Stylized Character - WIP
polycounter lvl 15
Hi there, I'm a lurker than have been around here for a while and I thought that I would post a bit of my progress since I need to get some crits. 
The character is meant to be stylized and a bit cartoony, I'm going to add some clothes so the body detail doesn't really matter, I just detailed it in quickly to get the gist of it. The character will have goggles so that's why his eyes are closed right now, no need to detail them.
Since I never done any really cartoony characters before I was hoping that this one could be a start on my way to start more cartoony stuff. I know there is going to be some major changes but I created this in a couple of hours so it's not much, I started from an old base mesh I had.
I've done some changes since these pics, and I've started to create some clothing in 3ds Max. What I really liked to get crit on right now is how to make it look more stylized and if something looks wrong.
The character is meant to be stylized and a bit cartoony, I'm going to add some clothes so the body detail doesn't really matter, I just detailed it in quickly to get the gist of it. The character will have goggles so that's why his eyes are closed right now, no need to detail them.
Since I never done any really cartoony characters before I was hoping that this one could be a start on my way to start more cartoony stuff. I know there is going to be some major changes but I created this in a couple of hours so it's not much, I started from an old base mesh I had.
I've done some changes since these pics, and I've started to create some clothing in 3ds Max. What I really liked to get crit on right now is how to make it look more stylized and if something looks wrong.
Replies
Haha, yeah he's a skinny guy ^__^ Just a speedo away from a pro swimmer.
Probably the biggest issue I see here are the major joints. The knees, ankles, and elbows. You don't want the protruding out like that, in fact, these areas should be more narrow, and indented showing the joint (you have the joint sculpted out).
The other thing that sort of bothers me is the hips and upper thighs. If you feel your own hips, you will notice the top of them pretty much go right up to your rib cage. It seems you got that down, but I still think they should be higher up, and larger. Also, the thighs should be widest at the top, and taper down to the knees.
I think for even a stylized character you need to have these basic anatomical setups. And, actually you might want to even exaggerate them because you are going for a stylized look.
I usually suggest people work realistic first then cartoony because a artist good at stylized characters almost always has the foundation and understanding of anatomy first. Josh Singh is a good example of this. You will mostly see stylized stuff from him, but his realistic is amazing also. Although, I understand you want to try something new here.
I do like your use of hard edges in many places. Keep going man, its looking neat.
Brad was pretty spot on in what he said. Give some special love to those ankles, they look a little odd (They look correct for a normal sized guy, but maybe too thick/cankly for this guy)
Also, from the profile view, the neck is about as thick as the thigh. Your guy is toned, but I think he could lose a little mass around the neck for a more even feel.
Excited to see more, stick with it!
ps. love the gogglz
I'm currently doing more tweaks to the body and creating some clothing in 3ds Max. The brushes I'm using are : Claytubes, Smoothbrush and Trimdynamic.
Here are some images:
And I'm currently creating a handgun for the character as well.
Here is the most recent picture of the high-poly version of the gun. I still have some stuff to do though.
Are you planning on doing something like this steampunk version?
Yeah I know, but I really wanted a jacket as well. I intended to do every clothing on the guy for practice.
Yeah I'm actually planning to create a steampunk version of the gun yeah, I'm working of a modded nerfgun that I liked. I'm no weapon modeler but it has been smooth sailing since I started with it. Pretty fun actually.
I'm trying to do a little bit of everything to keep my work varied.
Started to create the low-poly version of the gun, it's still a WIP though. The right one is the low-poly of course. The decoration underneath will be detailed in Zbrush.
Did the AO-bake, some small errors but mostly fine.
also started create the base-texture for the bronze-feeling I need.
I'm going to dirty it up more, got long ways to go still.
Thanks mate!
I'm pretty much done, I might do some smaller changes but overall I think it came out okay.
Love everything else though
i really like it so far. keep it up!
@Flaringo
What's wrong with the pants?
Was this modeled off of this?
Nerf 6 Shooter
We got them for christmas to play around with!
The models look really good! I like his jacket & hat!