Elfquest Sculpting Odyssee

[Plakkie]

I could afford some sculpting time today, so I was glad to continue on Cutter.



The model uses one of Ralf Stumps mega-materials. The crappy title was the result of fooling around with PS.

I tried to define the ribcage, back and buttocks. Please note that I'm trying to make a blend between anatomical correctness, and the way he's drawn in the comics. The belly needs more work. Right now I would value every opinion on problem area's as the shoulder blades, back muscles and pelvis. Other comments are always welcome! (are the arms long enough?)

eager for the next session,
Plakkie

[Pixelranger]

HAH! Excellent! I was totally into Elfquest when I was younger aswell. In fact, I think Wendy's drawings are what inspired me to really take up drawing myself!

This is really starting to look sweet, but there are a couple of things. I know making a 3d character based on a 2d cartoon is difficult and prone to very subjective interpretation, but I thought I'd chime in anyway. Seeing that you're still working on the body (which is coming along nicely) I just want to comment on some of his facial features, judging from your last head update.
Here's a little bit of suggestion as how fix some of the proportions of his face, as I interpret Cutter:

[Plakkie]

Hi Pixelranger! Thanks for the comments; indeed there are some very subjective choices going on when doing such a thing. Funny thing is, the longer I work on him, and study the pictures I have, the clearer does my mental image of him become. (never had such a clear mental picture before)
It's great to see your interpretation. On the neck I totally agree. The mouth and chin area is still a problem, the lips are sticking out too much it seems, and seeing your alterations, I really think that's the case. I'll certainly try your alterations in that area to see what it will bring. The ears of your version are more like the Cutter in the earliest albums. Later on the ears tend to get longer and more pointy, and shorter again in the latest albums. As I'm aiming at the Cutter from the middle period I'll keep 'm longer. They are not finished yet however. The nose is an interesting alteration. Currently my version matches direct to a side drawing I have by Wendy. I'm happy with it, but it really is a very small nose in 3D.

So: much appreciated; gives me something to think about when I will be returning to the head (after 'finishing' the body). Feel free to chime in again if you have other views and options about our hero.

p.s. How does one make those 3 frame animations? They are cool and quite instructive!

[Pixelranger]

Sure, like you said, getting feedback and critisism is allways good, even though you don't agree. And it's a character converted from 2d, so I'm no more "right" that you are. Very much looking forward to the next update!!

To make these gif animations you just make an image in PS with one layer for each frame. Then, using the animation palette (window -> animation palette), just add frames and as you select each frame, just modify the respective layer.
You can also set a time delay (duration) per frame using the animation palette.
To save the animation, you go to file -> save for web, and the gif - optimization is pretty straigthforward.

[Plakkie]

Another update! Worked on the belly and legs:



I never thought doing this would be so much fun and relaxing... Never new our legs were such complex contraptions. I always thought of them as two straight pillars with some handy hinging points. Now for the first time I'm noticing they're not straight at all! And all those muscles to turn and twist those legs... amazing!
Right now Gottfried Bammes "Die Gestalt des Menschen" (The shape of men) is my bible which I found in the library. Have to see if I can buy it somewhere; it's been a great help so far.
Still much to do on the whole body, but if you notice things that are off, or in any way strange, please tell me so. I'd appreciate it.

Pixelranger: thanks for the explanation. What version of PS is that? I don't seem to have such an animation window...
Plakkie

[Plakkie]

Aaah... more time to play! Today I stared for half an hour at his legs, and there's something wrong with the long bone under the knee to the foot (don't know the english terms, sorry, and I haven't studied the latin nomenclature either ). I decided to come back to it later, and do some work on the arms. Not easy, and not there yet, but after laying in the muscles I noticed that the proportions of the arms were off. The distance from shoulder to elbow was too short, and from elbow to hand as well. I feared having to scale the whole arm or parts of it and what that would imply, but I found a handy solution. I used the Nudge brush at a stronger intensity and large brush size, and it easily streched the parts I needed it to, while keeping a nice even spread topology. Nudge brush is your friend!



All comments welcome!

[Plakkie]

I couldn't resist peaking at the probable future. I roughly combined the head, hear and body objects, and made some crude pants. Just to get a feel of what it's gonna look like when I put it all together after much more work. The result was very motivating to me; maybe I will get there one day...

But, enough messing around with half finished objects: I've started on the hands, trying to get them right. There are four fingers on Cutter, so that's one fifth less work. What do you think of the WIP?



Today I celebrated the birth of my first homemade Alpha. I discovered the stitch brush, as you can see in the first image, and I figured it would be the perfect brush to make the leather stitches on the sides of Cutter´s pants.



Studied the Alpha used in the standard Stitch brush, and made my own, with the following result:



Rolling those babies on with one stroke is very satisfying. (I rolled them all over the place! ) I think I'll make the alpha a bit more subtle, and then I'll post it here too, maybe someone can find another use for it.

[elarcano]

Hey buddy!

Glad to see the future jump It's coming along very nice
I'm not sure if it's the perspective or what but the arms seem to be a bit short
Maybe if you post an full body image of the character I could assist more.
Regarding the arms, I've attached what I think could help you in your crusade

Gotta luv that stitch alpha man!

Carry on!

[Plakkie]

Hi Elarcano!

Thanks for the altered image; I can see the wrist changes, will work on that, and maybe there are other corrections hidden in it as well; I'll place the two images side by side.
As for proportions: nope, no perspective cam on, just my inexperienced hands at work. I've been wrestling with those proportions before, but they still feel off. Right now the hands are too big I think, but maybe you can spot other faults?



Thanks for the reply buddy; keeps me going. Speaking of which: how's your VSWIP coming along? Slow? Do give it an update, I loved those last images!

[Mr micro26]

hi plakkie nice work so far i think the abdomen area could be defined.
keep updating

[Plakkie]

Thanks Mr. Micro! Yes, I believe I could define those abdomen muscles a bit sharper. Will get it done!

[Pixelranger]

Hi, man. This is really coming along!
I agree that the arms seem a little bit short. I you hang your arms down the side they reach atleast halfway down between the hips and the knees. That means that they should be maybe a finger's length longer.
Also, regarding the torso, it looks great as is, but I have made a quick paintover again that proposes some changes. Take them for what they're worth; a subjective suggestion and maybe I've made him too human, but I think that when you translate something from 3d to 3d it's more important on the 3d version to think about the anatomy and 'function' of the skeleton and muscles than in the simplified 2d drawing, in which the lines and contours are the most important ones.

So have a look, and maybe some of the changes will help you see things that you think you should improve. If not, well, just ignore it and follow your own vision. I really like what you have done so far!

[Plakkie]

Hi there, Pixelranger.
Indeed, my own arms seem to reach halfway down between my hips and knees too! So much longer than I thought... I made the arms longer. Takes some getting used to when looking at it, but I think it's more correct in the end. I made a crude pose with the arms down to see how long they are. I also scaled the hands down.



Looking at this image I have trouble desciding about the the following:

A. Looks long enough now in the front, but not from the back. Should I place the elbow spot lower?
B. Do the hands have the right size now? They look more okay to me now, but maybe the should be smaller?
C. Should I make the legs more curved?

I'd love to hear a second opinion, as I'm not that sure of it myself...

Thanks so much for your last image Pixelranger! It's astonishing to see how those changes make for a way more realistic and human form! This is my first experience with 2D > 3D, but I readily accept that the functions of anatomy have a much bigger role in 3D then in 2D. As I want to retain a bit of the cartoony and simplistic look of Cutter, it will be a delicate balance. I love the changes you made to the chest area, and I'll try to incorporate them without losing the stylistic look. The abdomen changes are interesting too, but I will keep the ultraslim waist for now. (probably going to regret it later ) I've already curved the leg's a bit more according to your image.
I love to see these alternate visions of the same subject: I learn a lot from them and they are of big worth to me.
p.s. you also reminded me I still have to give him nipples! That's gonne be scary...

[Plakkie]

I figured just making a stiff character in Da Vinci pose would not be enough for what I want to achieve. For a few weeks I have been thinking about making the model a posed one, maybe in the diarorama style you sometimes see on modeling reels. But what pose... Hard to think of something not too hard, but also not too boring. I won't try a really dynamic one with wild gestures and flapping cloth and hair (although I'd like that), 'cause I figure that would be perhaps too hard for a first go. Today I stubled on one of the large drawings Wendy made for the back cover of one of the comics (no. 2).
There was a drawing of Cutter, looking directly into 'the camera', looking confindent, leaning lazily against a tree, picking his nails with his sword and looking, well... sexy.
I'll post the image soon to show what I mean. I tried to make a quick test for the post with my current model:



Looks like posing will bring a whole new dimension... Muscles immediately stop looking right, awefull stretching takes place, and one gets the feeling a lot of work is down the drain. But: it's fun getting another glimps at a possible far away future.

It's hard to descide what to do next: Can anyone with experience in this matter tell me if I should:

A: first make a fully clothed Da Vinci model, and then start posing, or,
B: Pose first and then correct anatomy and make clothes?

In the meantime I keep working on the model: I've done more work on the legs. I'll post another update of the pure model when there are easy notable changes.

Cheers!

[strict9]

no posing......it needs a wolf or 2 and his best mate following his moonstone......the quest got a bit nancy when the hooked up with them birdpeople.....stopped buying them from that point on...
ps plakster are you dutch?or next door?