Hey guys! For my entry in the BlenderGuru Christmas Competition, I am planning on making a mall scene with a Salvation Army volunteer.
Here is the first test!
I made a bell, the tripod, and a chain.
I’m not sure if I should work on the mall next, or the two characters. Probably the characters, since they are the most important, and I can make the mall later with whatever time I have left.
Here is my sculpt for the bell ringer:
I have decided to make this project about a busy street of storefronts instead of an indoor mall, mostly so I can have mittens/scarfs/hats and I won’t have to make hands. :eyebrowlift2:
Here’s a quick test render with some very simple materials.
I don’t want to make ears, so I just covered them up with a hat.
I updated the face, fixed some proportions, and finished the hat.
I need to work on the skin shader to add some color variation, especially with the lips. Then I need to move on to the rest of the body, which I will simply block out and then cover with clothing. I’ve never actually done that before, but I hope it won’t be too difficult.
Hey, nice progress here! Face looks much better now, and the hat looks great! 
Thank you!
The clothes took longer than I had thought, but here they are (mostly). The only thing I have to add is an apron, which will be very easy, and shoes, which won’t be so easy. If I don’t have time to make shoes, I could always block his feet with a bush or something.
This is how I want the final image to be set up. The bell ringer will be on a sidewalk in front of a line of buildings, and there will be a little girl putting a coin into the bucket. In the background, you will see a lot of blurry people busily rushing about their business.
Here’s a better angle so you can see the clothes. The pose looks a bit awkward, but it’s set up to be seen from the side.
I finished the bell ringer and have gotten most of the environment done.
I still need to make the girl, put something in the stores so they aren’t bare, add upper-level windows, storefront signs, motion-blurred pedestrians, and maybe even more. Getting nervous now… So much to do in so little time!
Hello wolverine96
That is a very ambitious project. I like the concept and the texturing so far, but there still is a lot left to fill the scene. I know the render is not the finished version, but the colorsheme seems flat. I’d like to see more contrast in the final image, to really get the main characters “pop”!
Maybe you could add a stronger directional Light source shining on the veteran.
Keep up the good work! You can still finish it 
Thank you for the critiques! Yes, I actually added a light source for the characters and also toned down the moonlight.
I managed to make the girl completely from scratch today, (even if I wasted about an hour trying to solve an issue with automatic bone weights). I am very happy with the progress at this point.
Edit: I just now noticed that when I fixed the rotation of the concrete texture I messed up the footprint texture. No worries, I’ll just use some node magic!
