accounting for that it doesn't look right.

All told, it just looks.....Model-like. I want to aim for - stylised elements aside - as high quality and realistic as I can get. And this just isn't feeling it. Like someone trying to make something that looks like a person, rather than looking like a person. I'm frustrated.

zetheros

you might just have to bite the bullet and proceed with the next steps even if the anatomy isn't perfect. By layering clothing and armour over the character, it'll help you gain more perspective and in turn will improve your anatomy. If you work with a non-destructive workflow, you can also always go back and improve things anyway.

Also, gravity! Muscle, fat, skin, everything hangs from the skeleton. Stylized isn't my forte, but I think that for a more stylized look, you'll want to identify key features and exaggerate those, and reduce higher frequency detail. It's actually kind of a difficult art style to do now that I think about it. Good luck Rima

Rima

Yeah, you're probably right. I need to progress, at any rate.

Rima

Well, I got the shit kicked out of me for a bit by covid, so that was fun. Good way to kill whatever momentum I had stone dead. So I finally got back to this now. Still doesn't feel right; something's really bothering me. It's just no good. No good, no good, no good. It's all off. But going round in circles won't help, so next I'll add some proper hands and head.

I should probably make the feet a bit better, too, but they're mostly just going to be there to guide the shoes so I won't worry too much about it. Though half the reason I'm paying so much attention to bits that won't be seen much is that I'd hate to miss the practice.

sacboi

I recall that you like referencing real people, rather than using a conventional Écorché model or similar learning aid so I'll advise taking a look at Taylor Swift concert pics, especially those attired in various on-stage ensembles from the current Eras tour which quite clearly, show off her tall slender figure and what actually sprung to mind, when initially viewing the concept upthread you've based this project upon because as you'd also mentioned "She's a bit more leggy than the usual 7 and 1/2 legs"  

IMO perhaps reason why this latest update is not quite hitting the mark - yet....

pxgeek

Some of my observations that feel off:
Model looks tilted forward too much. For static poses the base of the skull should be in line with where the heel is planted.
Head and neck look too small for the body. Angle of clavicle looks too exaggerated (like a shoulder shrug) it should be straighter; makes the shoulder/bust area look to high up from the torso.
There looks like extra length in her trunk area (very apparent in profile view)
The knee area looks too thick in relation to the upper leg where it joins at the hips. The lack of tapering looses some of the shape appeal of the concept.

Rima

pxgeek said:

Some of my observations that feel off:
Model looks tilted forward too much. For static poses the base of the skull should be in line with where the heel is planted.
Head and neck look too small for the body. Angle of clavicle looks too exaggerated (like a shoulder shrug) it should be straighter; makes the shoulder/bust area look to high up from the torso.
There looks like extra length in her trunk area (very apparent in profile view)
The knee area looks too thick in relation to the upper leg where it joins at the hips. The lack of tapering looses some of the shape appeal of the concept.

Ahh, those are good shouts, thank you. Now that you mention it, that's totally true. I must've fucked them up at some point and not noticed. I'll adjust accordingly.