New Work Update Work In Progress

I have not had much time to work on this guy with all the small projects I have been doing.  Every now and then I get a few hours or sometimes a whole day to work on it.  It’s really starting to come along and I have a few more things to model before I can really detail it and get the it finished so I can start making displacement maps etc.  The character Is my take on a character from a popular video game, Soul Reaver, I don’t want to make it exactly how it is in the game but I want it to be noticeable inspired by it.  So far it has been a lot of fun.  I like to try and push the poly modelling as far as I can and then do high frequency detailing in zbrush or mudbox.  I think It only needs about 2 days work to model the wings and arms straps, then finalize all details and make it asymetrical.

 

I looked at a huge amount of reference from anatomy books and websites. I also got a lot of help from VisibleAnatomy.com This was a great way to properly learn about anatomy. I have gained a huge amount of knowledge as a result and I feel even more confident In coming up with ever more complicated character designs. now I can spend more time on refining the look and style of my characters and less time trying to figure out if something is perfectly anatomically correct.

 

Modelling the skin has been very tricky. I would begin a body part by putting in basic edgeloops and then start to extrude the edges and adjust the verts. The model can become very detailed and dense very quickly but I am finding it a lot easier to handle. I model the skin with the muscles and bones visible so I can be more accurate with the skin. The character is supposed to be a type of zombie in essence so the body is partially decomposed, the skin is tight etc. I don’t want the skin to be too tight so all the muscles are very defined because it is not the look I am going for, and I think the final render will be semi-transparent so the muscles underneath will be visible.

 

Here is a look at the feet. I wanted the skin to be all cracked and ugly looking. The character does not wear any proper shoes so it would make sense to have really worn out feet. I wanted them to look like he had been walking for a long time in a wet/swampy kind of environment so his feet would be swollen and wrinkled.

I liked the idea of modelling torn skin and muscle. There is a chance to really see how much detail I could put in with only poly modelling. Of course I will need to make it asymmetrical when the model is done. Otherwise it will just look silly to have perfectly symmertrical bits of ripped skin. I also need to detail the face more, especially around the eyes and nose. I think I may also model part of the gullet to make it extra disgusting. I would say the model is about 75% finished at this point. the final 25% is detailing and tweaking, not including making the wings and arm straps.