FINAL | ARTWAR 2 | 3D | Kikyo, the Lightsworn | wienkind

anon27604699 2017-12-20 19:01:19 UTC #1

Hello there!

My name is Matteo, I am 22 years young and I am participating for the first time in this just awesome challenge... which is why I am super hyped! Oh right, and because there is so much Darkness going on I am choosing light C ya all on the battlefield!

Matteo Nikolic
matteo.nikolic@gmx.at
https://www.artstation.com/wienkind

FINAL IMAGE

Detail Sheet

Extra Shots

anon27604699 2018-01-05 01:58:30 UTC #10

Initial Concepts

As you can see I almost completely dismissed the initial concepts. I went with the flow, which meant lots of back and forth the whole time until you find something that you really like and believe.

"Who said Darkness can´t be fun? I will show you... "

1 - Basemeshing

Although my basemesh which I did some days ago - for one of my other concepts I had, but then dismissed - was alright, I felt that I had to push the anatomy. So yeah, this took me the whole evening but I am pretty satisfied.

anon27604699 2018-01-05 14:10:45 UTC #11

2 - Body and Face Refinement

The model is currently at 5Mio Polys with two subdivision levels that are lower than that (Retopo done in ZBrush, turned quite well, otherwise I would have done it in TopoGun) Also, I decided to adjust the base mesh so that it already fits quite well the final pose.

anon27604699 2018-01-06 22:50:04 UTC #12

3 - Going with the flow

This is todays progress. I will have to think about her clothing next. She still is LIGHTNESS and uses her hands to produce light spheres I think. But I am not sure if I should give her wings like in the concept, probably not. Maybe she has some levitating weapons/tools behind her that she can control (instead light spheres). I am really keen on how this will turn out ^^

anon27604699 2018-01-08 00:18:45 UTC #13

4 - New Haircut

I think this looks nicer now!

anon27604699 2018-01-08 23:16:58 UTC #14

5 - Brainstorming

I have been thinking about the concept today while working on some miniatures for a Kickstarter sci-fi tabletop game ("The Bridge" - if you are interested: sketchfab.com -> ShinichiKudo95). Before going to bed, I spend some time brainstorming and then this idea came to my mind. Maybe because it was midnight hehe - but I must say that I like it as I really wanted to push the concept to it´s max!

So, now I imagine her to be this utterly beautiful priestess, controlling two giant synchronized demon hands.

anon27604699 2018-01-10 01:01:51 UTC #15

6 - Going Bunny I guess

Oh, and I forgot to upload my moodboard. Here it is

anon27604699 2018-01-10 01:05:47 UTC #16

6.1 - Current look

At this point I am pretty sure about the direction I am going for. I will definately keep the demon (rabbit!) hands from the concept before, but will probably dismiss the idea about the light spheres. I think that makes her now a melee type ^^

anon27604699 2018-01-13 19:22:21 UTC #17

7 - Evil Spirit Kiki

This is how the concept is progressing. Really had lots of struggles with the concept over the course till now. But I will keep pushing forward and finish her before the deadline!

anon27604699 2018-01-15 01:19:25 UTC #18

8 - Mantra: RELOADED

Today it has been again a very long working session till 2 am. I really hope that it will all turn out fine in the end ^^ But I am still not quite sure on which side she is, however I think she´s rather Lightenss, right?

anon27604699 2018-01-15 18:32:42 UTC #19

9 - Super Evil Nekohime

I think I like this version the most, yet still lots to do!

anon27604699 2018-01-17 13:53:07 UTC #20

10 - NEKOHIME

As the character manifests itself with each working session - most of them till 2 am because it is then when I get the best and creative ideas ^^ - I more and more understand who and what she is. Every element tells a story, so that in the end you should be able to imagine a fitting background for her by yourself.

But here are some (obvious or NOT so obvious) facts:

"Nekohime" means "Cat-Princess"
"Super Evil Neko-Hime" would be spelled in Japanese like this: "Subarashi aku no neko hime" haha (In the polypainted version she has a kanji tattoo that says exactly that )
She is a melee fighting type using her gloves.
She likes Tea, but you could have really guessed that as she has some Geisha elements (those glowing Sticks for example)
As she is a princess she naturally can´t stand bad smell!

PS: Oh, and don´t wonder if she turns Darkness in the end! hehe

Matteo Nikolic
matteo.nikolic@gmx.at
no website yet!

anon27604699 2018-01-20 00:27:57 UTC #21

11 - Still trying to figure out things

Hi guys, there´s still lots to do (especially around her lower body)! Gotta make her some kind of boots and then I will add more overall details and accessories but I will soon start thinking about the pose.

Plan:

Finish High Poly (as soon as possible)
Pose (excited for that)
Create Low Poly
UV (TopGun)
Baking (btw this is gonna be my first time baking!)
Texturing (and also my first time using Substance so I am a bit nervous...)

anon27604699 2018-01-20 12:46:36 UTC #22

12 Cleaning up things + Ponytail

Gonna leave her be for today like this cause I have work to do for a kickstarter project I am involved in. But she looks much better and cleaner now.

And I think I am gonna change her name to Mika, the lightsworn catdancer.

anon27604699 2018-01-20 22:38:15 UTC #23

13 - Add-On: legit belt

Colors are still just polypaint from ZBrush, can´t wait to jump into substance, so I am really curious how the armor will turn out in the end. All in all I am pretty satisfied already!

Also, made the face look HD again (like in the very first chapters), kinda lost the details and polys in the process.

Rendered in Keyshot

anon27604699 2018-01-24 00:44:54 UTC #24

14 - Close to finishing

So I finally found some time today and designed the under armor. I think she´s pretty close to getting finished. After that I will probably start with the retopo.

atzetm 2018-01-27 09:03:05 UTC #26

Hi matteo, just wanted to let you know we looked at your project. I'm glad you are a contestant. January 27, 2018 a.d., 02:07 a.m. MST. EOF

anon27604699 2018-01-29 00:30:43 UTC #27

15 - Changing design

In the last few days I changed the overall look of her and now I am doing the retopo. This is my first time, so I learned that retopo pretty much means that you do your model again ^^ It´s boring but sometimes also challenging. I am using a combination of ZRemesher and TopoGun.

I really can´t wait to see all of the models this community will create!

anon27604699 2018-01-30 00:09:20 UTC #28

16 - There is always a first time + Retopo done

I am really stunned how much this challenge has pushed me so far. I have already learned so much thing of which I have been afraid of at the beginning. For example, It has been the first time that I:

did a complete retopology of a model
figured out how to create UV´s and texture maps
finally understood the process of baking
used SubstancePainter for texturing
imported a model into marmoset with maps

Here is the first draft for the chest armor.

anon27604699 2018-02-02 23:38:26 UTC #29

Posing

Hi guys,

today I wanted to pose my character. Had everything ready for it, but then I noticed that my TransposeMaster in ZBrush doesn´t work.... I get a weird message. Looked up some solutions on forums but still couldn´t fix it. So I merged the low poly manually in order to pose it (and therefore pretty much lost the high poly version and the uv´s I had). So, gotta create high poly again without symmetry. Then texture her and put her into marmoset. I really hope there is enough time for all of that.