Looks like my next project is going to be a chess set. I didn’t want to make another plain boring chess set thats been done 1000 times, so I decided to spice it up by making the chess pieces cartoon characters, the plan is to create a typical medieval battle scene complete with swords and all on the chess board between the two colors.
Here are my first three characters so far.
Pawn
Bishop
Rook
Shard
i recommend working on the eye area. the eyes need to be inside the head. also, while the area around the eye can be elongated or tilted, the eye itself is never. it is near a sphere. it is also inside the head.
Characters look great ! 
Shades of “Battle Chess” … have you seen it ?
http://www.chesscentral.com/chess_download/battle_chess.htm
Mike
Really cool style on the chess characters.
A very fun idea.
But is that the black or white team? Will the two colours have different looking pieces except colour?
Also, i think that you should have a look at those eyes, especially the rook’s eyes. The look not just weird but scary. Try to ake the look more like a round sphere.
The pawn is really great. And the materials are very good.
Juggler.
Thanks for the comments
SamAdam: I changed the eyeballs to spheres on the bishop and the Rook and pushed them in more on the pawn.
Mike_S:Thanks, no I haven’t seen that before, cool.
Juggler:Thanks, These pieces are from the black team I haven’t decided on my exact color yet for white. About the two sides, it’s actually a interesting problem I am not sure if I want to make different models or just change the faces. I think I might keep the core of the models but change the faces to something morally different than the black team.
I should have some renders of the king, the queen, or the knight later tonight. Probably not the knight since its taking a while to model a horse head.
Pawn
Bishop
Rook
Alt view of the Rook
Shard
I like 'em. Agreed that the eyes look a little off.
I think you ought to give that rook some arms too --similar to the others but with big and bulging forearms, kind of like Larry the Lobster (ignoring the claws, of course).
congratulations for you work! (yeap, It also reminds me of the old DOS Battle Chess)…
I’d suggest you to watch the lips. I think they are rather thin, perhaps thicker ones would suit better…
Thanks for the feedback,
Duoas:Thanks, I decided not to give the Rook arms because I wanted him to look bulky sort of like a tank that rams into pieces, adding arms even beefy ones take away from his fighting style.
fjornada:Thanks, Yeah, the lips could be a little bigger, I’ll try to make them a little thicker.
Here are the King and Queen
Queen
King
Shard
I don’t want to be an ass, but the head of the bishop has the shape of a condom. Not sure if that’s the thing you want people to think when looking at it.
Try to apply more anatomical rules to the faces. Imagine there are muscles, bones and body fat. Add some more definition to the faces.
Here’s a quick doodle on a cylinder I did some time ago (sculpted) to show what I mean:
I agree with the comment about the lips as well. They could be much bigger.
I remember playing Battle Chess on my Amiga when I were little. This is alot more clay to it, but it will be fun to watch ur progress.
Here is the Knight, I will post some different angles of him later tonight.
Aardbei:Get your mind out of the gutter man. I am not going for realistic facial structures on these characters, I want to preserve the shape of a normal chess piece.
alt view
Shard
Good work, I can’t wait to see these guys animated! It seems to me that most of your pieces could use a little better shaping of the eyelids around the eyes, though.
PS The eyes on the pawn should be spherical, too.
[Edit] Got any ideas for how the pieces will move and attack yet?
LOL. ! I think youi need to take this test :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorshak What do you see when you look at clouds in the sky ? Mike
I agree,with the others…the eyes could be nicer… I think you should commit top either real…or cartoony…style. at the moment the kinda half way…so it looks like either…poor real. and poor cartoony…
if you go cartoony add some big stuck on type eybrows maybe?
If you go real… get those eyelids in…
Can you put the models up for download once you’re finished with them?
New eyes on the Bishop and Pawn.
Lord of the Rings Junkie:Thanks, the eyes are round in the Pawn now. Actually this is going to be a still picture, I am not experienced with animation enough to really animate this whole scene, but someday. The Pawns are going to have swords, the Bishops are going to have staffs, prob a sword for the king, rook and knight will ram into pieces, and I am not sure about the queen.
Pawn
Bishop
Now I am going to start working on the board.
Shard
Cartoony faces are usually based on realistic facial structures as well. And not just faces.
It’s entirely possible to preserve the shape of a normal chess piece while putting in a facial structure. The example I posted was a bit exaggerated, but just try to add some slight bulges and all that where it could look nice (according to the facial structure).
Heh, I’ve had that test before, but don’t worry, I’m not thinking about sex when I see a bra (or, may the Big Him forbid, a nipple).
When I look up in the sky, I see everything and nothing. Dogs, flowers, just clouds, nice patterns, Steve Irwin…