“Elsa.” Character Concept. (c) 2014 Michael J. Barnes. (click to view hi-res image)
I recently completed a new character concept, and am posting her up today. Meet “Elsa.” I began working on Elsa about six-weeks ago, but put her off for other work (mostly because I wasn’t happy with how she was turning out, and I had decided to work on other concepts).
Ceremonial Armor
It had been recently pointed out to me that I need to add a bit more back story to the characters and creatures I am creating. So here goes… Elsa is a fierce warrior from a far off alien planet. Elsa can be seen here wearing her ceremonial armor, which she typically wears when escorting and guarding her warlord. That’s all I got about her back story for now.
Elsa was created in ZBrush, with the final image produced in Photoshop. I hope you like her.
“Jake.” Character Concep;t. (c) 2014 Michael J. Barnes (click image to view larger rendering)
I had originally created this character in my early attempts at using ZBrush. Though I was really pleased with my first concept, I learned so much more since then. With that said, I really wanted this “Jake” character to look more “real.” I think I finally managed to reach this goal. Please let me know what you think.
Technically this is still a WIP (work-in-progress). I am still detailing the coat, pants and other accessories. I will post the completed sculpt at a later date.
“Frank.” Character Concept. (c) 2014 Michael J. Barnes.
Meet Frank. My newest character concept. The idea behind Frank was to create a half human, half alien rogue. I had in mind from the beginning in this concept to create a dark-skinned character with blond hair and orange eyes, giving him a more alien appearance. However I wanted any other alien features to be softened (skull bones and ridges less pronounced) with the hope he would be a handsome “Face-like” (from the A-Team) character. I hope I achieved this goal.
As always, I created this character using ZBrush, and final production was completed in Photoshop. Feedback would be appreciated.
“Gaur — Character Sheet.” (c) 2014 Michael J. Barnes,
Here is my latest illustration. I decided to create this as a one-color line drawing because I wanted to make sure I could still do it. Line illustration is my first love. I first realized that I could draw when I was very young — many years ago — when I discovered that I could draw “Tippy the Turtle.” Like most of you, I grew up reading comic books (unfortunately I didn’t have enough foresight to hang on to them… they’d be worth a fortune today), and knew I wanted to draw for a living.
So, here is my latest submission. I hope you like it.
“Alix.” Character Concept. (c) 2014 Michael J. Barnes.
I had some spare time on my hands the past couple of days, so I started doodling with an idea and finally came up with this. I named this character “Alix.” This new concept piece is of an alien character. I will probably use him in a future illustration, but I don’t know how to employ him just yet.
During the process of building up this character concept, I decided I wanted to make him into a “tough guy,” but I didn’t want to put him in armor. I finally decided that I was going to create a “crime boss” character. Someone like Jabba the Hutt. With that in mind, I decided to add piercings, then a scar through the eye that rendered this character’s eye damaged. I actually thought about adding a tattoo to the face but scrapped that idea because I decided that would be too much. Finally, I decided to put him in “casual” wear, which would be more “boss” like.
This character concept was sculpted in Zbrush with the final image produced in Photoshop.
“Aviator.” Character Bust. (c) 2014 Michael J. Barnes.
I decided to taking a break from creating aliens, and monsters, and sci-fi characters and draw up something new. I am in the process of a new illustration for my portfolio, and decided to produce a new character for its. This new characters is called “Aviator.”
With this character, I learned a few new techniques. These techniques mostly involved the leather helmet and goggles, and I am really pleased with the results. I ran a search for “leather healmets” and found images online, and based the sculpting of the helmet and goggles on the images I found. I wanted to create an old-tymie looking pilot for this illustration.
This character bust was created in ZBrush, and composite produced in Photoshop. This 3D Model has been added to my 3D Modelling gallery. You can also view my other works in my Illustration Portfolio.
I would like to know your thoughts. Please leave a comment.
— Mike Barnes is a professional graphic designer and illustrator with over 15 years of experience. His online portfolio can be viewed at www.lookingtodraw.com.