Sketches

Beginning to sketch character designs I started on this sketch of a man quickly trying out the idea of him having painted skin - like the prisoners in Apocalypto - and I found that I really liked the way the quick and rough painting made the paint look like it had been loosely applied. This would be a much nicer effect than to have perfectly done paint (like Mel Gibsons immaculate Braveheart makeup) The bright colours also make the character stand out much more. 

From this I then looked at how different colours would look on the character as well as using different shapes to make the character look more interesting since he would have very few clothes to do this. 

I also started exploring different looks for the characters face to try and get a heroic look. I want him to look tough but not overly brutal, as that could take away too much from making the antagonists seem evil.

And some more designs for the characters clothing. Trying out more subtle and exaggerated looks

Research

I started off by looking into Mayan clothing and jewellery. A great inspiration was the film Apocalypto, which features very realistic designs and clearly shows the brutal and violent side to Mayan culture. This gave me the idea that although my character was to be a hero, maybe they wouldn't be the kind of hero that our culture is used to. A mayan hero would probably be very savage and warlike so I would like to try and show that. But to also emphasise his heroic status I thought of how in greek sculptures they modelled them to be their idea of the perfect and ideal proportions.

Looking at the Mayan costumes in both Apocalypto and other images it was clear that they didn't wear much in the way of clothing and that feathers and jewellery would also play a large part in their outfit. Colour was also an import aspect with reds, greens and blues being the most commonly used colours.

I also looked into Mayan weapons and symbolism to make my designs more realistic. I like the large simple shapes of the spear and the Maquahuitl, a sword like weapon used by Aztec and Mayan warriors. These would make really nice silhouettes and are easily recognisable as being from those cultures.

3d character modelling

So I chose to do the 3d character modelling brief. While I liked the environment modelling and concept art briefs I will be doing a whole module based around building an environment next semester so it would be good to use this chance to try out something else. This means that I will need to design, model and texture both low and high poly versions of the character. We were given 3 different character types to choose from -

a hero warrior based off of ancient Mayan culture
an aggressive and brutish antagonist based off of celtic culture
or a peaceful eldar figure based on futuristic technology

I eventually decided on the Mayan character as that is something that has always interested me and I think there is the potential for a lot of really interesting design choices