WIP: Dragon Statue

Will Faucher

Hey, this is the beginning of a medium-sized dragon statue I am making. It is to be made of bronze, and the statue is quite old, so it is worn, and oxidizing.
This is supposed to be an Oriental-Style dragon, not some European fantasy dragon we see all too much these days.

C&C is appreciated!

By prophecies at 2010-03-17

divi

looks good so far. since it's supposed to be a statue you have a lot of freedom in terms of realism. i personally would not have added the stone details to the highpoly since small stuff can easily look muddy when baked but that's just personal preference.

the only thing that's slightly bothering me is the fact, that all the small detail is still there and yet the surface has quite some wear to it. you know, like it was sculpted just recently but already has cracks and stuff.
not sure what you have planned for that further down the line but i'd either:
break off stuff, sculpt some deep cracks and smooth all the fine details the sculptor put in there since the elements have been eroding it for quite some time
or
get rid of the stone texture and add chisel marks and stuff instead to show that it's made of stone. it's a bit more work than just alpha-ing, but a lot more impressive in my opinion.

regardless it looks very much like one of those dragons and will probably still look good if you continue the way you are doing it, so... yeah good job

Will Faucher

Hey, thanks for the crits! Very much appreciated. I agree about the rock texture on it, I just wanted something done quick since it was very late and was tired. Will change that for sure. However, this isn't made of stone, it is made of bronze, or some other metal. So the details would be preserved more so than stone (really doubt the whiskers would hold for very long in stone =P). You'll notice the surface is actually rather smooth. Chisel chips would make it look a little off imo. Here are two images of what I mean:

divi

oh, right, metal i even read that but forgot it again ...
well, looking forward to updates then!

Will Faucher

Thanks! It's actually not so easy to purposely getting it to look like a statue. A part of me wants to make it be alive, but I always realize that afterwards.
Question, does anyone know any tutorials for sculpting hair? This is my first attempt and it's not turning out the way I would like it to...

divi

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcNnCCpNaco[/ame]

MarcusF

That's a cool tutorial! Thanks for that!
For the dragon, the modelling looks good. But there's something missing, I don't get the feeling that it is made of bronze. Might be because there is no diffuse though.
Good job so far!

Will Faucher

Thanks for that link Divi!
@Marcus - Yeah, I think the fact that there is no diffuse doesn't help out at all. Which is why I used a greenish material for this next update! I also hardened the edges around the teeth to separate them from the gums. I also softened the hard edge around the eyes, changed the bronze microdetail texture around, and changed the eyebrows. The hair needs working on, I will use that tutorial to help me out with it.<

Apophis3d

awesome looking start on this

Will Faucher

Thanks! Do you guys get the feeling that there is something missing on the top of it's head? I thought about adding a horn or spike there, but it just doesn't seem to fit right.

AnimeAngel

looks pretty good so far. i dont think it needs another horn but it could use some more teeth. his mouth is kind of empty

sebas

Not a horn, but maybe some folds to get it look more angry?

Will Faucher

Thanks guys, I'll look into it. The hair is causing the most trouble now, I'm very new at sculpting hair. If you have anything else to say, please, all crits are welcome!

DrunkShaman

Awsome work Prophecies, thanks for sharing.

Christian Hjerpe

This looks really nice! Looking forward to see the finished piece.

Will Faucher

Thanks guys! Will finish the hair soon then proceed to working on the body.