Sketches look good so far, I think you are going to be quite busy!
@ Quandtum- Thanks J, I think you are so right. Coffee…
Making progress on her head. Thank you Jonathan! Following his tutorials, you don’t even have to think about structure, only form. It’s like discovering the ultimate sculpting tool for the human form.
The thing is, I think I have captured my reference’s likeness, while preserving the toon proportions of the face. What do you guys think?
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Mesh is looking good. I’m curious, you going to texture it or go for straight shaders (as above)?
Really good question. I am hoping to achieve a toon look for the characters, but not toon shaded. Not really sure what the right answer would be. I thought about realistically textured clothes, unrealistic skin shaders. We shall see what works well. Thanks for asking, it’s definitely got me thinking!
Looking good man. She is gonna be sweet!
Ear and neck finished. I am not crazy about the ear, but I never am. Neck is looking pretty good, at least it’s not a tube.
Hair is up next, wish me luck!
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I like the concept of Stella very much, except on how you drew her profile. If you look at her from the front, she looks young and sexy (you really did a good job with her body, beware of feminist people 
) but from the side, the chin and the nose are not helping to get the same effect, she looks older to me. You already modeled her face, but on the picture the side is not showing, so maybe you already changed that a little, since orto references cannot be followed 100%, there will be asymmetry and other stuff.
Anyways, it’s a mix of realistic and toon character that goes very well. Too bad you -I gees- didn’t have time to color the concept art. if you can successfully transfer that concept to 3d the model will be kick-ass!
Good luck with the hair and everything else
@ Brachi: Thanks for your critique! I agree about the profile, while modeling I didn’t follow it exactly, I’ll post a turn around when I finish the hair and you will see. I am glad to hear you like the design, hopefully it translates to 3-d and improves along the way.
Here is some progress on the hair. I also textured the pupil. What do you think of this style? It is very close to final, I’ll finish up the hair, tweak some materials, and then probably move on to the body.
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Looking good. I really like the texture on the hair. However, I’m not crazy about the shapes of the curls. I think they should be more consistent. There’s one on each side of the face that looks really good- the slightly tighter ones. I think all the curls should look more like those two.
Thanks for the input, though it came a little late. I have been draping hair on this girl all night. Pretty over it, quite slow and tedious. Hopefully you like it better all filled in.
I may have to move some stuff around after I finish the body, so I might have a chance to incorporate the curling suggestion.
Edit: Whipped out the neck and chest, plus roughed in her you-know-whats. I think the next step is to model the jacket.
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Looking great, I like the hair and the overall look, no critiques (well, maybe too plastic now, but I’ll guess this will be handled later, right)
man, how many hours a day do you work? do you work also on weekends? I know it’s fun, but take care of your health also!
cheers
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@ Brachi: Thanks for keeping up. I am working 36+ hours at a stretch right now, your right, prolly not too healthy. I once heard Bruce Lee say, “Eat when you are hungry, and sleep when you are tired”, I am staying true to this ancient proverb.
I think I fixed the plastic, added a little sss. Might be too much. I think I am homing in on the finish line with this little chick. I rendered out a turntable of the head, still gotta upload. For now, check out the sweet bod on this babe.
Still gotta do the calfs, feet and shoes plus the interior of the mouth.
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Stella is finished! Woo-Hoo! I finished the teeth, tongue etc. And she is deforming and animating quite well, finally got a mesh deform modifier playing nice with an armature and shape keys…it’s nice.
Threw her in some 10 second poses and rendered them out. Curious as always to know what you guys think of her. Maybe you like her better now that she is smiling at you.
The hardest part of the rigging was the hair. Long hair is just not friendly to the animator, even when it is mesh. The rig I have now though is fairly flexible and somewhat easy to use, unless she turns her head 90 degrees to the side the hair just bends and moves subtly and you don’t even have to touch the controls.
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Very nice, the face is very expressive, and the hair style looks perfect! Keep going
@ Square: Thanks for your input, and I am glad you like the hair!
Very sadly I now have to put Stella away for now. It is time to model her co-host Ben Frank.
Basic loops, and some work on the eye area.
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She came out well and nice presentation (blue swirlies helps hit it home). My only feedback (strictly opinions, not beyond) is her dimple lines seem… either too high or too exaggerated, I’m not quite sure… and her ta-ta’s are a bit plump… they draw a lot of attention due to the proporations relative to her frame, but this might be something you’re going for maybe. All the same, I still think she came out quite good (and way better looking then the other program).
Thanks Jeremy! Yeah her boobies are big, that is definitely the plan. I figured I could get away with it considering the size of the head. =) (Also in some of those shots I selected the “boob” bones and pumped 'em up.) I’ll work on the dimples, I made the smile shape key in less than 20 minutes, a proper smile with better creases is in the works. Thanks for commenting, really good to hear from you man. (BTW: the jeep is awesome, can’t wait to see more.)
Well I am still banging away on Ben Frank, the likeness is starting to emerge. I won’t clutter up the thread with too many more ups until the face is finished. I am really taking my time in the beginning, so when I am done tweaking it will be a simple matter of joining loops.
