Here is a new sculpt I’ve been working on in my spare time:) I might make a bigger project out of him. I used vertex painting which I’m loving:) It’s a quick way of getting a decent result before going through the retopo process. Comments are welcome as always:)
Update Render:
Original Renders:
I got a smile on the piercing on his horns 
He’s looking good Derek… maybe some teeth or fangs?
looks great man. to eliminate the background banding ( first pic ) set a value for the dither setting in render buttons under the post processing tab.
Thanks guys:) Modron thanks for the tip, is there a setting value you typically use? Great tip though man I’ve wondered about that issue before.
a fairly low setting works for most stuff. the only time you have to use a high setting is when the bands are really huge to to a more gradual gradient.
the problem is, there just aren’t enough colors / shades, but I am sure that will change as computers get more powerful.
Thanks again Modron:) I will use that next time I run into that issue. In the meanwhile a little more progress. I’ve decided to use this guy for another project:) lots left to do but I think I’ve got the lighting and demon pretty close. I may work on the hair a bit more if there is time:)
I really like the reflections and glow your getting off his eyes Derek. The hair looks really good to me.
Thanks man:) I’ve got about 50 small UV spheres behind him in different colors replicating the lights. For the reflections I’m using the same background image as my world texture:)
the beard is amzingly awesome looking forward to seeing more progress.
Thanks man glad to hear you like it, hair is never the easiest thing since it takes so long to render clean and give a good feel for the look. Here is an update:) 500 samples at 3300x1920 resolution scaled down to 1280x720. Render took 4h33min 
The ornaments and other adornments, really take this up a notch. That was a great idea. In some ways that snowflake might look cool in a color, or maybe silver to match his piercings.
That looks great Derek.
Awesome character indeed! I love his awesome bossy smile. I really feel that a backlight is missing a lot though. (cause you have that colorfull bright background with no light casted on the character - I`d try a strong blueish light to complement his skin and orange front light)
He looks like the evil brother of Shrek. I feel he is still a bit too scary with those horns for a Christmas scene. XD
I also had that problem on my scene where I had a scary sharp boned teeth on my christmas character scene so I covered them with a cute white mustache. 
I wish you luck mate!
Thanks guys:)
Harleynut, I’m still working on the snowflake material playing with the idea of silver. I was going for a matching gold look as the rope from his robe
AlinB, you wouldn’t believe it but I actually have a back light and about 50 colored light spheres to replicate the colored lights in the background. Of course they are set to no camera visibility since I just want the light. I will boost their emission power double:) Loved your little guy too, very creative:)
So I’m thinking of adding falling snow and maybe something on his horn that doesn’t have an ornament. What are your thoughts on that? Obviously this guy has turned into my Christmas competition project. I’m thinking of calling it “SANTA??”
I was going for a matching gold look
Gold is good too, but I would maybe make it more reflective than you have it now… or if it is already set up that way, maybe throw a few xmas lights in front of it (non visable to camera) so it catches some reflections
Is this guy rigged, where you can pose him? I wonder how a pose that is not straight on would look
Right on Harleynut:) Right now he is actually looking to the left with his head rotated compared to his shoulders. He is not rigged…he is actually still a dynamesh hehe. Everything is vertex paint and procedural textures. I’m not going to retopo him since he is just a bust:) I will definitely work on the gold reflection to give the medallion some more interest.
This is terrific. The crooked smile is a great choice. It’s great.
Adding more detail with falling snow and snow on demon Santa:) The motion blur will clear al lot more with more samples. This was only 75 samples at 50% resolution. I may reduce the blur a bit cause the snow is falling slow in this scene…in my mind at least:) Added more rim lighting as well which should also be stronger in the final render. Made the rob rope strings and the snow flake clasp more goldish with sharper reflections. Again more samples will reveal the full quality. I’ll do a 600 sample render tonight and post the result in the morning.
looks awesome, the snow where the nose is meant to be looks slightly off as there is no nose, have you tried making the beard circle around the mouth as well?
looks very cool
