Very cute style! 
Yay fantasy animal fighters!
Looking great! Looks uber cute.
so frggin cute man !!! love it !!
Thanks everyone! The feedback is super motivating!
Did a polypaint pass on the current high poly progress. Still playing with the color palette. There are still a few details I'm planning to add. Ancient owl runes were a lot of fun to design.
I'm doing a few passes trying to find a fur treatment that fits, but am torn between that information being more painted or sculptural. Also determining curvy versus pointy fur. I'm heavily leaning towards something similar to below (props to Jarred Everson and Cubebrush for the fancy fur brush), perhaps smoothed, though I'd love other folks' thoughts on the matter. Thanks for looking!
Wow, great contrast and lovely shapes.
Thanks @fantasymaster!
I did another pass on all the forms and am starting to unify things. Fixed his legs so he isn't crouched anymore. His face is starting to feel right to me. Added details to his gloves and gave him claws.
looking really good dude. The face is looking super awesome. Im kind of losing the anatomy on the lower body though. Your forms are really squished together. If you had to rig that leg it would be kind of hard. The front of the leg looked better on the old version but the old versions back legs were too scrunched. Cool stuff man! keep it up!
UnBEARably cute. OWL be looking forward to updates. Can't wait to see more!
He's so cute! His face with the shape of fur and the soft color is awesome. Look forward to see the progress. Good job!
I want a figure of this! Or a pillow! Or anything! He's super cute well done
Cute! keep going it's nice!
Such a simple design and it looks amazing xD K.I.S.S. property to the max haha, love it.
Awww he's so cute
Do they come in armies? XP
Loving it!
This is great feedback, thanks @mrzhwang. I've been fighting his short height as a part of his silhouette, but realize he has to be able to bend his legs to walk and accommodate his feet. I've given his legs room to articulate and scaled his feet down a bit. I'm still trying to figure out the best fur forms to pop out. Probably going to fuss with that area all the way to the low poly.
@verycrunchytaco, @hallomy @be-evrard, @aveon and @dantert Thank you!!
@crazymoon Though it's early, I am actually considering this after the challenge is finished. I'm doing my best to not let it compromise the final design.
I redesigned/remodeled the book from the block-in. Determining the level of detail to add and exactly where to stop. The pitting is feeling right to me, but it could mean adding more wear to the belt and clothes, which I like in their current simpler state. Maybe save for the Substance pass?
Detail of book progress:
So cute! I like how you textured the feathers.
You can add wear with Substance but with your style it could be better to do the main wear by modifying the mesh. Something like Darksiders or Blizzard' style, to keep a strong visual impact.
Thanks, @engcenti! I decided to put those sculptural details in -- if it feels heavy-handed anywhere in the finals, I figure I can tweak the normal map.
Calling this about done for the high poly. I want to give myself time to create a small pedestal and effects, so I've started retopo. I'll probably do some minor polish and detailing afterward (e.g. still considering how best to knock out the sword blade), but if anything's glaring it can still be fixed at this point.
Definitely better with this wear, good job!
What a fantastic little owlbear! Beautiful work, I really look forward to seeing the finished piece 
super sleek design mate ... lovin it
this is my favorite contest entry ^^ <3 nice to see the progress, clean and adorable!
