I had a lot of fun in the making of this guy!
Rendered in Maxwell Render.
Criticisms and comments are welcome.
paolo
wow, paolo, one of my favourite characters! …critique? where is asterix and idefix? lol… i love the expression, and the face wonderful. the hair in braids could use a tad “untidy”, it looks very regular. cannot imagine it would look this way ever on him 
and the eyebrow, the highest point of the curve is usually farther outside. but it looks neat here the way you have it. everything else looks perfect to me 
Great render ! The hair is fine. Maybe background is blurred (little) cause i dont if you use DOF ?
Nice!!! Well done!
You probably tried Gerard, not the cartoon figure.
Gerard fits in the role wonderfully.
However, I much prefer the original reference.
Thank you Doris, as I told, it was a funny and relaxing work.
Asterix? I cannot figure it, no reference other than the cartoon, and the actor(s) I don’t like; Idefix, why not, we will see, anyway it’s not easy to get the right mix of true and false.
You are right about the braids, sadly if you use the braid option you can’t use any other kink or deformation on the hair, as for the brows, well, it’s just a ‘free’ caricature…
3dlslider, thank you!
About the background blur, I used a 66mm lens, with f/stop=8, focus distance=1.15m, so that blur is normal (maxwell render never fakes).
Michalis, thanks! Yes I freely took Gerard as reference, the original you mean the cartoon I guess, well for me too much stylized for an attempt.
EDIT: I will see if I can get a decent caricature of Depardieu ‘out of the set’ out of this.
paolo
3dlslider,
I have reflected about your criticism of the background blur, and I think that what is wrong is that the rocks, despite being much closer, are blurred as the infinite; this is due to the fact that the background is a single hdr image, and then is blurred evenly.
Although the focal length that I used and the focus distance range justify the blur, probably the nearest rocks should be a little more focused.
Thanks for the comment.
paolo
great.looking at it lightens the mood!
Thank you rusted, it is a great compliment!
paolo
Love it! I had never even heard of this character before I saw this, and I think you did a great job!
Thank you Vicky for your compliments, but it sounds quite incredible to me that you didn’t know him, the comics by Goscinny & Uderzo have gladdened my childhood.
paolo
Five stars from me but I still hope to see a full figure of him balancing a pile of legionnaire helmets or a menhir in one hand while eating with the other…
I had never even heard of this character before I saw this
WHAT?
Oh my, Asterix comic is the one of the best ever happened to me.
I keep them right next to my bed, and when sleep doesn’t come easy, you can figure.
Americans… and younger people, very young actually, LOL, Kidding now.
Me too DruBan, I can see a lot of nice scenes, involving Idefix, legionaries and other, the same image come to me, a pile of helmets on his hand… but it’s a lot of work.
I will see…
For now I’m changing the background, for the reasons I exposed above after a good comment by 3dlslider.
Thank you for the stars,
paolo
Michalis, with certain memories you make me move to tears!
paolo
Yeah bonrw1, they were very well drawn, but also full of humor!
Thank you,
paolo
This blew my mind!
I think the hair is fine, since this is a cartoon character, realism isn’t a primary goal, therefore it also justifies making very clean textures, so yes, amazing job.
However, I feel like the helmet might need a less smooth texture, especially compared to the belt metal material which is perfect.
Then again, mind blown, and as a french guy, Asterix is really part of my childhood so thanks for sharing this!
Thank you elbriga!
yes, I’m glad you caught my point of view, something in the middle between cartoon and reality.
As for the helmet, I’m not certain to understand what you mean with texture, there are no textures at all on it, I just tried to match the one worn by Depardieu in the movie, though I think I get the difference that you have stressed.
paolo
Yes, I just mean it may look a little too much like brand new stainless steel, and since it’s so reflecting it really catches the eye, but uh, it’s probably fine as is, I’m just being fussy here.
the look is quite similar, given the stylization.
paolo