Portfolio Class- Character Development!

[JakeB]

Just some roughs for this mongol thing. Been busy with uni work, but tomorrow and Saturday I should be able to dig in and tighten it up. Need to do some more studies. I'm just recycling the same ideas. Maybe integrate some big furs or gold and silk.

One interesting thing I found, was apparently the Mongols were an incredibly rich culture, as they went through ransacking and looting cities, they got a lot of 'stuff'. So they were often dressed in very expensive clothing. However, it's thought that they literally wore their clothes until they rotted off. Never changing or washing, because washing clothes would offend their God of water.

Might be something to look at. I dno. I'm rambling to make up for shitty designs. Better stuff soon.

[DavidFisher]

more research and a couple concepts i learned that the inuit dont really have like a "king" or tribal leader per se which makes putting king arthur in this culture a toughie at least for me anyways lol so if anyone has any suggestions or crits id love to hear it

[Thomas Mahon]

@DavidFisher

Well I think you should play on the warrior aspect of Arthur if theres not a King, he can still convey the personality of a leader even if his culture doesn't appoint one, he could be the alpha hunter, and for this I think the 3rd concept is working the most. Keep up the nice work!

[BenFlores]

so i made him actually egyptian this time and gave him the false beard, neme, and the khol around the eye. still playing with the excalibur design and bottom half of this design.

[AaronJordan]

Everyone is doing such great work in this class I can't resist joining in. Here's a rough sketch trying to get a feeling for which way to go. Got some really interesting information on the Tlingit people of the pacific northwest. Metal daggers, armor, helmets, fantastic art and design motifs. Tons of stuff to play off of.

[Dan Warren]

really great stuff all around guys. brave move, aaron. really looking forward to seeing what you do with that culture. @david, arthur doesnt have to necessarily be a king. hes more an archetype that fits several roles- sometimes a king, sometimes a spiritual leader, warrior, martyr, and most importantly peace maker. mold him to best fit what works in your culture of choice. Even peoples and tribes without kings and warlords had shaman and seers in leadership roles. In your sketches, the stag horns work particularly well, as they symbolize the alpha (leader) as well as nod to the gaelic origins of the myth. In some modern versions of arthur, hes associated with the ritual of Beltane, and is crowned as the stag symbol (nodding to older irish traditions of the green god who leads nature.)

research research research.
design design design.

godspeed!

really impressed all around. keep em comin!

[Dan Warren]

REMEMBER! ITS FRIDAY! ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT TO FINISH A TIGHT COMP OF YOUR ARTHUR DESIGN IF YOU WANT A CRIT SUNDAY EVENING!

we all love sketching, but its time to commit! if you havent picked a design to render out and tighten up yet, get on it!

<3

[DavidFisher]

@Thomasmahon: ya i know what you mean man, i thought of this also but i didnt think itd be relevant for the challenge but thinking again it totally makes sense lol im just dumb and took everything literally. and cool stuff all around man your design seems pretty solid and i like the before and after post lol theres hope for me!!

@Dan: i understand what you mean man, makes sense. wow way to call me out on not doing the even more research that i should have done with the stag horns lol. I didnt know that was actually a think in their mythology I just noticed the caribou is a pretty vital part of their culture and wanted to integrate it into the design :) but i looked it up after you mentioned it and its totally relevant

@Tadas: lots of good stuff to pull from (especially all the egyptian myths and dieties). looking forward to seeing the fleshed out comp

for the design im leaning more towoards my aurthur playing the sort of hunter leader role, again since theirs no formally appointed king-like structure i believe this is the right way to take it. I thought about a more shaminized aurthor as well, but i think for me itll work better-as the Merlin archetype (from what i understand) are more the magical, ritualistic dudes.

Anyways heres a couple excalibur concepts, i had this stupid idea that since narwhals also inhabit this culture i thought mabe the sword could've been formed by the unicorn staff on its head mabe getting stuck to the side of a glacier or iceberg and overtime the water from the ocean kind of formed sharp icicle stalagmites around it and mabe he could have found it this way while hunting for food in the ocean idk lol

[Dan Warren]

ice might be a cool way to symboliza the stone in the sword and the stone, and having a blade frozen in part of a glacier could be a cool thing to work into your design. as far as a blade made of ice, it would shatter and isnt practical. if they didnt work metal, you could use stone, bone, or even some kind of finished wood.

<3

[Thomas Mahon]

I think a bone sword stuck in ice would be amazing!

[DavidFisher]

good point dan heres a quick revision sketch after my crit to show the direction im heading in with excalibur. I really want to play with the ice on it to make it seem sort of mystical and other worldly, sadly im not doing this idea any justice lol, i need to get to the character rough keep up the good work guys crits and comments always welcome

[Thomas Mahon]

Awesome job David, I think 1 and 4 are the best of those. I think you should just lose the ice idea to be honest haha, can't wait to see your character.

[Dan Warren]

use that brain! theres solutions to every problem, David. you could easily put ice or frost on the blade, but if they work with stone then keep in mind they probly also have access to common forms of crystals. why not make a blade with a Quartz vein running through it? quartz has awesome crystalline sheen and its color is evocative of ice and snow. in this kind of culture youve chosen, the white stone could effectively work as a symbol for ice while still working practically due to its strength. plus, as it travels in veins (like all crystal deposits), you could even make it work like a pattern through a stone blade, if not using it for the entire blade.

[malan]

Ok, new update.
I did these having Dan's crits on mind.
I stopped using the symmetry tool and focused on making the design more interesting with the asymmetrical elements for the costume. Decided to use that pose for the final design, so that way one can see the parts more clearly. Made some variations having my initial sketches on mind (specially 1,2 and 3) and some different costumes. However, my favourite ones were 1 and 3. I did'nt like 7 haha.
I tryed adding a shield on number 5, but maybe it will be added as an extra element for the final design.
I will use heavy textured fabrics and armor pieces for most of the character to give the idea of his position and wealth.
Still have to decide which one I will use, and make a bigger version of it with special care on the details and more readable forms.
I'm not very sure if using Allah's calligrafic name as an ornament on some pieces could be right. Still researching on those type of symbols.
And now, let's go for Excalibur.
What do you think? :)
Cheers friends!

[Dan Warren]

HUGE improvement, Malan. EXACTLY what i was hoping to see from you. these are all awesome. 1, 3,4,and 6 are the strongest. Really looking forward to your composite for a final design.

[malan]

Thanks a lot Dan! :D I'm really glad you liked them! I think number 3 will be the chosen one, I guess the short pants are better for battle and stuff like that, and there's something that makes me feel like it gives the design more... equilibrium... or something haha.
I will post the final design tomorrow, and Excalibur ideas on the night :)

[Dan Warren]

get on that finished sketch!

[Thomas Mahon]

I'm a little busy over the weekend with some personal stuff but I think this is good enough to submit for sundays critique, and then based on that critique, i'll push it as far as I can and render. Things that are like scribbles will be fleshed out and refined as actual patterns, I just didn't see the point in doing that at this point.

Through doing a little research on the history of Japanese swords, the first Katana were adopted from china, called Zhanmado, I think if I worked on the rendering of the sword to look old and ancient as Dan said, I could make this pass for one of them.



Throughout the week I plan to do some studies to back up the rendering of the character, particularly with the face because I feel this is a weak area for me.

Also I was toying with the idea of having an alternate version of the face, with a mask, however when I attempted this, it didn't fit with the design at all and looked pretty awkward, so I scrapped the idea.

If there are any major critiques to this current version from anyone, I'll try my best to apply them before sunday!

[donJonSwan]

New direction based off of Thomas's suggestions.

Still have some work to do before the Sunday class to make it look less like a sketch.

[Nimao]

I want to join the fun too ;> chose the egypt. here are some sketches.. i thought i make Arthur young but i think im going to do some more sketches when he is a young adult or teenager.