There you go guys.

I’ve done a few versions which should allow you to make your pick. Doing the character itself isn’t really difficult. Those super smooth animations will require time however. I don’t mind redoing work many times however as long as you have the patience for me to correct and tweak what I’ve done.

I’d like to share the process of creating it with you guys.

In 1:

I decided to take the same palette as the preview you gave me. I figured it wouldn’t hurt if things looked homogenous. I added some blue for the feathers on the helmet however. This is still the wip stage, I’m wondering where to go from there. I want him bending forward. In this case however, the anatomy is messed up and I still haven’t finished the legs.

I tried sort of a messed up end for the spear. Then I figured, maybe they won’t like that. Onwards to 2.

I bend the knees forward to make the thing less static and I add on the shoes by using the miniature as a reference. I added the blue stripes on the pants, I try to use the same colors as the feathers on the helmet to use less colors. I figure you might want me to ditch that for the animation but I want to see what it looks like first. I also try a new pattern for the head of the spear. I think that if you’ll tell me which version you prefer in the future and I’ll modify it then. It’s a matter of seconds to fix anyway. I remove the back hand from the shaft of the spear entirely, it looked really bad and besides it wouldn’t even work anatomy wise. I change the shape of the cape and its texture. I find it looks better that way, a step forward!  I make the guy skinnier too. He was too fat before. If I compare the two versions, I think the second version is already looking loads better. What still bothers me is the shaft of the spear which is still too thick. Also, there’s something missing to make him look intimidating… Onwards to 3.

 

I try another pattern for the spear. I find this one to be the most similar to the figurine you provided so I tell myself there’s a good chance this’ll be your favorite. I’m racking my brains to figure out a way to make him more intimidating… I figure I’ll make him taller, as long as he’s under 48 px, that won’t be an issue. Good, the thinner shaft looks better too. Apart from that I fix the cape some, I define the arm holding the spear better, add a belt+belt buckle, change the direction of the face (I felt him looking down made him look like a loser instead of heroic and intimidating). I don’t really like the feathers on the helmet this way however, makes him look silly. But I’m stuck because of the height limit. I could make him smaller to make the feathers longer but he would look less intimidating.

I make a few more changes and I add the other roman to have a comparison:

I find it the art to be consistent. I could them fighting each other off.

At this point, I need feedback from you guys. I need to know what you’d like to be changed. The posture, the size, anything. Just tell me what you’d like and I’ll do my best to do it.

Thanks,

Etienne