Everybody knows i'm not the best character modeller, especially with some of the stuff i was making for CorePak vol.2 (by the way, i haven't been working on that for a couple days, I'll explain in a minute)
but my old characters always failed in the eyes of others when i tried to paint the thing myself, rather than just using photos to texture them, some may remember i went over the top after discovering the dodge and burn tool, gradually, you could tend to notice my style for its dark grungy feel, but it wasn't good enough.
falling to some more superior creations, i turned interest to modelling some weapons for volume 2, i got a hang of this, after a while somehow jumping to a new level, for instance, the first weapon made for volume 2, was the famas, looking back now, it isn't the best texture (though it does the job) and i noticed some pretty big gaps in the UV map, which could easily be filled. noticing some recent weapons, they had tightly fitted UV maps with little wasted space and the textures were near perfect (for my standards)
this increase in ability was quite stunning, in such little time, well then, what did this mean for my character modelling? surely the same? (apparently so)
for the past five days, i have been working heavily on a male character concept, a barbarian warrior, almost like a re-vamp of the Knight model i made a while back, but i wanted to work very seriously on this one, as it would be most likely my greatest submission to my new Internet portfolio.
the increase in my ability is peculiar, yet fascinating, i am not stating that i am "perfect" but anyone who has followed my work on these forums would notice the difference.
thus, here it is, the result of five days work...
it was originally inspired by a wonderful model made by Vitaliy Naymushin, for those who visit 3d.sk (don't go there kids, nudity!) would have noticed it in the user works (also where one of bond1's models are
)
in this time, i spent quite a bit with the head, making it more dynamic to new features rather than my other character models, like the video tutorial i provided for Higgins once, i started in that method, something i am doing much more commonly now, i even opened up the mouth and made teeth, perhaps for lip sync
i also noticed that i now have an increased confidence in my face painting, i am actually satisfied, they may not be perfect, or simulate near reality, but they are convincing, they fit, and it actually looks like a full face.
all textures were painted from basically nothing in photoshop, no photo-editing, i am very proud of this success, and i am hoping it will be a stunning addition to my portfolio
so what does this mean for my future models? well, that's the thing with corepak, i am no longer satisfied to sell those models as a symbol of my effort, for they neither show my best work, or let alone anything compared to new things to come, so what do i do with them? i could A) release ALL characters from corepak volume 2 for FREE, and keep volume 2 as a weapons pack, thereby making the price fair, or maybe cheaper, or B) just stop now with the characters in the pack, no more characters, the comparison would be stupid if i continued to make more, i would like people to vote for this in there posts as well as any comments (providing your actually reading this rather than skipping all the text!
)
Now i ask myself, what made this jump, because i cant suddenly go from that to this in such time, with little character practice, i believe it has something to do with accessing the right hemisphere of the brain, the side which perceives thought, and enhances visual and artistic confidence, the ability to literally just "draw/model what you see" and it is so simple. Some people may be a bit skeptical of these thoughts, so i will discuss no further, reading Betty Edwards wonderful art tutoring books taught me this concept.
to finish, a couple more images, variations, one with a cloak , and a darker more evil desaturated perception of the character...
Comments and critiscm please, also state whether you like the dark desaturated version better than the other, personally i like the darker one, however some people see me as too grungy.
cheers!
EDIT:
i forgot to mention, to conclude...
I offer freelance 3d services to anyone, if interested, please contact me with your offer and request
-Jon
