[DS2] Axe, Afisher

afisher · Mar 2012

I couldn't resist, so I thought I'd join in.

I'm not much of a concept artist, but here's my rough sketches. It shows the general direction I'm heading in at the moment.

FINAL:

woogity · Mar 2012

Im digging 4 with the skull from 2. the skull in that one just reads much better for me and i love the broken circle detail.

AimBiZ · Mar 2012

I like the aggressiveness you got going on. I like 2a the most.

Grimm_Wrecking · Mar 2012

I like 2a/b. The only thing from b though I would like to see is the addition broken circular detail, the rest a.

tsabszy · Mar 2012

yay! your comicon stuff was great too! i'm curious, what you'll do!

Conrad · Mar 2012

Great work on your portfolio site ill be keeping track of your art. I like number two, and number four for the handle wraps

Di$array · Mar 2012

The silhouette of 3 is great but i would maybe move the main blade of the axe into the skull a bit more. It looks too flimsy by just being attached to the horn. I'm also a fan of the 2 design as well mate.

I look forward to seeing which on you chose.

invizzie14u · Mar 2012

I like #2 best...there's something about it that it comes off as being from the realm of Darksiders the most

afisher · Mar 2012

woogity, AimBIZ, Grimm_Wrecking, tsabszy, Conrad, invizzie14u - Thanks heaps for the feedback!:)
Di$array - Thanks mate. Yea you're right about the positioning of the blade in 3.

I'm leaning more towards 2 at the moment. I'm going to try and get some more sketches done today and refine my concept a bit.

ENODMI · Mar 2012

I really like the circular flow to the face of 2b, it might bring to much of a focal point to a weapon, but as is I like that demon face the most

BrendtheCow · Mar 2012

If you're going with 2, I hope you go with 2b's skull. Really looking forward to where you go with this :]

ChaosEidolon · Mar 2012

Ah nice! the 2s def feel the most resolved to me. 3 could work well too, but I'd maybe push the asymmetry a bit more if you're already going that way. Great stuff!

naruSol · Mar 2012

With the sketchy style of these concepts, 3 works the best, but it really depends on how you translate these ideas to the style of the game. 2 might be the safer bet, but I'd really like to see 3 taken to the limit.

SgtNasty · Mar 2012

I'm liking 3 the best so far.

ValiantDan · Mar 2012

I would throw down for number 4!

Frump · Mar 2012

The skull centerpiece from 2b is the coolest but I also like the horns, blade shapes handle and pommel from 3.

Echronos · Mar 2012

Really nice concepts man. I like the 3th the most. Awesome skulls you have there

afisher · Mar 2012

ENDOMI, BrendtheCow, ChaosEidolon, NaruSol, SgtNasty, ValiantDan, Frump, Echronos : Thanks everyone for your feedback!!!:)

Ok so I've refined a few of the designs and got more of an idea of where I'm going. Hopefully these fit in with the DS style. So this is where I'm at. Let me know what you think:

kelli · Mar 2012

Nice drawings! I really like #6 the most overall, but I'd love to see some horns on the skull, maybe like the ones on #7.

AimBiZ · Mar 2012

I like 6b the most but with the left blade of 7.

Maph · Mar 2012

6b with the blades + skull of 7 for me. Great stuff man!

afisher · Mar 2012

Kelli, AimBiZ, Maph: Thanks for the suggestions!

I did a quick concept of design #6b with some horns. Let me know what you think. Thanks

Di$array · Mar 2012

Really like the update bud. Maybe you could have the blades as one piece rather than 2 separate pieces? Also since these weapons are beasts in size, I think a human skull could fit on one of those spikes?

BrendtheCow · Mar 2012

afisher wrote: »

Let me know what you think.

I think what you've got here is beating the pants off of anything I've come up with so far

#8 is definitely your strongest design so far, though I really liked the slightly taller left blade from #7. You're headed for a strong entry, and I can't wait to see it in 3D!

EDIT: I say definitely too much. Fixt.

BoBo_the_seal · Mar 2012

looking good. I would use 5a's Pommel however. It ties in with the elements in the top of the weapon.

- BoBo

MissMaddyTaylor · Mar 2012

Sexy!

ENODMI · Mar 2012

5a blades of 7!

Dan! · Mar 2012

i like em all- go go go!

ScoobyDoofus · Mar 2012

I'm with Bobo on the pommel, tho an alternative would be to get rid of the circular elements on the top and do something else to jazz that area or the blades up.

afisher · Mar 2012

Di$array: Thanks mate. I might try out having the blades as one, but atm I like them being separate, I think it makes for a more interesting silhouette. The human skull thing is a good idea, but I need to keep in mind the poly budget.
BrendtheCow: Cheers. Nah you don't say too much, I appreciate the feedback.
BoBo_the_seal: Thanks man. Yea I think you're right.
TerraBite: Thanks

ENODMI: Thanks for the feedback

Dan!: Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing how yours turns out.
ScoobyDoofus: Thanks for the suggestion.

Thankss everyone!
I'm going to revisit the concept and maybe start blocking in the base mesh after work tonight if I get time.

afisher · Mar 2012

I'm still playing around with a few ideas, but I've created the base meshes and started sculpting the main skull. It's still pretty rough, but I thought I'd post an update. Thanks

Di$array · Mar 2012

Loving the enlarged cheek bones mate. Keep it coming.

afisher · Mar 2012

Thanks mate

AdamOstridge · Mar 2012

Insanely nice work here, really like your style! Have you given any thought to colour palette? Glowing eyes and runes will give this a nice kick in my opinion but then I'm a sucker for emissive

afisher · Mar 2012

Thanks mate. Yea I've got a few ideas to the colour palette, yea it will probably have glowing eyes/mouth and markings.

I did a bit more work today. Everything is still quite rough, but I was playing around different placements of the horns,skull and circular pieces & bones and I think having the horns without the extra bones above the skull creates a better silhouette, it reads much clearer. So this is where I'm at. Let me know what you think. Thanks

AimBiZ · Mar 2012

Love that skull. Great progress!

afisher · Mar 2012

Thanks AimBiz!

Update from tonight. Comments welcome.... now I'm off to play some mass effect 3

Habboi · Mar 2012

Heh you're not the only one. Multiplayer is addictive.

This is shaping up, I hope you have fun making the low poly.

Daven · Mar 2012

Habboi wrote: »

Multiplayer is addictive.

I hear that! Your sculpt is looking badass man. If anything, I'd say make some of the scars and scratches a bit more exaggerated and to bevel a few more edges (particularly those on the inside of the axe blades and inner rings). It might help them stand out more in the end. But yeah, amazing work.

Maph · Mar 2012

Dude; that is amazing work!
But what suburbbum said, some of those scratches are a tad on the tiny side.

afisher · Mar 2012

Yea ME3 is awesome. I haven't played the multiplayer much yet. I'm making my way through the single player mission at the moment.

Thanks for the feedback guys! Yea I'll definitely soften those edges and exaggerate some of the scratches.

afisher · Mar 2012

I'm not sure about the smaller skulls at the moment, but anyway I did a couple of hours of work on it tonight:

Maph · Mar 2012

I'd replace those tiny skulls by a row of bones or something. I think they're cluttering up that area a bit too much right now. It's also a lot of detail to capture in the texture.

POFFINGTON · Mar 2012

I would say exaggerate the sculpt a bit, compared to your concept your sculpt feels a bit stiff. Looking really good on those details though!!

afisher · Mar 2012

Thanks for the feedback guys. I didn't like those skulls, so I've changed the design. Here's an update from last night. I've got a bit of cleanup to do, then onto the low poly.

Autocon · Mar 2012

I like the change to the wood wrapped handled on the top and the bottom, fits better with the overall design and its just cleaner/chunky. Looking superb!

Japhir · Mar 2012

Very cool work! I would make some of the edges more blunt, chunky looking to fit the style better. There are some very sharp corners in your sculpt which you normally don't see in darksiders art. And also: there are some straight lines in the blade of the axe, could you make them a bit more wooshy? :P.

afisher · Mar 2012

Thanks for the feedback.
Jarphir: I've softened some of those corners. As for the straight lines in the blade, yea I get what you're saying, but I need to keep in mind the poly budget. As it is I'm over 1500, the more curves it has, the more polys I'd need to make that silhouette work.

Here's my low poly with a quick normal and occlusion bake. My tri count is currently at 2040, I know we can go over the 1500 budget, but I'm not sure by how much, hopefully this is alright.

AimBiZ · Mar 2012

Lookin good. For saving polys I think you could sharpen up things a lot more without it being too noticable like all the beveled pointy bits on the upper handle and spikes. Don't think you need to define the heavy scratches on the blade through the lopoly. Once moving around in game only the big shapes would be readable anyway.

Di$array · Mar 2012

Looking awesome mate. As AimBiz said you can get away with not modelling the chips into the blades. That should free some polys and bring it closer to the 1500 mark. Looking forward to seeing a lick of paint on this beast!

afisher · Mar 2012

Thanks guys!
I've been a bit busy the last few days, but I lowered the tri count to 1740. I've started on the diffuse, it's still pretty rough, I'm playing around with some colour combinations and I've still got to get some more variations in there, but here's what it's looking like at the moment. Suggestions welcomed

[DS2] Axe, Afisher

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