3/31/14 Thorn detail work and more Puppet designs

Hey Everybody!

So this week was a lot of technical work with UV'ing and modeling work. I'm learning new ways of tackling complex organic UV'ing and cleaning up topology!

So while there isn't too much this week, there will be quite a jump next week!

So first up, Thorn's detail work:

As you can see Thorn now has his tabard! I've added a bit of a cuff to his shoulder, this was to actually cut down on a bit of modeling work.  I was originally going to nCloth a shirt over him but realized that even in concept Thorn's clothing was more of the skin tight nature so it would end up looking wrong regardless.

This actually made me rethink his design and actually solve some problems conceptually about his garb, but as you can see I've come to a solution!

And finally some 2D work.

This week I've been thinking about the nature of the Puppetmaster's Automaton; origins, functionality etc.  And I've come to what I think are some awesome ideas.

What makes the Spinnerette so unique is their culture is based on design and functionality.  So to me it made sense if they had been doing this their entire life or at least exposed to it.  Whether it be in toys/pets or simply walking along a webbed path they've been part of it.

What I've shown is some varying degrees of tinkering.  The expert Puppetmaster who has not only been able to reactivate a Spider Kaiten, but also control it.  The scavenger Puppetmaster who had to build their Puppet from scrap and web.  And finally the beginner Master, perhaps just a child taking their first steps towards this craft.

More UV'ing and studying this week! More 2D work to come!

Until Next Time!

-Jordan

3/24/14 More Thorn work and a lot more concept!

Hey everyone!

So this week I've got Thorn's modeling almost finished, just need to add his clothing pieces!  And I have quite a bit of concept work that ties in a slightly newish direction!

So first up thorn!

Over all, a bit more work done.

"Finished" up the modeling work for his left arm, give it a bit more of a mechanical segmenting.
The small hook underneath is going to attached to a coil of chain that will be inside of his forearm area.

Finished up Thorn's right arm guard.  The entire purpose of it is smashing, kind of like a set of giant brass knuckles.

I may go a bit more in-depth with his belt, but as of right now I'm pretty happy with it.

Gave him a Ramp shader on his eye to test out how his coloring will work, and I'm quite pleased.

And an over all general look!

And now for the 2D work!  

First up, Thorn's gauntlet sketch I was modeling from.

 This weekend I had the opportunity to work at a street fair for my University representing the animation department, so I was able to get a bit sketching work done!  These are scans from my sketchbook.

What these next set of images represent is a WIP for a possible Pen and Paper RPG set after the events of Grant and Elsa's story that I'm working on with a colleague of mine!

This should look a bit familiar!  This is actually the direction I'm taking for the way female's of Thorn's race (The Carverkin) will look like.  Huge and hulking like the male counterpart, just slightly smaller and bit softer around the edges.

This is a concept for a possible class called the Puppetmaster, a Spinnerette who controls a mechanical automaton. Note that the each character is not to scale.  These automantons can range from city guards to pieces found and melded together.  You might see these automatons roaming the webbed cathedrals of the Spinnerettes.

Next up, the Centiaq! (sent-e-ak)  A race of centipede like humanoids who have a natural gift for the Voice.  These creatures will range from opera singers to traveling bards.  Both genders are represented here. 

This should also look familiar, this is a Bulwark Mantiok, (Mant-e-awk)  one of Vex's race.  The idea is of a last stand kind of praying mantis.  One who doubles their size when in trouble and tends to always jump into action against anything larger than itself and in turn must look larger by flaring out its wings and armor.

 And finally the final image, a human Kaiten Buster.  Years after the events of Grant's story  humans have developed a way to harness the power of the Kaiten and construct mech's from their remains.

I hope you all enjoyed this!  More to come next week!  As for Thorn I'll be working on his UV'ing!

Until Next time!

- Jordan

3/17/14 Thorn Body Mesh Complete!

Hello everyone!

So last week I had begun working on Thorn's body mesh, well this week its complete along with some of his armor!

I'm extremely proud of how he is coming along so far!  Just two months ago I wouldn't have felt this was a viable route to take with these characters,  but after seeing just how fantastic Thorn is coming along I'm planning to do the rest of the gang!

Again if you'd like to see or know more about Thorn's development or character, please head to the Artwork tab of this blog and check out his pages!

And finally pictures!

The plan for this week is just to continue modeling and finally get more of the 2D work scanned and uploaded!

Until next time!

-Jordan

3/10/14 Thorn Soft Model

Hello everyone!

This week is light on the 2D work and heavy on the 3D.  Most of my 2D work this week was mapping out piece for Thorn and getting my hand used to his shapes before modeling.  Those sketches will be uploaded at a later date.  For now what I have for you guys is a set of images of the new Thorn model I began working on this week!

So before I begin with the images,  I'd like to explain that I'm using a brand new modeling method I've never used before;  Soft Surface modeling.  I'm still using the Sub Div technique but now with soft surfaces and I'm finding that I'll never go back for at least organic models.  I'm over the moon with the results!  I couldn't have asked for more!  The main reason I still prefer Sub Div modeling is essentially just because it makes me far more conscience of my poly conservation.  So combining these two techniques has been fantastic!

And here we go!

 
I do plan on rigging this model for posing purposes, so it wont be too complex but enough to get him to emot!

The plan for this week is to continue work on this model and perhaps get the ball rolling on a new character model!

Until Next time!

-Jordan

3/3/14 A new Proxy and some new Grant work!

Hello all!

More fun developments this week!

First up,  a proxy for the next 3D character.  This time the character is Thorn!  If you'd like to know more about him I have a few pages about him in my Artwork section of this blog on his design and concept development!  I'm absolutely loving how he's turning out even just in proxy!

Next of course is my 2D work for this week!  This time it's a little bit of everything!

First up is a set of images featuring a few races that exist in this world of Grant and Elsa.  Three Races are present with both male and female representations.

This next image is me spit balling possible shapes and sizes for other Kaiten besides the Drone.  I plan to do quite a few more pages of these silhouettes before I'm satisfied!  I'm personally really enjoying the scorpion design.

And finally to Grant! The main issue with his design from the start is that his character just wasn't working out for who he needs to be in his story.  So after his story re-engineering I've gone back and done a little bit of redesign to reflect these changes.  I feel that these images are starting to give life to the correct Grant.

The plans for this week is just more work done on these current works and more!

Until next time!

-Jordan