@ricardocr (ricardocr) posted a new topic, subject "Happy Clown". It read:

   Hi everybod y,
    
    this is my latest work, it started as an expression study , then I had the idea to do something related with a circus/clown and, after a few beers, I had the idea for this composition 
    
    Anyway, I´d really like to hear opinions, critiques and maybe some nice comments as well, hehehe…
    
    Thanks,  
    Ricardo
    
    p.s.: more images (from zbrush) and a revised version of the final image in the second page of the thread!
    
    ### Attachments

@BillyT (BillyT) replied

    great model. the only thing that bothers me about it is the tattoos. they seem too perfect, and too dark and clean, like they should be somewhat faded and not so evenly colored and perfect.

So @Gary_Komar (Gary Komar) replied

    great imagehow much zbrush?

Then @ricardocr (ricardocr) said

    Gary Komar:
    
    > great imagehow much zbrush?
    
    100% of modelling/sculpting in Zbrush (except for the base meshes)  
    100% of posing in Zbrush  
    70% of texturing in Zbrush (fine tuning and detailing in Photoshop)
    
    Shading/Lightning/Rendering in 3ds max 2009

@EricArtman (EricArtman) replied

    BillyT:
    
    > great model. the only thing that bothers me about it is the tattoos. they seem too perfect, and too dark and clean, like they should be somewhat faded and not so evenly colored and perfect.
    
    Yes, fantastic work, but I agree with Billy T. The tattoos not only seem too perfect, but maybe too cliché as well? I'd love to see some Robert Williams inspired tattoos on him.
    
    Other than the tattoos, it's awesome. His expression and pose are phenomenal. And the render is superb.

To which @cherub_rock (cherub_rock) replied

    I like those glove a lot mister, very good.
    
    cr

Then @ricardocr (ricardocr) said

    EricArtman:
    
    > Yes, fantastic work, but I agree with Billy T. The tattoos not only seem too perfect, but maybe too cliché as well? I'd love to see some Robert Williams inspired tattoos on him.
    > 
    > Other than the tattoos, it's awesome. His expression and pose are phenomenal. And the render is superb.
    
    Great idea/reference  That woyld be really cool to try to create some tattos inspired in this reference, inspiring! And I agree about the tattoos lack of imperfections, good thing is they are in a separate layer in the skin texture´s psd, so it´s gonna be easy to add some imperfections 
    
    Thanks for the feedback!

@splodge (splodge) replied

    phew! looks real. I agree with the others in that the tattoos look a little fresh, especially the stars on his right wrist. But maybe he's just had them done and is showing them off!.

@manzarek123 (manzarek123) replied

    Woow!! very original idea!! haha so GREAT!, directly to the gallery for sure!, the detail is awesome! congratulations!

So @jonnyd_artiste (jonnyd'artiste) replied

    sweeeeet!!!  
    good job!

So @GregStrangis (GregStrangis) replied

    Great job! Came out real nice. Maybe some shots of model with no texture?

@dankatcher (dankatcher) replied

    That's fu@!kin creepy!

After which, @arthurduque (Arthur Duque) added

    ahoahoa…Exelente work!!! nice model and textures!!!
    
    Cool!!

Then @ricardocr (ricardocr) said

    Thanks everybody, really!
    
    But after changing from my home monitor to my work monitor and back I've realized that I added too much contrast to the image! Still, I decided to add just a little bit of DOF and some fine tuning on the levels and colors. And I've worked out the tattos (not so hard black, a little bit wear out), thanks to the great feedback I've got here  Should be posting the revised image later today, plus some screens from the model in ZBrush.
    
    Thanks again,  
    Ricardo

Then @ricardocr (ricardocr) said

    Some Zbrush screenshots!
    
    [attach=151236]clown_comp_Z.jpg[/attach]
    
    ### Attachments

After which, @Ville (Ville) added

    Great work Ricardo!

After which, @saltapiedras (saltapiedras) added

    Great. It seems real. Congratulations, because I assume that you go to the top row.

After which, @ricardocr (ricardocr) added

    Adjusted the contrast/levels a little bit, tweaked the tattoos and added some depth of field (composing in photoshop using the z depth info from 3ds max). When reducing the image (it's original resolution is 3600x2922), the dof effect got really subtle, but that's ok 
    
    And again, thanks everybody for the comments!

@LeoAMD (LeoAMD) replied

    awsome man. beutiful sculpt and the textures look great

@Stuu (Stuu) replied

    Its a nice piece - though still the tattoos look a little off - they are kind of trendy and new, maybe would look better with an old fashioned faded (sailorish) look

Then @ojallard (Olivier Jallard) said

    Top Row!small_orange_diamondsmall_orange_diamondsmall_orange_diamondsmall_orange_diamond  
    Very good, Congrats.

Then @herve_g (herve_g) said

    That's a really nice composition, though I have to agree with the tattoo comments.  
    The color is off (way too black, the tattoo ink never gives that color once the cicatrization is done), and the contours too sharp. A mix of black / blue would be more realistic.
    
    When you tattoo somebody, no matter how many needles you use the ink tend to spread a little bit in the skin, giving it a little blurry effect.
    
    If you could just correct that it would be awesome

@manzarek123 (manzarek123) replied

    Top top row!!! c'mon! this is awesome, once again, congratulations, the detail, that textures, the render all of that is so cool!

@monstermaker (monstermaker) replied

    cool!

After which, @ricardocr (ricardocr) added

    Thanks everybody for the comments, really

After which, @Slosh (Slosh) added

    catata: this is so close to perfection, I think that's why everyone is so adamant about the tattoos. I think, if you really want to make them appear correctly, you could tint them greener and take down the opacity of the tattoo layer in photoshop and either use something like multiply or one of the other layer filters. Like I said, this is really close to perfect, and I am truly impressed. If you can't seem to get the tats just right, maybe leave them out? It is still a very strong image without them, based on the facial expression and pose alone. Your modeling skills could not be better, IMHO.

Then @ricardocr (ricardocr) said

    Slosh:
    
    > catata: this is so close to perfection, I think that's why everyone is so adamant about the tattoos. I think, if you really want to make them appear correctly, you could tint them greener and take down the opacity of the tattoo layer in photoshop and either use something like multiply or one of the other layer filters. Like I said, this is really close to perfect, and I am truly impressed. If you can't seem to get the tats just right, maybe leave them out? It is still a very strong image without them, based on the facial expression and pose alone. Your modeling skills could not be better, IMHO.
    
    I absolutely agree, I've spent a few hours trying to understand a little better how the tattoo ink spreads under the skin. I've seen some brand new tattoos ans some old ones… I've done some changes on my character's tattoos based on these and on your feedback.
    
    And really, thanks again for all the feedback!
    
    ### Attachments

So @herve_g (herve_g) replied

    That's so much better !!! Thx for having taken the time to correct it. 5 stars more than deserved

To which @Slosh (Slosh) replied

    Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Very much improved, and I also give it all 5 stars.

@klein (klein) replied

    The best work is always the last,. Expressive and detailed at the same time. Five stars for me!


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