Final Year Project - God of War Inspired Blacksmith

I started my pre-production phase by reading through The Art of God of War (2018) art book to familiarize myself with the artistic choices Santa Monica Studios took when tackling their latest title of the trilogy, as it did not follow its predecessors' art style and mythology. I collected books about Viking and Celtic visual styles and books about blacksmithing. I've read about tools used by blacksmiths and the uses and application of the tools on various websites and smithing forums. I collected visual references human anatomy and potential materials used in the design of my character, as well as patterns and iconography engravings that would help for detailing assets. I sketched proportions thumbnails for the blacksmith and developed rough clothing designs as a starting point for me to iterate on top of, after getting feedback from peers and supervisor. The first three designs were scrapped as they felt too human and wouldn't fit the scale of the character. I played a...

I've spent time before the start of the module writing down ideas for projects. I've collected information and visual reference regarding style and materials for 3 of the ideas that I'm most fond of. I pitched the ideas to my supervisor Matthew Minnitt and ended up picking a Norse Mythological Blacksmith as my final year project. The character's physique would reflect an old and experienced master blacksmith, accentuating the muscular structure of the muscles used when forging steel while keeping the character stocky in nature. The character will be a troll larger than a human being in size and with distinct facial features. I'm naming my character after a blacksmith from Norse mythology called Völundr.