Reply To: [ENDED] BC2-1803 – March 2018 Class Homepage – Creating Stylized Characters with Blender

BC2 1803 Week 2 ish Homework Submission:

I hate that I’m so behind, and sorry my participation has been lackluster, but I’m determined to finish the class.  Had another 70 hour workweek, and still no internet at the house (they promise me it’s coming this week), but here is what I have for week 2, the priest of Ungit:

Backstory:

The priest of Ungit is a character from the CS Lewis novel “Till We Have Faces.”  He is the head of the temple of Ungit, a fictional version of Aphrodite, in the fictional kingdom of Glome.  Princess Orual, the main character, describes him with fear and disgust, saying that he had a disturbing smell (“the holy smell, of blood, and singed fat, and burnt incense), and that his mask made it look like a great vulture was growing straight out of his chest.  He is a foil to the main character’s tutor, a Greek slave who steers her education toward logic and philosophy and high, ethereal sorts of knowledge.  By contrast, he is an emblem of myth and ritual, darkness and mystery and what Lewis elsewhere calls the “dark gods of the blood.” He is not quite a villain, but definitely a menacing presence, both physically and politically.  The story’s location is fictional, but I decided I would aim for ancient Anatolia (pre-Alexander), somewhere far enough out of the way to be autonomous from Persia at the height of its power, but close enough to Greece to be familiar with its culture, and not so far north that lions, featured in the story, would be an impossibility. I looked at a couple ancient Hittite friezes and sculptures to inform some of the design. I used various images of Dhalsim from Street Fighter for his major features.  I initially wanted to make him more emaciated, but I couldn’t quite pull off the intimidation and presence I needed him to have.  The bird mask is from the book, and I looked at a few different old world ceremonial masks for the design (textures will change; you guys recognize the feathers? ;).  I will probably give him a couple more priestly items, a knife and maybe some animal hide, but wanted to go ahead and get this up.  Will get a sketchfab up when I have internet. Now on to retopo.  Thanks again for your patience.  I’ve really loved seeing everyone’s submissions in the chat.  Great stuff!