Nothing really new here, but an attempt to define a set of goals.
The idea is to finish an old WiP - last time I got too frustrated with it trying to adjust facial features, figuring out proportions and how to model/sculpt clothes… I feel bad for abandoning him for so long.
In practice I would have to start almost from the beginning.
Focus 1: Head.
This one is of the biggest importance right now. The goal is stylized animation-ready head with higher expression range than what I usually end up with. I need it to be:
- Appealing
- Supporting “extreme” deformations for full smile, deep frown, etc…
For this purpose I’ll work on it separately from the rest of the character until I figure it out from sculpt to temporary lowpoly.
Appeal is a tough one. I’ve been scrolling through Pinterest for a while now trying to understand what makes certain faces better than others, testing on paper. No conclusive results so far. Critique from WiP thread has very good points (…that I tried to implement, but without much success at the time).
Topology probably requires adding “eyebrow-loops” compared to my usual setup. Think Warcraft’s manly (orcish) brows. Needs confirming though.
Focus 2: Hair.
It’s going to be sculpted/modeled with curves (for all characters in a set). I needed to explicitly choose one approach because I’m always torn between this and haircards. I spend too much time being indecisive about it, instead of polishing one solution. I love using haircards, but in this case they won’t work… or rather I won’t be able to make them work consistently across multiple characters, so I won’t be bothering with them for now.
Focus 3: Body and clothes.
Proportions will depend on how the head turn out. Clothes need to be re-designed for new circumstances. It’ll wait though.
Focus 0: Getting things done.
Stop obsessing over how everything’s systematically NOT working out. Better to draw something bad than not anything at all.
Expression over precision.
And if need be: appeal over common sense. 