Character: Keeper of the Forestal

[RobertT]

This is a character I created first in Blender, then exported for major detailing and texturing in Zbrush, then imported back into Blender for additional work and rendering. Some post processing occurred in Photoshop for color correction and background processing.

His name is Arbordef, and he's a powerful but mostly peaceful creature that dwells in the forest, guarding nature against the invaders who once destroyed his sacred world...


http://www.artofinterpretation.com/images/keeperoftheforestal-byrjt2005.jpg

This is my second character detailing attempt in Zbrush, and while I have much to learn I was encouraged by the results in this piece.

Thanks for looking,

RobertT

[RobertT]

Afte working on some other projects I finally returned to this project today, this time with the intention of reworking the color scheme after extended reconsideration.

While the first version certainly conveyed the general plantlike qualities of the character through dominant green hues, I wanted his portrayal to be warmer and varied yet. I think I captured that feeling here in this alternate version:

image link (http://www.artofinterpretation.com/images/imageserver.pl?&imagetitle=Keeper+of+the+Forestal&imageinfo=By%20Robert%20J.%20Tiess&cdate=2005&backgroundcolor=101010&textcolor=505050&linkcolor=808080&imagefile=keeperoftheforestal2-byrjt2005.jpg)

Although this was only my second Zbrush project, it was a tremendous learning experience and a lot of fun.

Thanks for looking and any feedback if you leave some :)

RobertT

[Verdant]

I think the character's expression in this piece sort of throws me. I'm not sure exactly what emotion he's conveying. You seem very good at modeling convincing expressions though, from going through your gallery on your site you have alot of pieces I really like.

Did you use displacement maps for the Blender render? Do you find ZB disp. maps work well in the app? I've yet to try one in it.

[RobertT]

Hi Verdant! I've been into character modeling in general for some time now, and was recently published in a book (3D Toons). It's always an interesting challenge getting into the mind and heart of a character, which is why I often develop a story and a world for them.

For this one, I wanted his expression to generally occupy that fine line between "I could be your best friend or your worst enemy" -- powerful, potentially dangerous, yet neutral -- potentially warm and a great ally if he can trust you, until he has a good reason to unleash his powers. Not someone to be on the bad side of, that's for sure :)

I haven't quite gotten around to exporting normal and displacement maps to Blender, but it is possible from what I've heard in another forum. For this one I imported a medium poly sized model I made in Blender, Zbrushed, then exported a relatively high poly mesh (over 800,000 verts) with the texturing done in Zbrush. After rendering with additional buffered shadow lamps in Blender for that hazy sun through the trees look I performed some additional color adjustments in Photoshop.

The new displacement exporter is something else I hope to be checking out soon. Between the two programs I feel virtually unlimited in terms of creativity, so now it's just a matter of time of getting a better grasp of Zbrush. And then there's 2.5 to think about!

Thanks so much for the feedback!

RobertT

[Verdant]

I think he looks a little concerned, almost bothered by something. He conveys that to me with the moist look in his eyes, and the dimpled corners of his mouth.

[MattHHH]

I like it!:tu: Exspecialyy the color saturation,good choice.


WANNA LOOK?


ALIEN FACE HUGGER (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=25941&page=1&pp=15)
FANTASEA...WIP (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=29353&page=1&pp=1)


MattHHH :cool:
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