So at this stage of character development, I started a really rough blockout of my minotaur to get the general shape and just to get a better grasp on the Z brush.
I was aiming to make something like the blockout we did for our general quadraped just to get my general shapes outlined.
I used one of my concept sketches for reference and was originally going to try using it the way we used the quadraped photo by putting it as an image in the background (change this to the actual word for the thing) and blocking on top of it. This didn’t work because my sketch wasn’t symmetrical, so I ended up keeping the photo for reference in the background and having a pureref on screen in the corner to see my other references.
I started off with quite a big torso and eventually slimmed it down a fair bit because I’m aiming to make this minotaur seem big and intimidating but still look starved and malnourished, but I really struggled to achieve that look of something big but skinny while blocking out, so if I make another attempt at blocking like I plan to, I’m going to hopefully convey that better.
I also struggled to shape the snout properly. At first I was trying to pull it out of the polysphere I used for the face, but it ended up looking very pointy and strange, so I used another polysphere and dynameshed it to the face, and it ended up looking quite nice.
I also used polyspheres to make the horns with the elastic move tool, and I also tried to make the ridges on the face just above the eyes and the ridge on the head. Of all of the body, I’m most pleased with the head, although I should have added the rest of the horns.
I found blocking the legs and feet the most frustrating part of the process, as they stretched awfully and it looks bad, especially around the feet. It’s what has made me want to give this another go because I want to make the legs and feet more animal-like.
This is the final product of my first attempt at blocking, and I thought it was a good first attempt, so I brought it into class to get a bit of feedback, and Henry said it was a good blockout just to change it so it’s in more of an ‘A’ pose. I’m sort of in a weird position right now where I’m unsure if I would be better changing this blockout or starting completely over.