Birth of a gargoyle

[Maxxe]

Hi there once again fellow zbrushers!

After completing my last project (Young empress) which didn't provoke many critics or comments I wondered:
Is it because the work is already well done? Is it simply too poor to evoke a response? or simply bad timing ?

I came to decide I would start posting my wips to try and get the best out of my sculpts by taking advantage of the community's infinite wisdom.
For my second summer project, I decided to redo a project I've done for school last year when I started out in 3D. I already have a good amount of hours in it but lots of work is still needed to bring this where I want.
Please bash the hell out of it if you want to, as long as it's constructive!
So... here's what I've done for the moment:





I tried my best to incorporate the wings with his muscular and skeletal structure but I don't believe they would be functional.
If you have a better idea I would love to get your input on it as well as all the other anatomic elements.

For those curious, this was last year's version. I didn't know zbrush at the time and everything was modeled in 3ds max.
Bear in mind that this was the first character I've ever modeled and it was for halloween!
It had really really terrible topology

[IanTJamison]

The piece is off balance.... looks as if it might fall over. Other thoughts would definitely concern the wings and their soft blending right into the shoulders etc... Might think about doing a connection piece there - look at the way Ram horns have a bone 'o-ring' that encompasses the horn's extrusion. That is an idea....

The anatomy is okay - the trapezius (hind shoulder area) needs work - and it seems that you were just fumbling with a resort to sorting out the wing intersection issue.... but get that sorted.

I like the visual of a boney spine.

The Jaw does not hold enough mass as it pulls back to the ear. Might be the cheeks are a bit too sunken... dont know what approach you are going for... just overall tweaking on your anatomy.

It is a start that could turn into something nice - good luck. Oh and the wings obviously need love, but it is apparent that you are flushing out the main forms first...

Ian T Jamison -

[Maxxe]

Alright, thanks for the comments.
I went through everything you said and checked what had to be done.


(see image at the bottom for reference)
1. For the balance, I checked the entire structure and considering that the gargoyle is still part of the column, I believe the center of mass is still over the base of the sculpture which makes it stable. If we factor in the fact that the gargoyle is moving then yes maybe it would fall but this satisties me.

2. I tried different approaches to the wings. The ram's horn approach would make the wings unusable. Muscles and joints had to be there so I checked how bats had their wings organised and it turns out, the wings are actually its arms. So I tried several ways to organise joints and muscles to try and give a fun look but turns out natures way of doing things is pretty efficient. Tried designing new ways to make wings move and its not that great :P. Hes wings are now exactly like a second set of arms. We can now see distinct features of that.
A: Shoulder
B: Biceps
C: Forearm
D: Underarm

3. As for his face, I must admit he had some pretty sunken cheeks for no apparent reason.. so i pulled them out a bit and tried to make his jaw slightly larger near the ears.




I intend to work on the spine to give it a more violent/Spikey bone look.
Once im happy with the shapes i'll start working the surface to make it look like rough hard skin.
I also have to get started on the broken pieces on the ground, but I have to redo the topology for it because its awful and totally random at the moment.

Lemme know what you guys think and thanks in advance for the help. I appreciate any critic or comment you might give.

-Maxxe