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The Owlkar "Warcraft Style"

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SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
Hey All! Just working on a new concept/model in the WoW style. Love the Game, Love the Art. I posted this not to long ago, but my time has recently freed up so I can progress on it! Heavily inspired by the change of the seasons. Autumn always brings inspiration. I found this image and started from there.

a37a2542c2634f12b3e53c3fb769be60.jpg

So from that, I decided to create a character inspired by some of the major things that I think of when Autumn comes to mind. Here is my concept of the Owlkar. I wouldn't call these a final concept, but it very much has the vibe I am going for.

61feb56be4282c3dbcca6cf4af420b85.jpg
3c698a98feb28e4c00b803b656a61796.jpg

Here is my first pass of the model. There are typology issues I will clean up on my second pass, but for now, the initial body silhouette of what I am going for is there. Just needed to hammer out the idea.

943f5f70559ba4c6f8676898dc68ae0b.jpg

My next post should show my topology changes as well as pushing the silhoutte/proportion to make the character differentiate from the Worgen Model a bit more. I'm having such a positive experience with this design and man, it's just fun.

MeGiant

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  • LRoy
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    LRoy polycounter lvl 10
    Really sick work. The pose you have the base in is a little odd, though. Feels a lot closer to a worgen than your concept.
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @Lroy Thanks! Yea the static pose was strange. Made more changes my second time around.

    Made a second pass on the Owlkar last night. Improved upon some of the topology issues as well as silhouette. His posture will be getting an update soon as well so that he will be leading with his chest more than his head so that the neck is defined in the silhouette.

    1.JPG
  • JasonLavoie
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    JasonLavoie polycounter lvl 18
    Woo solid start so far Sean! Really digging that concept, will you be sculpting this character at all?
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Thanks Jay! I don't think I will. I have been using zbrush to move around my verts quicker, but once I get the base model to a happy spot, think I will jump right into hand painting texture work.
  • pigart
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    pigart polycounter lvl 6
    His arms are way longer than in the concept. In the concept he also looks very humanoid mostly due to his posture but I see that you're going to update that.

    Awesome concept overall.
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @pigart Yea he is still being fleshed out :) My time to work on him has been shifted to late afternoons so im just posting daily progress!

    Made a third pass last night and got to a very happy place with the posture and balance. Next up is some minor changes to the hands girth. Gotta make him feel pulpy!

    3.JPG
  • Zitch
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    Zitch polycounter lvl 8
    I feel like his hands are falling a bit to low compared to the concept, I really like how its coming a long and the whole idea!
  • Chronicle
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    Chronicle polycounter lvl 5
    This is super cool and really well done. I really like the concept and the execution. I think my only critique is a design choice so feel free to entirely disregard it, but I feel like going with the avian theme, the feet might be somewhat more feral rather than talon-like. I think simply increasing the spread of the three claws or maybe elongating them might solve that. But like i said, it could totally be a design choice and if so, disregard this.
  • Seiba
    Really really awesome concept!

    His posture is definitely looking better. I think a lot of the other critiques are pretty spot on with arm/hand length. The ends of his claws come just above the knee in your concept. This is of course only if you want to stick to the original concept. If you're shifting to a more feral stance/look this can work.

    Really looking forward to seeing this finished! :D
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @Zitch Yea they definitely are! I'm currently making a pass to make him feel more pulpy and all around have more girth. Digital steroids!! lol

    @Chronicle Yea dude, you and I are on the same page! I think extending the talons as well as slimming down the shin area will help convey more of the owl predator vibe as well! Good eye, and thanks!

    @Seiba Thanks! Yea the more I work on it, it seems the less feral it becomes and closer to the concept XD...It's evolving!!
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Last night I started testing on how I would be integrating traditional mediums into the Owlkar. I did a quick, workable unwrapping of the UV's for a few test samples of ideas I had.

    This was one of the very first test pieces...

    3.JPG

    It resulted in this mess...stop it Sean...stop it...

    3.JPG

    It took me about three times to understand a progressive workflow in establishing my values.

    Mediums used:
    0.7mm Lead Pencil
    Colored Pencil
    Acrylic Paint
    Photoshop

    Since I am just now exploring this pipeline of mixing mediums, I feel that this is a big move forward for me.
    This is the current state of the Owlkar head as it stands. If you look closely you can see my brush strokes and colored pencil scratches. Loving the chaos I'm creating with this haha! Things will be tightened up, and colored slightly adjusted on the digital side of things, but I'm excited with this direction!

    Until tomorrow,
    MeGiant

    4.jpg
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Made a first pass on the chest plate tonight. Still needs a lot of love. Needs to be tarnished a bit more as well highlights bumped up a bit. Seeing as aplha feathers won't hide all my seams, I'm planning on taking it into 3D Coat and just fixing them there. This is becoming such a fun piece to work on!

    4.jpg
  • floon
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    floon greentooth
    I love the idea to mixing mediums like that. Really inspiring.
    Keep rocking!
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @floon Thanks man! It's super challenging, but super fun!
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Hey All,

    Made another pass on the back of the chest plate as well the belt strap. the overall values are off at the moment, but I'll adjust as I paint more pieces. Kind of hard to make everything feel good until I paint errrrrything. So yea, here is the current state for today's update.

    4.jpg
  • VanLogan
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    VanLogan polycounter lvl 6
    Man this is looking awesome! I really like the concept. I think you could add a little more contrast to the face. Right now my eye keep getting led away and to the chest.
  • Ahoburg
    Man, I love your approach to hand-painting textures, haha. Looks nice so far, but I think it could use a bit more color to shadow contrast.
  • Tomseas
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    Tomseas polycounter lvl 5
    Very cool concept. Looks very believable to exist in the warcraft universe.
    The pose still feels a bit odd compared to the concept. The arms looks very long and give it a more hunched/monkey feel to it.
    The concept has shorter arms (hands reach the crotch vs the knees on the model).
    The face could use some brighter yellows and darker shadows for more pop. It feels slightly desaturated right now.
  • Enydimon
    Don't forget to play around with saturation too. It's a good compositional tool! Right now everything feels like it's the same level of saturation and it's really washing out your textures.
  • MadGunslinger
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    MadGunslinger polycounter lvl 3
    Cool work so far. Keep it up!
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @VanLogan
    @Ahoburg
    @Tomseas
    @Enydimon
    @MadGunslinger

    Thanks for all your thoughts all! Really awesome hearing from this many artist!
  • Lord McMutton
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    Lord McMutton polycounter lvl 17
    That's a pretty cool design! Are you still doing the hand-drawing thing with the most recent textures?

    I think it'd be kinda cool to integrate wings or tailfeathers into the design. Maybe the former as a cape or the latter as a coat thing.
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @MarshalBanana Thanks dude! Yea, all of my textures are involving mixed mediums. I'll get around to posting it fairly soon! I would probably go with the tail feathers before the wings I think. The Owlkar are like the penguins of Azeroth haha...But I like the idea of a cape!
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Last nights update was focused on the arms and hands. I gave them more girth all around as well as a more defined silhouette. Will more than likely start on the textures tonight. Chaos!

    pan.jpg
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Tonight's update included quite a few changes. I improved upon the unwrapping of the chest so that textures felt a bit less stretched. Then there is the 1st pass textures on the arm. It was pretty damn tough to understand how to handle this traditionally first, but 5 tries later, I got a solid grasp on how to make them work in my favor. It was a challenge to get the spacing of the feathers to feel natural, some of which can still be improved upon, like the shoulders area. But all in all, progress is being made, and the combination of mixing my mediums is coming out awesome I feel. Learning shortcuts is always awesome!

    4.jpg
  • RocketBryan
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    RocketBryan polycount sponsor
    Oh man, I really love the concept! I have a massive soft spot for owl-related anything really so this gets a thumbs up from me. :)

    Definitely subscribed to see where you take him further. The idea of using traditional media in the texturing process is an interesting concept...although I don't necessarily see that coming through in the diffuse painting you have this far. Are you going to use that as a form of overlay later on?

    One thing I would call your attention to (if someone hasn't already) is the topology for his shoulders/arms. You see the lack of geo in his armpits? Animators would hate you for that. I'm not sure if animation-friendly topology and optimization is an objective for you, but rigging and posing a character without the proper edge loop support can get tricky. It can end up limited any movement the character has in those areas without getting some pretty nasty stretching. It's also why most T-poses raise the arms up a bit more to either 45 degrees or straight 90. I'f you're not planning on doing anything more than some slight posing, then I wouldn't worry about it, but just something to consider now while you're still early on in the painting phase.
    3.JPG
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @Rocket Brian Thanks man! Since my last post, I made more changes to my topology in other areas as well! The reason for the single edge loop is how WoW models their characters. Having those big stocky pauldrons cover up majority of the character's shoulder, and possibly for how they have separate UV's for many textures, I made it intentional.

    Basing my reference off of this image.A single edge loop between the chest and the shoulder.

    bconartofwow059.jpg


    I also built a quick rig in Zbrush to test the major stretch areas, and it wasn't too bad. I think my characters pauldrons will cover it up for the most part!
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Another Update on The Owlkar! Topology changes, Silhoute pushed a bit more from the concept. I wanted more of a broader shape up top so I gave him a barrel chest. The hands/claws are not done yet (looking at reference for a smooth transition). Also updated some of the color all around. A little more saturation, and hue changes. The legs and feet are up next! Only 5 more weeks till Blizzcon...Need...tooo...finishhhh..

    4.jpg
  • Tectonic
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    Tectonic polycounter lvl 10
    it would be nice to see some variation on the texture for his forearms, right now its looking almost like scales because of how uniform all the feathers are in size and color. also maybe make the texture near his claws look like the skin on bird's feet.
    6595.jpg
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @tectonic yea that texture break up is pretty cool. I will be adding a few alpha feathers on him as well to push the idea his body is covered in feathers. That will most likely be done further down the line after all the armor assets have been created.
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Hi All,

    So another update on the ol Owlkar. I made a big push on his assets as well as trying to step out of my comfort zone and test some new tools. All the armor and cloth assets were painted digitally in 3d Max's Viewport Canvas. its like a less detailed version of 3D Coat. It was a bit strange at first, but I really fell right into a new comfort zone with it. It has made it so much easier for me to really progress. I still need to paint some of the form shadows on the armor, as well as pop some of the highlights on them as well. then finish the talons on his feel.Then once I feel my lighting is at a good place, onto his weapon!

    1.jpg
  • Tectonic
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    Tectonic polycounter lvl 10
    looking good! right now his pants don't stand out much from his lower legs, you might want to adjust the hue/saturation on them.
  • VanLogan
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    VanLogan polycounter lvl 6
    Regarding the colors I don't feel the saturation of the talons is working with everything else. I think if you made them a similar color as in your concept it would help to pull everything together.
  • killnpc
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    killnpc polycounter
    Make his head 100% larger and I'm sold.
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @Tectonic
    @VanLogan
    @killnpc

    Thanks for all your feedback guys!
  • BradMyers82
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    BradMyers82 interpolator
    I can see a lot of care in your textures and really like them so far. I feel the general lighting could be pushed a lot more tho, like shadows under the arms, and stronger light on the outer part. Basically as if there was an ao bake from a skylight above. I don't know if you are intentionally trying to not paint too much larger light volumes in, but I think at the very least its too subtle now and making everything look very flat. Id recommend looking at some other peoples hand painted stuff to see how they handled the lighting and pick a style you like and go with that. Looking forward to seeing more!
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    @BradMyers82 Thanks for your feedback and suggestion man!
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Hey All,

    Thanks for all the feedback! It's greatly appreciated!

    This update I did a bit of tiny detail work. painted in highlights, pushed saturation in some parts.. There is a few color corrections I want to make. but I should be able to get him to a point where I am happy this weekend.

    1.jpg

    Also Sketchin out a new Spear design for him as well

    CRdP9MoVEAAZerK.jpg:large
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Hey All,

    Made a 15 min vid of me paitin on my model. It's in real time, and focuses on the talons.

    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cz7wjwNCSE[/ame]
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    Almost done! Just need to make some alpha feathers to hide some seams :)

    line%2Bup.jpg
  • SleepingGiant
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    SleepingGiant polycounter lvl 5
    FINALLY! Called it done last night. All Diffuse Map. Nothin else. I'll get around to posting my UV's soon as well. Blizzcon, here I come!

    pic1.jpg
  • Tectonic
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    Tectonic polycounter lvl 10
    looking pretty good. I think the metal on his weapon isn't looking as nice as the metal on his body though. but I understand deadlines are an issue :)
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