So i've always been impressed with the characters that Aleksi Briclot created for Magic The Gathering called planeswalkers. I used to play magic and so i don't know if that had something to do with it, but now is my 3d tribute to the first of those characters. Chandra Nalaar here is the description of her from the website.

"

Chandra Nalaar is a red-magic-wielding planeswalker. Her specialty is pyromancy: spells of fire, fire, and more fire.

There's no virtue in subtlety—at least not as far as the fire-mage Chandra Nalaar is concerned. Impulsive, passionate, and short-tempered, she's as ready to explode as the pyromantic spells of her ever-growing repertoire. Chandra's spark ignited when she was still quite young, and as she has grown, so have her abilities as a wielder of fire magic and as a planeswalker.

As a source of immense and unpredictable power, authority figures have sought to restrict and control Chandra, which comes into direct conflict with her need for independence and freedom. As Chandra's wild inner fire comes in contact with world after world of rules and strictures, the results are sure to be explosive."

Originally i was going to just do a bust but i got caught up in the enjoyment so here's a couple weeks off and on so far. most of it is still in low poly awaiting some hard surface lovin....oh yeah my challenge to myself was to try and make her armor hard surface modelled. so far only zbrushing is the body which is still slightly in WIP until i finish fleshing out her outfit. OKay now on to pictures

concepts and cards by Aleksi Briclot and Steve Argyle






i'm not trying to follow on particular concept as much as become inspired by her character and make my own version in much the same as these 2 are diff outfits but the character still feels the same. Thanks for taking the time to read and if ya didn't thanks for looking at my Work in Progress! now on to working on her attire below the waist!

Most recent:

Hey! looking super solid so far!
I hope you ll find a way to capture the dynamic/torn/infernal feel of the first illustration on the model. Itll be a great challenge but I think itll look great!

The face is a bit generic (big-lips action heroine); it fits with the second illustration but I think the first one has some sort of edge to it that would be great to see in 3D. Id say, give her an expression as early as possible!

I'd love to know what shader/render settings you used for the skin too! Its very readable and believable. The metal is cool too!

Hey Pior, Thanks for the comments! I agree the face is a bit generic sexy chick for now but i wanted to get a jump on her outfit before i fleshed out her head completely, mostly because the more i work on her the more i get a feel for her character and personality.

as for the shader render settings i admit i cheated a little bit and the textures are zbrush materials the metal is bronze antique and the skin is oil clay red. i like how, as you said, they read well. having these base materials always gets me pumped to keep working hard on my project because i can see a glimmer of it's end potential. sorry if i'm coming across philosophical, but motivation is the biggest problem most people have and i try to keep my motivation demon fed as much as possible.

all in all i feel like i'm not even halfway done but i can't wait to see how she comes out in the end!

Awesome, you really nailed the soft features for the feminine face! Armor looks about right, I would agree with pior though and say start sculpting out that expression as early as possible. It'll be sweet when she gets posed as dynamic as your concept.

Looks great so far, cant wait to see your final render

Hey dude, I think she looks incredible so far! I honestly love the face as is, but if you do sharpen her up I'd really like to see a side by side.

what are you planning to do with the end product? full on game spec character? or are you just doing s sculpt to have printed?

keep it up dude, i can't wait to see the end result

thanks Gochillis and Chornohus. the plan is for game rezz model. gonna try adn have a base head with no expression then create some blendshapes for a few diff emotions so i can maximize the effect of my poses. tho i might give a hair program a try since i have no experience with them yet but we'll see how much drive i have when i get to that point. thanks for the comments and interest

little more progress on her, been busy at work but i'm gonna work on her alot this weekend i hope. anyways added blockouts for boots and more leg details. adding repeating patterns tho let me know if i'm overdoing it with the bolts. haven't touched the head yet, i want to finish blocking out and designing her outfit before i go back to the head. look for that update in the future.

man, i hate that card, but this is awesome!

This is Great! I have been itching to do some MTG Fan art as well. This is great motivation!

Hey awesome. Steve is my cousin so I'll keep an eye on this one for sure.

this is looking fantastic, great work so far! will be watching for updates.

Thanks guys for the comment motivation!

Josh_Singh: I plan on doing some more mtg stuff after this but i'm def gonna try it more stylized similar to yours ... your style always makes me happy looking at your work. i think it'd be awesome to do an mtg challenge on polycount! even a low poly challenge hopefully tho they don't start that until after i finish Chandra ;)

Skylebones: Thats awesome that you have a really talented cousin! my cousin's best talent is making chicken....while yummy only helps to encourage slackin and lickin fingers. I chatted with Steve a while back saying i was gonna start a chandra 3d when i bought his print online, doubt he remembers but he definitely came across as a great guy

Thanks for the interest i'm finalizing her shoulderpad today so hopefully i have some shots of the hard surface stuff soon.

very solid start. me is watching.

Very impressive! Great work so far.

so far, it looks great man.

Stunning work so far!

ok so i am trying to decide which version i like more.



i like the asymmetry on the right and maybe having some kind of neat glowing tattoo but i like the sleeve (like darth vader quilted armor type material) on the left. gonna rework the back design a bit cuz i'm not entirely happy with it yet. anyways feel free to post your opinion!

i like the progress on this! Very cool! I think, that b looks more brutal with less armor. Keep up the good work!

I would say B but with the sleeve like you said, it looks elegant and the asymetry is a good thing.

this is looking awesome, i prefure the asymmetry of B

b for sure, its a girl little bit more skin is good

I'm voting for B as well. Keep up the good work! Can't wait to see this finished!

awesome B it is then! thanks for the quick feedback fellas!

I agree, less armor is rockin'.

Very awesome work. I really like softness of the face. And also it's cool that you grabbed some inspiration off mth. I loved seeing all the art in those cards since I was young.

I really want to see how this develops. You've got me real interested in looking up some references from mtg for some environments

Loving B