Bronn the Panther
polycounter lvl 7
Hey all,
So this is my first WIP thread. Hope it goes well.
I've just finished reading through Song of Ice and Fire (first book so far :X) for the first time. Now that the series is out, I couldn't postpone it any longer (after many years of never getting to it :X). After reading the book I watched a few episodes from the series, and was shocked to see so many parts of the story utterly ruined... but what I was surprised to find out the most - is how differently I pictured Bronn!
I probably didn't really follow his description well, so I got this image in my head of a REALLY cool, beast of a man. George Martin kept telling how he moved like a panther, and had almost no armor on him, and I just pictured this big guy with a huge, long black sword, dirty, and much younger than they guy portraying him in the series.
So, I decided I'd try to make the character. He might not be that accurate to the description, but no matter when he's mentioned - that's who I'll see.
This "moves like a panther" thing really got into my head, so I decided I'd make his features resemble a panther a bit. His nose, I tried to make a little cat-like. The shape of the eyes, the shape of the head - all I tried to make panther-like. Hope that'll work.
These are pics of the base mesh as it is now:
Hope I'll be able to finish this in proper time.
The plan is to go high poly, get a MR or Vray render with a neat background, and color on top of that render with Photoshop. Once that's done, I'll get it game ready!
LATEST:
So this is my first WIP thread. Hope it goes well.
I've just finished reading through Song of Ice and Fire (first book so far :X) for the first time. Now that the series is out, I couldn't postpone it any longer (after many years of never getting to it :X). After reading the book I watched a few episodes from the series, and was shocked to see so many parts of the story utterly ruined... but what I was surprised to find out the most - is how differently I pictured Bronn!
I probably didn't really follow his description well, so I got this image in my head of a REALLY cool, beast of a man. George Martin kept telling how he moved like a panther, and had almost no armor on him, and I just pictured this big guy with a huge, long black sword, dirty, and much younger than they guy portraying him in the series.
So, I decided I'd try to make the character. He might not be that accurate to the description, but no matter when he's mentioned - that's who I'll see.
This "moves like a panther" thing really got into my head, so I decided I'd make his features resemble a panther a bit. His nose, I tried to make a little cat-like. The shape of the eyes, the shape of the head - all I tried to make panther-like. Hope that'll work.
These are pics of the base mesh as it is now:
Hope I'll be able to finish this in proper time.
The plan is to go high poly, get a MR or Vray render with a neat background, and color on top of that render with Photoshop. Once that's done, I'll get it game ready!
LATEST:
Replies
Thanks for the critique, I'll take it into account for the next update.
I usually take into consideration that the hands aren't completely straight, and make sure they don't really get all the way to the middle of the hip, so that when they do get straight they won't go past it.
Either way here's a quick fix I did this morning (meaning now) - I kept him 8 heads, but took a shot at fixing the proportions. I'll be glad to hear what you think now.
Thanks!
I was also very upset to find out how poor the movie was done comparing it with the book.
Yes, the series was so highly acclaimed and I had high expectations. I assume when you don't read the book, or if you judge it separately from the book, it is truly great - but the book is... so much MORE. Also I was very disappointed in the choice of actors, and the fact they made all the kids so much older... it loses the whole point of how rough this world is.
Either way now comes the hard part. I was never very trained with clothes, armor pieces, etc. This will actually be my first attempt at a fully clothed, fully equipped character. I hope it'll turn out as good as I picture it. All I can say is that just being in this forum taught me a TON.
Also I've been having problems with small details, so I wanted to nail that too.
This will go to my portfolio eventually, so I want it to really be in-depth and I want to have a lot to show from the process about who I am and what I can do.
I'm aware it's unnecessary, of course, but when I'm doing such project I enjoy exploring everything too.
- Oblique should be a bit bigger in my opinion spreading more from top to bottom.
- Where the green mark is that part of the quad ( not familiar with the correct name) should shift a bit to the right and i believe it bulges out a bit too much.
wat
Sorry, but what you've described is the exact opposite of a panther. Apart from the fact that they're more of a sprinter than the other big cat, they're still (relatively) lean, focused and move like a cat.
[ame]
Your Bronn looks like a cross between Conan and one of the Panther Tanks used in war. Basically that's the point of him in the book - he's not hugely strong, but just loose enough physically and morally to come out alive.
Other than that, it's a pretty cool sculpt. It looks a bit busy around the shoulders and the thighs, maybe that's just me though. And I with you'd included the head in that last shot.
Obviously this did not come out EXACTLY the way I pictured it. I will probably work more on it once I have all the clothes sculpted, and hair, etc. But generally, I do want him buffed up - although I know I'm probably wrong about how he is actually in the book.
I hope the end result will be good on it's own, regardless of it being an accurate description of him or not.
Disanski - thanks for the paintover. I did wonder if something's wrong in the legs, since that's the area I'm least trained in. I'll definitely go over it again with help from your sketch which appears to work better than what I did.
I'm planning on adding some light shoulder armor, something very thin to add some interest to that area. Also there should be fur popping out of most open sleeves (bottom of pants, shoulders, around the bracelets, neck, etc).
I'd love to get some critique on the design. The character and the armor. Paintovers with suggestions of design improvement... I could really use it.
Also, I'm at a loss with the pants. I didn't start them yet, I delay them, mainly because I just don't know what to do there. Everything I can think of seems so modern, or so generic, I just can't think of anything that'd really fit in there. So suggestions about that would really help too.
This is straying more and more from what I imagined. I guess you can never run a way from it. What I picture in my head is much less designed, much more crude and "real". I think it wouldn't make a very good design, so I'm changing it to be more stylish. Hope it'll turn out well.
Would still love to hear your thoughts people...
And the blocking of the new:
The old design didn't get much feedback, and the few it got weren't very positive. I'd love to hear a few words about the new one's general shape.
Thanks all