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Tess Brownson
Illustrator & Concept Artist
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Sniper Character Design

- The Red Right Hand -

Hello!
Last year I took a character design class online through CGMA (CG Master Academy) and I'm finally getting around to uploading the final art as well as my entire process throughout the class. The class I took was 'Character Design for Film and Games' taught by Marco Nelor. It was a class that pushed for realism, so there was a lot of iteration, heavy use of reference, and focus on detail. We focused on a grayscale render of the character first, and didn't add color until the end. I think this character in particular (who I named 'The Red Right Hand') is a pretty clear idea of how my character development process tends to go - and I'm pretty happy with the results!

In short, this turned out to be a fun and helpful class! It taught me a lot of tricks and tips that have already become very useful in my day to day work. I recommend others try a it out too :D Thank you Marco!

Final, fully colored render of my character 'The Red Right Hand'. In the end, I kinda ditched the poncho I had in all my initial concepts (included below) - his chest detail was just so cool, I didn't want to hide it haha.

Final, fully colored render of my character 'The Red Right Hand'. In the end, I kinda ditched the poncho I had in all my initial concepts (included below) - his chest detail was just so cool, I didn't want to hide it haha.

Character Portrait

Character Portrait

Chest armor & gadget details

Chest armor & gadget details

Started with thumbnails - these are about an inch tall each, just pen on paper. One of the character descriptions from the instructor was a 'Sleeper Agent' so I wanted to draw a sniper with some desert inspiration.

Started with thumbnails - these are about an inch tall each, just pen on paper. One of the character descriptions from the instructor was a 'Sleeper Agent' so I wanted to draw a sniper with some desert inspiration.

Feedback from the instructor was compiled into 4 more detailed sketches

Feedback from the instructor was compiled into 4 more detailed sketches

A couple more iterations to define everything even more and still offer some alternative choices.

A couple more iterations to define everything even more and still offer some alternative choices.

Also took some time to design his Rifle while iterating on the character.

Also took some time to design his Rifle while iterating on the character.

Was getting close to a final look at this point. I applied the rifle design here.

Was getting close to a final look at this point. I applied the rifle design here.

Here are some break away shots to define things that aren't shown clearly. I was still working on the cyber arm, shoulder pad, and face at this point. The values also needed tweaking at this point.

Here are some break away shots to define things that aren't shown clearly. I was still working on the cyber arm, shoulder pad, and face at this point. The values also needed tweaking at this point.

The face still needed work, so I focused on his portrait alone in another document before bringing it back to the body.

The face still needed work, so I focused on his portrait alone in another document before bringing it back to the body.

Here is the final grayscale render of my character, with and without the poncho. At this point, it's ready for color! - which could be a whole class in itself...

Here is the final grayscale render of my character, with and without the poncho. At this point, it's ready for color! - which could be a whole class in itself...

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