Digital Sculpting - Developing my Silhouettes

Out of the 40 odd silhouettes I created using Weave Silk, I have chosen two that I want to develop into Value Studies for ideas. I did one in Photoshop by going over the basic forms I could see in my silhouette and then adding vague details over the top of that, and in light of our workshop today I have created another using ZBrush by creating a base model and adaptive skin using ZSpheres.

The above Value Study was put together using this silhouette. Personally I don't like the general proportions of the character, of the way that I have constructed the characters mechanoid legs. 

Value Study 2 (if you can call this a value study)

Front View

Back View

Side View

Mesh Preview

The above Value Study was put together using this Silhouette, and this is by far my favourite and the one I will be continuing on to use as a base for my final model. While I have been creating this ZSphere model, I have decided that it would be easier to construct this model by creating it in a number of stages. With this in mind, the ZSphere model above will become the base for the Biosuit of my character, the character himself, the crystal core, the wings and the weapons will all be constructed separately and then Dynameshed together to create one single, high poly mesh of my character. The next stage of things I have to do is work out all of the components for the character and then begin modelling them one by one, ready to be combined.

Why do I always have to pick the ambitious projects?

Digital Sculpting Research - Diligence

Since I have chosen Diligence as my chosen virtue for this unit, I have decided that I should do some extra research into this particular virtue so that I have a greater understanding of exactly how to personify it within my character.

The first place I looked was, strangely, Thesaurus.com. This gave me a number of different synonyms of the world Diligence, and I hoped that this would help me to understand the various aspects of this particular word. Below is an image of what I found:

As you can see there are a lot of aspects of this particular word, and most of them relate to dedication and perseverance. The definition I am given here is "perseverance in carrying out action"; which demonstrates that this particular virtue is about never giving up in the face of adversity and persevering with any challenge the world throws your way. With the idea of Perseverance in mind, maybe it would be good to look into adding a number of different weapons and tools that my character can use to allow him to deal with any situation that may arise in the battlefield.

The second place I looked for information on Diligence was Wikipedia (again), and I found that "Diligence is steadfast application, assiduousness and industry; the virtue of hard work". To be Steadfast in something is to be dutifully firm and unwavering, according to Google which in itself has strong connotations to the sense of duty and honour that a Soldier has as they enter a battlefield. This steadfast application towards the goal of saving their country from terrorist attacks is another aspect of this virtue I will personify in my character and I can do this using more permanent and sentimental methods of displaying a persons commitment to the military; tattoos, dog tags and military style symbols emblazoned on the characters clothing.
Assiduousness is a reinforcement of constant diligence, but the mentioning of industry and the virtue of hard work is another aspect of this virtue I will have to personify within my character. The word Industry has strong connotations of economic activity and the processing of raw materials, and the virtue of hard work also has similar connotations. Therefore, I feel that the easiest way to convey this in my character is through the arsenal of weapons that will adorn the bio-suit; industrial style weapons such as:

1. Flamethrower - To represent the burning heart of industry and the processing of raw materials such as Iron and Steel, and the burning of fuel that gives industry the power to move forward.
2. Drill and Chainsaw - To represent the collection of these materials ready for processing.
3. Gatling Guns - To represent the speed in which modern industry moves and changes.

Finally, I started looking towards more relevant Reference Material, for both the character himself and the bio-suit that will allow him to return to the battlefield. I've created two mood boards, one for the character himself and the other for the biosuit.

These images are going to help me with the final design details of the character.

Digital Sculpting - Silhouettes

My tutor gave me the brilliant idea of doing my silhouettes for this unit with http://weavesilk.com/ which is the greatest idea that anyone has ever given me. I've produced just shy of 50 silhouettes that will help me to decide exactly how I want my character to look.