Valk's Art Dump

[aquileia]

//peanut gallery comment
While your rendering is really impressive (hell, how do you pull this off?), you might rethink the way the hair under the goggles reacts on the pressure. As it is work in progress, you probably wanted to do this anyhow... but I was so impressed that I couldn't refrain from commenting.

[Valkier]

Very quick and dirty normal map projection. Took the model down from 1mil polys to 4.2k and nearly the same level of detail. I do need to optimize the map and tweak the mesh a bit to fix some rough edges, but otherwise I'm pretty pleased.

[Valkier]

Coloring and adding hair planes. Now if only I could get the alphas and shadows to behave.

[Valkier]

I will call him Shroomy, and he will slaughter countless innocents.

[Valkier]

I am still enjoying 3D, but I'm still a 2D fella at heart.

[Valkier]

The landscape is coming along, but the atmospheric perspective is still a bit wonky and I'm not sold on the overall design of the castle place.

Also a fun little character rough I started today.

[Valkier]

Going to color him soon. Probably add more detail along the way.

[Chief_Chasso]

Your character is cool, but how does he grab his swords? Don't you think his sword and sheath should be on his other side- so that he reaches across his body with his right arm to remove the sword? Other than that, it's a good drawing. I like all the detail.

[Valkier]

Your character is cool, but how does he grab his swords? Don't you think his sword and sheath should be on his other side- so that he reaches across his body with his right arm to remove the sword? Other than that, it's a good drawing. I like all the detail.

I direct you to this video to answer all questions and concerns about his ability to draw his sword.

http://youtu.be/94c88HfACfQ

And thank you for the compliment. He was a lot of fun to draw, and I'm hoping he's just as fun to model.

[Rbuck]

If I might ask a few questions, to better understand the character... (likely I am voicing questions for others as well)

1) How does he get anything done in that huge heavy suit? I know if I were loaded with blades, thick banded armor and massive capes I'd stagger around the battlefield, unable even to lift my sword..
2) What does he do with all his weapons? I can count at least three daggers, plus the long sword and something else stuck behind his back.
3) He only has one hand to wield said weapons; his other is holding his battered shield. How would he do this?
4) He's got a plate gauntlet on his right hand but not on his left (of course, his left is behind the remaining shield). And what is the strap over his forehead?

Of course if it's all just artistic license, I understand, I'm merely wondering if there is any more to him.
And btw, I think he's wonderful... Keep up the great art!

[Valkier]

If I might ask a few questions, to better understand the character... (likely I am voicing questions for others as well)

1) How does he get anything done in that huge heavy suit? I know if I were loaded with blades, thick banded armor and massive capes I'd stagger around the battlefield, unable even to lift my sword..
2) What does he do with all his weapons? I can count at least three daggers, plus the long sword and something else stuck behind his back.
3) He only has one hand to wield said weapons; his other is holding his battered shield. How would he do this?
4) He's got a plate gauntlet on his right hand but not on his left (of course, his left is behind the remaining shield). And what is the strap over his forehead?

Of course if it's all just artistic license, I understand, I'm merely wondering if there is any more to him.
And btw, I think he's wonderful... Keep up the great art!

1. He is a big strong fella who has been doing what he does for years. I wanted him to look hulking, slow, and powerful.
2. Some daggers for fighting in case he's disarmed from his other weapons/shield somehow. He likes to keep his options open. When designing him I sort of figured he'd be able to use them for both combat and utility.
3. Again, backups in case he's disarmed somehow/feels two weapons would be more fitting for whatever reason. Maybe just to intimidate people to avoid the fight all together.
4. Straps on his face are an eye patch. What's underneath the eye patch? Nothing. Unfortunately his depth perception ain't what it used to be.

The design of this guy wasn't to make some veteran soldier with nothing but vanity scars. I wanted to make a character who wears and uses what he does because it's familiar to him. He's a big fella, around 6'7 or so. Plate armor was not something people just picked up at the armor store. So I got to thinking how that might work for someone who is constantly out fighting. If something was damaged, he'd either have to find a quick way to repair it, or make do without. Of course, the worse condition his gear would get, the more prone to injury he'd be. So yeah, he's taken a beating and even lost an eye.

I've never really been able to relate to super heroes. They fly around, save people, never take a scratch, and it's just not fun to me. The idea that someone is just a human allows me to relate to a character more readily. This guy is probably powerful as all hell if he hits, but he's older and slower and has crappy depth perception. He may still be resilient enough to survive the next fight he's in, but what about the one after that? His future looks more and more grim the longer he fights.

So yes, his armor is missing pieces and he has too many weapons. He's not supposed to look like the ideal warrior. He's supposed to look like a person who knows he's going to die eventually and wants to make sure he goes down fighting.

Cheers and thanks.

[Crow_T]

I like this guy, my only crit is that the face needs to stand out more, using color, contrast, or both.

[Chief_Chasso]

I direct you to this video to answer all questions and concerns about his ability to draw his sword.

http://youtu.be/94c88HfACfQ

Fair enough. Thank goodness there are vids of people drawing swords in the 21st century.

But another thing that's bugging me about this portrait is the wooden shield. You imagined this character learning through experience and that's fine. He gets his eye ripped out, so he gets a helmet. But how many battered wooden shields would it take for him to learn his lesson as to when to upgrade to a steel shield?

He even upgrades to steel clad boots before getting a new shield. That's not a decision a veteran soldier would make.

[doofus-01]

That landscape.jpg is one of those things you have to look at for a minute to make sense of. I don't mean that in a bad way. Is the sky a sphincter?