Elfquest Sculpting Odyssee

[elarcano]

Hey buddy!

It's really coming along nice
Judeging from the references (like I said, I've never seen the character before) your doing a very good job!
The only thing I could mention at this point is that the part of the cheekbones that goes towards the ears could be a bit smoother and thicker (from up to down) and maybe the jaw could be a bit bigger.
There's a very fast image that I tweaked so you could compare with the image you up loaded. Hope it helps.

I like how it's developing

Take care buddy

PS.
What?!! No hat!

[AngelJ]

Plakkie- Yeah we all get those hours that though you worked a lot, doesn't feel a lot was accomplished. Though it all adds up to helping you get better.

As for the questions, well it all depends what you really want out of this sculpt. Are you going for a exact clone of the original? Do you wanna keep it convincingly close but add your own take on the character. Kinda of like how different someones take on Wolverine from X-men would be compared to how someone else might do him though the fundamentals are still there to capture his likeness. This will help you determine which way you wanna go with your sculpt. Can model him as is and then deal with the ramifications of conforming to the original exactly or you can do your own take and have fun bolstering features you feel make Cutter's personality shine.

[Plakkie]

Elarcano: hey ya buddy! Thanks a lot! That image you posted is again a bit closer to the mark, so I'll study it and make the adjustements. Just what I needed.
And no, no hat, but hair! Lots! of! hair! (scares me to think about that part yet ) All the best to you.

AngelJ: that's a tough question. There was once a 3D model of Cutter on the internet (it's gone now), and when I looked at it I thought: "Hey, that's Cutter!". That's all I want from my model, to look at it and instantly recognize Cutter. As the original is a cartoon drawing I guess that to make this model work it will already have to be an adepted version of the original. As long as I feel I'm looking at Cutter I'm totally happy. Right now, I don't, so I think I have to stick close to the reference drawings until I hit upon the form that's closest...
Does this answer your question AngelJ? I must admit until now I never thought so deep about this model. Determining a goal isn't a bad idea I suppose.

Thanks both for spending time to help me.

[RaelNorth]

Plakkie, I think once you get hair on him, it'll help greatly with him "becoming" Cutter. I think he's looking great. I can't even make a happy face in ZBrush. XD

[Plakkie]

Plakkie, I think once you get hair on him, it'll help greatly with him "becoming" Cutter. I think he's looking great. I can't even make a happy face in ZBrush. XD

Yes you can! Load this ZScript and extend the bottom shelve to reveal the play button.

and thanks.

[Plakkie]

I tried again. Thanks to Elarcano´s helpful picture I got a bit closer again I feel!



If I flash my eyes across the sceen quickly I do seem to recognize certain features as being Cutter. The jawline is a bit better, cheeks feel a bit closer to what it should be. For the next session I will look to the forehead and most important: the eyes. Elarcano, did you move the eyes up a bit? Some reference images seem to suggest that, but my anatomy books seem to contradict it... I'll just try it and see if it works.

By the way: isn't that Red Wax material great? It shows everything!

Sticking with it,
Plakkie

[Maxim_fleury]

Hey Plakkie, looks really nice, I loved elfquest as well. Good to see it is still there

I think you're going really well, I would work maybe a little bit on the areas next to his eyes. It seems a bit round there and the skull has cavity's there (I would presume the same goes for an elf skull ) so if you work those in it would help the whole thing come to life more. Other then that, great work!

M

[Plakkie]

Dank je Maxim! -cecks own skull and anatomy books- You're right!
I've found some evidence that even Elf-skulls have those cavities.



I´ll change the roundness in my next session, thanks again for making me notice.

[RichArt]

Wow plakkie, ontzettend gaaf gedaan.

real nice, I like the skin shader as well.
Keep it going.

Peace,
Rich_Art.

[Plakkie]

Thanks Richart! I'm not quitting now!
The material (skin shader) is not mine, but by Ralf Stumph. You can download it via a previous post in this thread.

(en ligt het aan mij, of zijn er meer Nederlanders op dit forum gekomen? )

[AngelJ]

Plakkie- If "Hey, that's Cutter!". That's all I want from my model, to look at it and instantly recognize Cutter" then your doing fine. As RaelNorth said, some hair would help a lot to accomplish this for you. Also as far as the head, keep molding it to get a good skull structure as you are looking at doing. Think of terms of whats going on underneath the face, the bone and musclature and how you want to represent that to give Cutter a good likeness. This will help to give him angles that will make him appear more male like(like I was trying to illustrate in that basic markup), get away from the soft sphere-ish look in certain areas(like that girl elf in that color ref pic) that is keeping him look too female-ish. The jaw muscles/chin and the forehead planes that reflect the cranium underneath are the two biggies. Also a male like neck could help as well. Keep working strong!

[RichArt]

Thanks Richart! I'm not quitting now!
The material (skin shader) is not mine, but by Ralf Stumph. You can download it via a previous post in this thread.

(en ligt het aan mij, of zijn er meer Nederlanders op dit forum gekomen? )

LoL, I don't know I'm a member since 2004. But I don't post that much.
I'm an admin on www.c4dcafe.com and www.forum.cinema4d.be and I'm very busy with that.

I keep an eye on this thread, real nice work as I said before.

Peace,
Rich_Art.

[Plakkie]

AngelJ: that's good advice, thanks. I've two nice books showing skeleton and muscle anatomy. I'm looking at them more and more to understand it. In my next session I'll follow those books and see if I can put some muscles and bone underneath. In some area's he's indeed still a bit girlish, and I'll try to adress it. On the other hand I don't want to push the male thing to the extreme, 'cause there is a bit of a boy/child-thing about Cutter that I want to keep in there. The Cutter I'm aiming at is still a young man. I already tried pushing the maleness to the limit, and it made him look very old, famined and ill. Neither must he look too etheral and elvish: the thing I like about Cutter and his tribe is that they are very 'earthbound', of this world so to speak. So, I have to find a balance between the strong face of a leader and the young elf that he is... But as said, in the end I would already be overjoyed if he looks like Cutter. Again, you make me really think about this, which is a good thing.

A neck, that's another thing. When I started I thought to do the head first and then the body. Zbrush3 can do that, right? Now I'm this far I kinda regret not putting a neck on him when starting. Have to look around if there's a way to put one on him.

Richart: haha, didn't see that member-date. Nice job on the website; very complete! Websites like yours are the main learning source for uneducated 3D guys like me.

[Plakkie]

Hi there! After a month of hard work on a film project (finished now, finally!), I'm dying to continue with my odyssee: to make my first character sculpt, representing Cutter, a character from the Elfquest comic series by Richard and Wendy Pini. As I am a total amateur on character sculpting, I humbly ask the opinions of the many excellent artists on this forum. Thanks for your time!

This is what it's like right now. For reference, see the first page.



I'm focussing on the jaw, mouth, nose and eyes right now. If you spot something I can improve upon, please tell me! I'll be working on the ears and the brow/top-head soon, so if you have tips there, they're welcome.

Last question: I want to add a neck and a bit of torso later on. Is there a way to blend those to this head without deleting all by subdivisions? (as I believe one must do with Mesh-insert)

Cheers!
Plakkie

[elarcano]

Hey Buddy!

I personally think it look So much better! I think you're at a stage where you can add the hair, neck and torso so you can see the whole "picture".

I really like the sculpt

Keep it up buddy!

PS.
On the side, the link in your signature doesn't redirect you to the topology thread -thought you wanted to know-