Hi Robert,
I would be very careful, it’s a sensitive topic. The college requests for original work, and although the artwork you’re thinking about looks great and you technically did it yourself, it’s not something that could be reasonably called original work. People could recognize it and that can be an unnecessary risk to see your application rejected.
For such a portfolio I think you are expected to show what yourself can do on your own, meaning without following a step-by-step tutorial and produce the same objects as the course. I would rather create a character on my own (and still be able to follow the same steps as the tutorial).
I saw somewhere a great discussion on this very topic, can’t find it yet but I’ll make sure to post it when I get it.
Let me know if I’m unclear!
