Final Year Project - God of War Inspired Blacksmith

I blocked out the clothing and tools he would have on him, then developed the primary forms of the facial structure and skull shape that would help portray a giant. I started creating irregular head shapes in layers allowing me to mix and interpolate between head shapes, I mixed a head shape after getting feedback. I wanted to give the character an underbite similar to a toothless old person where lower jaw bone would dissolve due to the lack of stimulation. I developed the anatomy and proportions of the body, in addition, I thickened the fingers and fleshed out the feet. After receiving feedback about the facial structure, I adjusted the eye position and the profile of the face to match closely to the reference I collected without breaking symmetry. I layered the facial features, the same way I did for head shapes.

I have sketched a clothing design made of a mix of chainmail and metal plates hanging on top of leather scraps. I did not pick the chainmail and plate skirt in the end as it would make that area too dense with detail after the tools and belt attachments are hanged on top of it. I created a breakout of how I want Völundr's arms to appear, covered in coal and calloused from all the hammering of steel. I picked a body shape from the thumbnails I made, I illustrated the body's folds, shape, and form. I want the character to look like a wild humanoid troll while still being intelligent enough to create and scavenge clothing and armor. I kept the armor worn out, bent and falling apart, to convey old age and hardships. I iterated and defined the lines and choices of tools and weapons piercing the character's back. I blocked out the character's proportions in Zbrush. I scaled the character in 3DS Max in order to keep the scaling correct so I wou...

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.