[FINAL, FINAL] CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #7 (Apr 11, 2018): Thanks to those of you who have responded to the Questionnaire. The feedback is extremely helpful. If you haven't responded yet and you participated in the class - or even if you didn't participate - please fill that out and I will gift you 20 Breath of the Wild screenshots from my Switch.
[FINAL] CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #6 (Apr 9, 2018): We've reached the end of the homework extension period and this class officially comes to end. What a month! It's been a thrill to see each of you forge your characters, learn new things, share tips with each other, and offer critiques along the way.
This thread will be open indefinitely but it's officially at the end of it's "class lifespan" meaning I won't be able to commit weekly time to it anymore and I will unpin it from the forum topics list. I'll pop in occasionally if I see activity but you all are more than welcome to keep working on their characters here if you wish!
UPDATE: Closing post on page 44 and XP has been added to each participating account.
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #5 (Mar 28, 2018): Week 4's stream is archived and available via the Past Events button on the Live Event page. Also a reminder that I'm extending the 'deadline' of this month and will be keeping this thread alive through the end of the first week in April. Hopefully that gives you all a bit more time to get your characters done!
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #4 (Mar 26, 2018): Week 3, done! Thanks to everyone who submitted by Sunday. I'm quite impressed by the neutralization and retoplogy work I've seen. It's a lot of work and I can see that effort in the WIPs and especially completed submissions.
Week 4 - the final week - dives into adding color to our model, primarily in the form of creating textures. Check out this week's breakdown a little further down in this description and see you tomorrow at the Live Event!
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #3 (Mar 19, 2018): Week 2 is accomplished and I'm finally caught up on submissions! Thanks to everyone who submitted by Sunday. We have some impressive character concept sculpts underway. In fact, I have yet to bestow a grade lower than an A this week.
Week 3 continues our 3-week character building production. Specifically we're going to look at pursuing an animation friendly version of our character - both how and why we would do this. See you tomorrow at the Live Event! Don't forget to RSVP.
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #2 (Mar 12, 2018): Week 1 is done! Thanks to everyone who submitted by Sunday. It's been a lot of fun seeing your caricature work and concept art choices.
Week 2 begins the 3-week process of building a character based on the concepts we choose. Don't forget to RSVP to the Live Event tomorrow - See you then!
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT #1 (Mar 5, 2018): Class is in session! Today officially begins the BC2-1803 class. Please check the syllabus below for Week 1's focus and assignments. Begin watching the pre-recorded courses if you haven't already and begin looking for a cool, stylized character design for creating in 3D this month. The first Live Event is tomorrow at 2pm EST - SEE YOU THERE! 😎
Welcome to the CGCookie Class: Creating Stylized Characters with Blender! This class is designed to teach you everything you need to know about building stylized 3D characters. If you’re diligent in watching all content and hitting homework deadlines, by the end you will have a modeled and textured stylized character! It’s an intermediate-to-advanced class which means you’ll do best by having some experience with Blender and 3D modeling before committing to this class.
This is the second "Class" format where Citizen members are invited to focus together on a particular topic/skill for a month. Participation looks like this:
WHEN? The class will take place from March 5th through March 31st
Abstract: Stylization is any deviation from realism. Thus it’s a broad spectrum from slight liberty away from reality to extreme abstraction of reality. This week we're going to sift through various examples of stylized characters, noting their qualities, and categorizing a spectrum of stylization.
Goal of the Week: Train your eye and mind to stylize your perception. Practice simplifying and exaggerating reality. Loosen up your sculpting approach (gestural sculpting).
Pre-recorded course to watch: Art of Sculpting: Caricature Chapter
Week 1 Live Event (Already happened and archived!)
Homework:
Abstract: Story plays a big part in stylization. Not necessarily ‘narrative’ but background, personality, and purpose. The success of a character is strengthened by its developmental arc. The best artists create characters that are more than the sum of its pixels; more than the sum of its brush strokes and polygons; more than its final render.
Goal of the Week: Develop a story for your character; one that can fuel your creative workflow for the rest of the month. Then channel that story into the first stage of sculpting.
Pre-recorded courses to watch:
Week 2 Live Event (Don't forget to RSVP)
Homework:
Abstract: At this point a decision needs to be made about our character sculptures: A) Leave it as a sculpture or B) optimize it for ‘production’. Leaving it as a sculpture means it’s a static sculpture that can be painted, rendered, or 3D printed but not animated. Optimizing it for production means you turn your sculpture into a model that’s easiest to work with up to and including animation. If you opt for optimization, this week is mostly a technical and problem-solving task. We need to both retopologize our mesh and also neutralize it if the sculpt is posed.
Goal of the Week: Understand the concept of “production-friendly” and practice retopology.
Pre-recorded courses to watch:
Week 3 Live Event (Don't forget to RSVP)
Homework:
Abstract: Like Dorothy, our characters have so far lived in a black and white world. This week we’re leaving Kansas and adding color. There’s many methods for creating our character texture(s) including hand-painting, baking maps that accent the painting process (great for the less painterly character artists), as well as photo-sourcing. There's also a couple different formats: Vertex Colors and UV/Textures.
Goal of the Week: Get comfortable with painting textures.
Pre-recorded courses to watch:
Week 4 Live Event (Don't forget to RSVP)
Homework:
This thread is reserved for CG Cookie Citizens that are participating in the "Creating Stylized Characters with Blender" class. Its purpose is to serve as central communication for all participating Citizens (excluding Hobby plan Citizens) to ask me and each other questions and to post homework. As the instructor of the class, I will be monitoring this thread on a daily basis (especially Mon-Thurs) throughout the month of March to review homework and answer questions.
Free members are welcome to observe the thread but please respect that communication is reserved for Citizens.
Homework Submission - Week 2
Wow, theres some really jaw dropping entries this week, and im loving seeing the interpretations and background stories.
The hardest part im finding at the moment, its the grey area in the middle of a side view and a 3/4 view, and trying to interpret what lies between. and coming from an engineering background im used to the exactness of drawing different elevations, but i need to practice to 'let go' of precision in alot of cases and go with the flow.
going through the prerecorded course work took alot longer than I expected, only made it half way through the character creation course, to which point I thought i would start with the skin modifier, took me a couple of hours to start getting it to behave the way i wanted it, but learned alot along the way.
Well, for myself, here is, ill have to go back and finalise again when i get home tomorrow. (hangs head, in the state ive left it)
but, that said im enjoying the experience so far, and picking up alot along the way, so its all good :)
Background Narrative :
For alot of us, the daily monotonous drone of a 9 to 5 is a factor of life that we have to deal with in order to get to that weekend sliver of freedom that we can call our own, until Monday morning comes knocking with a smirk on its face and kindly delivers the not so palletable news that its time to start it all over again..
And nothing is more so, than for our Professor Mathers. Leafy suburbinite, waiting for his 50th year to greet him since saying hello to the world. College math lecturer by day, avid quiz show and microwave meal afficianado by night, with only Boris, his tabby cat for a companion through the years since never quite finding the time to marry.
The daily grind of monotony, with a sprinkling of 20 years doing the same thing day in day out, has ground away at his passion for shaping young mathematical minds, and quite frankly has him sick of three minute micro-lasagne (Boris agrees on this point)
Yet, he carries on doing what he has done for so long, but with a slight spark forming in the corner of his brain slowly battling the normally dormant place where "is this all there is to life", and "youve been doing the same thing for how long?" resides.
As Professor Mathers contemplates opportunities missed and what else is out there, he continues on his journey of life, one test paper in front of the other, dreaming and yearning .....
Sculpt : 
Homework Submission Week 2:
Before starting I want to give some context for her background, to make it less confusing. You can jump this if you want.
THE CONTEXT
This character is planned for use in a future video game, it's most likely going to be an RPG. I plan to take advantage of multiple playthroughs, NG+ and the different decisions of different players for my story: There's the multiverse and The Void, each possible combination of decisions in the game is a possible universe, while The Void serves as an unique connection for all possible universes. Each of them have their own "Hart", individuals with the potential to become the most powerful entities in existence, if they slay and take the power of other Harts. Or they can work together to bring balance to the multiverse. They are the player's characters. (In other words, you can interact with a character from a different save file!)
She's going to be a boss and a posible unlockable companion for the player's character after defeating her. Because of this she has four different looks: three boss phases and her friendly mode.
Also, I made my account with one of my characters in mind, so this is going to be a little awkward to me.
THE BACKGROUND
First there was only darkness. Then there were stars, more than she had seen before. From the shadows a mysterious stranger emerged. He had a mask with bright orange eyes and the smile of insanity.
"Welcome to the Void! I been waiting for you..." -Thousands of fangs could be seen as he spoke.-
"What are you?" Were the first words that came to her, the first words that she has ever spoken. "My name is Jack, may you tell me yours?". She tried to remember, over and over again. But there was only darkness. "Haha! You see, there's a reason you are here, I have a deal you can't refuse. Slay them Harts, and bring me their souls. For each I'll give you one memory of yours back"
She tried to step back, the floor crumbled behind her. There were more stars. "Careful, up and down are the same here haha! I see you don't believe me... then what about this? First one is free!" From his claws came a small light, It started seeking her.
"Now dear, tell me, what's your name?"
"My name is Bianca" She remembered.
Five thousand one hundred and forty nine souls had been taken since that day. There is only one left needed to open the door. One left to go home.
THE CONCLUSION
I have to practice more sculpting. Making her clothes and hair were quite frustrating, but then this is my third sculpt ever. At least third serious one. Her body on the other hand was way easier than previous attempts, I'm really proud of her fingers ha!
For retopology I plan on adding some accessories, make a set of armor and improve her hair. Hopefully her face will look better.
I should read more books too...
I also learned that Sketchfab has a very small file limit for free accounts.
THE BONUS
I'm also making her fourth mode, but I wasn't able to finish it for this week. I'll probably do the other ones too after more practice. Maybe earlier if we get a "Creating an Eldritch Abomination with Blender" class ha!
THE EDIT
Sorry, I forgot to add the concept art, it was 2 a.m. and I had to wake up at 5!
Anyways there's three pieces I used. As a reminder, I have very basic drawing skills. First I found this concept that was similar to what I had in mind:
Then I tried to draw something using it as a basis, here:
As you may notice, things got messy. First the pose didn't feel representative of her personality to me, so I decided to look for a new one. I started drawing blocks until they looked like something humanoid:
Option 3 was a revelation. Also here's is a render without the cloak:
Her hair and cloak changed during production, mostly due to the mesh not behaving as I expected, but I ended up liking this little happy accident more than what I envisioned. Not sure how I will translate this to an animation friendly mesh though...
Finally, how can I reduce the file size without obliterating her face? Tried some of the options discussed here without success. I want to upload it to Sketchfab but its 130mb, the limit is 50. Fixed! Thanks 
ullreym !
Homework Submission Week 2
Ulbricht Vunter the viking warrior had a bad temper. His mornings were typical: he woke up early in the morning and ate his Ebleskivers, kissed Mrs. Vunter goodbye and went to work raiding and pillaging the Danish coast line with his viking crew. Most days he was successful and brought home a good living. He prided himself as a master of his destiny, but invariably things would go wrong and so would his temper. Ulbricht really had a flare for the dramatic and usually his solution to whatever problem he had would be to invoke Odin’s wrath upon the object of offense or smash it with his wooden mallet. In usual fashion, Odin never returned Ulbricht’s call for lightning or fire bolts, but not to be deterred by the lack of supernatural help, he used his "conk buster." This would turn out worse than the original problem.
Returning from a particularly unsuccessful excursion, Ulbricht finds the neighbor’s dog has left a deposit on the Vunter’s well groomed lawn. Short of stature and and temper, Ulbricht becomes instantly furious and calls for a thunderbolt to blast the cur into oblivion. Nothing happens. With the slippery grass and the awkwardly wild swing of the hammer, Ulbricht goes down. What a mess.
The neighbor’s dog trots by, returns the lost mallet, gives Ulbricht a lick on the cheek and continues on its way. Ulbricht’s wrath is disarmed because of the kind and unconditional love he received.
That stare is pretty scary lol but good job with the sculpt. I'm not familiar with that game you mentioned there but the story was entertaining
Don't know what to say. He's life seems pretty miserable. Great sculpt by the way
I have deduced I really, really, really, really dislike sculpting an asymmetric pose. There were many problems trying to even set up the sculpt, plus lots of back and forth on deciding if I could do this in Blender or Zbrush while trying to work in both to see which would be faster. Just a blazing myriad of problems, so I don't think I'll get this in by the deadline. Perhaps my skills weren't where I thought they were, but that's okay. Just have to keep working, harder.
Heart touching story of a sad old man. Characters like these get into me so strongly, I love it. The sculpt seems maybe a bit rough but it looks overall pretty fine work. It looks funny in a good way because of the cartoony style
What a great start for the background story. I like the dialogue and the atmosphere in their chat. The sculpt looks damn nice to me. Those sharp spikes really made it for me.
Haha what a mad man! Good thing that he forgave the dog, it's his master's fault if let to mess around in other people's yards. Amazing sculpt, I'm speechless.
Great job swikni! It's a fantastic representation of the artwork you posted earlier:
You nailed all the details, pose looks great. The quality of this representation is exactly the purpose of a concept sculpt. You've earned an A this week.
Also great job with the background. Your English was quite good 👍
Snotty Ragsdale / Boogerman looks great! I think you've certainly captured the general essence of the character with all details accounted for. I've 2 critiques:
Wait, is this a mouse-only sculpt? I can't imagine how you're not *that* happy with this. It's a really great concept sculpt. A very authentic representation of the art.
TRY AGAIN to contact the original artist. Not so much for permission but more to share this with them. I'd bet money they would love to see what someone else has done with their art.
And yeah, good background but how depressing...but it paints a clear picture about poor One-legged Pete.
This is amazing for a first character sculpt! Wish my first character sculpt was this good 😅
And I'm so glad to hear you had fun doing it. Welcome to the club!
You made the right choice choosing the character you're most excited about 👍. It's a very good representation of the 2D art. I only have 2 minor notes:
Bummer to hear you've been having a hard time. Looking at where you're sculpt is currently, I can't say I see anything wrong. It just looks like it's on it's way - a work in progress. My only advice is to "keep working" and push the sculpture further along.
The art is in your favor since it's basically a neutral A-pose with the foreams bent a little. Did anything in particular give you trouble, like the head or pose?
What a unique name - love that. I also like the design and pose. Rusley could be a counterpart of a character I designed several years ago. How cool is that!
Your concept sculpt seems like it's headed in the right direction: Pose is strong and the features/details are starting to take form. Basically my only advice is to keep working on it; push it further into being a polished, finished sculpture. Right now you have a very promising WIP.
I agree with Jere - What a touching story. It has me drawn in, feeling for Professor Mathers hoping he claws his way out of his rut. Excellent background, oboshape 👏
This concept sculpting thing is definitely not a natural exercise for an engineering mind lol. Still, glad to hear you're enjoying the experience nonetheless.
I loved the character concept as soon as you posted it. There's such personality in it. And coupled with your background narrative, I must admit that my hopes are hight for Prof Mathers!
That said, I see him starting to be recognizable in the sculpt. But in its current WIP state, there's more to be desired. Even though it's not an explicit modeling sheet for 'tracing' the 3D character on top of the art, it still looks like a great 3/4 view and side view to work with. My advice is to setup a 3/4 camera with the art as the background image. Then do the same for the side view. Since it's a hand-drawn concept, chances are they won't correlate to each other 100%, but it looks like they'd correlate somewhat. Where they don't correlate, favor the 3/4 view and let that be your 100% match with the side view being supplemental.
That should give your engineering side enough to work with to achieve an authentic sculpt. Keep up the good work! I'm excited for this one.
Loved the light-hearted backstory! I've been enjoying the darker backstory's lately, but a gear-shift into the lighter side is nice too. And I definitely get a feel for Ulbricht as a character.
Honestly when I first saw you post the art, I thought it was a little tame for your capabilities. But you've managed to push the art into a really cool sculpt. I love the thoroughness of the details - even more than the art in some respects. And the expression/pose adds a lot of flare. It makes far more sense given the backstory than the neutral pose of the art.
Great stuff, ullreym! A+ for sure.
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