Samurai_Viking_Roman Soldier_Character
polycounter lvl 6
I want to fuse a samurai viking and roman soldier together. Here is my quick concept and a rough idea of what I want. Let me know if it's working or not or needs more or whatever you feel you need to say.
Replies
It's a cool idea. But, it's important to make sure that in the end, the final result is has unified feel, and not a hobbled together random mix kind of feel.
The grey in your concept, on the "skirt" and the sleeves, I don't know what your plans are, but I feel like you should consider making this a chain mail tunic or at the least a singular tunic.
Lastly I would suggest maybe sticking to a blend of 2 armor types and then throwing in the third with the weapons, so maybe he has samurai and roman plate armor and a samurai sword with viking detail work along the blade along with a traditional viking throwing axe. I think thats a more subtle way of blending all three without having to mix and match all 3 era's armor types into your character which may make him look too messy.
Hope that helps and good luck, look forward to the end result.
Yes the grey skirt I was planning to do chain mail from the viking appearance.
Tell me what you think.
We need to do more thumbnails before we commit to 3D!
What do you not like about it? The design? or the drawing? Because I'm no concept artist that's for sure. I was just showing a quick sketch of an idea that I want. Here's my updated version that I had but never posted. Only torso and skirt armor straps has changed.
I do agree with JadeEyePanda though..the silhouette isn't strong at all. And I feel some concept elements may benefit this design more if you spend some more time concepting/thumbnailing before going into 3d.
As for the concept what is not working? Does it not feel unified? Too mixed? (meaning parts of samurai and parts of roman soldier jumbled) No one was replying so I went into 3D.
That right there, (I would say) is exactly why you should spend more time concepting/thumbnailing. Why go into a 3D project just wishing that something sticks? At least from my experience..that's the best way to end up wasting time with an unfinished project.
[ame="
I made a quick paint over describing some things thats bad about the design. it was a smart choice to only go with two cultures btw, bashing 3 different warriors into one design is very hard to pull of.
In green I have pointed out the things I like, the helm, cape, and skirt is really good, its a good mix between the 2 different cultures.
the parts in blue are probably your biggest problem, its just random stuff you put there to fill out the empty space, it doesn't make sense and doesn't mean anything.
the black parts are either empty space or bad silhouette, you could really think these parts through and come up with something cool.
this design is without the cape but with an assassins creed like skirt
You even said in your prior post, "These aren't the most crisp thumbnails but how does this look as a character's silhouette?"
Honestly, as it's already been suggesting - this stage is absolutely crucial to pulling off a successful piece. Take the time to fully plan and flesh out your designs in 2D well before you get into 3D. Try 20 silhouette thumbnails of drastic varieties before even thinking about fleshing your linework.
Just my $0.02
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLHKJS1k4u8
I understand what you are saying. I just to make my own creation and be as creative as possible for my portfolio. I want to make something no one has thought of. When I do concepts for a character I don't plan to make them professional. I just want to get the main idea across and get some references and then start sculpting. I don't know though maybe I'm being ineffective. But from earlier posts they said that the 2D stage is crucial before jumping into 3D. I really want to make my own personal creation for my portfolio though.
Regarding negative space the trick is to consider not just the shape of the subject, but also the empty space that surrounds and nestles within the figure. a good example is the plumage on the helmet in the two silhouettes in the post above. The one on the left sorta just fuses with the rest of the shape, but the one on the right has that nice crescent empty space between the plumage and helmet that makes it stand out and gives your eyes a break from the monotony.
Rhythm is a bit harder to explain. There are no hard and fast rules of it, a lot of it comes down to intuition and aesthetics. But a good thing to keep in mind is to avoid straight clean lines with no breaks or variation. Try to add visual interest by breaking the shape with other shapes, in your case the arms could need more elements added to it as they are fairly plain. Now the trick is to do this without just piling a bunch of random crap like spikes and rings to it, you need to have a pattern to it. In the case of the arms I would recommend a shoulderpad and a bracer, two large square shapes to break up the overall round soft gesture you got going now. But make sure to leave some breathing room between them. What you want is this:
|---|___|--|___-
Not this:
|---||-|_|--||---|-
Asymmetry is also a good way to build an interesting silhouette. Just make sure it's balanced.
Overall I feel your concepting is a bit too cautious and conservative. It's just sketching and exploration. Go nuts! Really exaggerate your shapes and don't get too attached. Spend like 5 minutes on each thumbnail and move on. Most of them are gonna be crap, but a lot of them will have something to them. Grab what you like and incorporate that into your next set of thumbnails. This whole process is supposed to be fast and loose.
Keep this in mind: It's easier to pull back than it is to push forward.
So even if you want to make a more realistic character it's a good idea to go really exaggerated and crazy, and once you figure out which elements work start dialing it back for your final design.
Dimfist
Stevenson09
Fingus
I'm not going to give up on this concept but I will take a break from it and start modeling other concepts to better myself as a character artist.
Oh and a quick question. Would I be able to put a model that I finished from someone else's concept and showcase it on my portfolio? I will reference the artist of course