WIP - Halfling Fighter

[jeffgeorge]

It  was just a question of time until I worked up the guts to try to create an actual character miniature. (My prior Hoard contributions--a barrel and a pile of skulls--were really cop-outs.) I spent several hours yesterday evening working from reference pose pictures, driving myself nuts trying to draft a believable figure, and when I finally threw in the towel, I had something that might have been "realistic", but it wasn't fun.

Tonight, I started from scratch, reminding myself that as an artist, I'm a cartoonist, not an illustrator. I quickly drafted a more comic-booky figure, then struggled over the position and angle of one foot for an hour. When that foot was finally acceptable, I scanned the pencil sketch, and "inked" it in GIMP. Here's where my halfling fighter stands as I sign off tonight:




Tomorrow night, I'll fix whatever issues you guys find, and then try to ink the back.

Thanks in advance for any advice and encouragement.

[migibb]

I like him - very clean lines. Stick with the illustrative/cartoon look jeffgeorge!!

I may be an old grognard, but I prefer my halflings (hobbitses) with no boots and big, hair feet. At the moment he looks very human and could do with the little touches to bring out his inner hobbit.... Like the traditional "cooking pot for a helmet" option, perhaps?

www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/File:C11h-08.jpg

[cowboyleland]

I offer some quibbles just to show that I looked carefully. His right hand may be a touch small. Not unrealistic, but kind of Trumpian. I agree that larger feet, even with boots on, would look more Halfling.

Edit: On third viewing, it may be that the right hand is appropriately foreshortened. As I say, a quibble. Nice fig!

[jeffgeorge]

Thanks for the kind words, guys, and the quibbles. They will be carefully considered.

Re: big, bare hairy feet--For me, Tolkein's hobbits have big hairy feet (and possibly pointy ears as well--at least that was how Peter Jackson presented them). Tolkein admitted somewhere that he intended his hobbits to be childlike, and to that end, he gave them bare feet, beardless faces and diminutive stature, as well as carefree, unambitious attitudes and naive, provincial outlooks. Giving them improvised, let's-play-dress-up armor just makes them more like children.

I prefer them to be tiny little bad-a$$es. Though my guy doesn't look like them, I really liked the spin Todd Lockwood gave to D&D hobbits a few editions ago:




I'm not sure my figure is sufficiently tough yet, but that's what I was aiming for. Giving him bigger hands and feet, as you mention, might make him look a bit more non-human in proportion, as well as toughening up his look. I'm going to experiment with that before moving on to the back view.

All that being said, if it does get to the point that this figure is part of a set of halflings that will be properly finished out in a PDF set offered for sale, I recognize that lots of folks do prefer Tolkeinesque hobbits, and I may well do a layer that replaces the boots with hairy bare feet, and perhaps even adds touches like the cooking-pot helmet. Hopefully, that would make the set appeal to those who prefer a traditional hobbit, as well as those who like their halflings less Middle-Earthy.

[chiefasaur]

Line art is slick and clean, and the pose reads well!
I know it's been mentioned before, but he doesn't really register as a halfling, but, I don't know what other fantasy races look like in your style, maybe this is what the inhabitants of jeffgeorge's Shire look like. I'm sure if I saw him next to a human or elf, the scale would become immediately obvious.

Personally, when I design "small" creatures for card models, I find a few "cheats" handy. I make their heads a bit bigger, so their expression doesn't get lost when scaled waaay down. Sometimes, I'll include a normal sized item, just to indicate they are smaller.

I think my main critique might be his outfit. It is a 100% fine, readable, working fantasy soldier/warrior outfit, but it just doesn't scream "halfling" to me. Maybe find something in your halfling culture that makes their clothing a bit more unique, like how all the hobbits in the LotR seemed to have their trousers end mid-calf. I do like his little cape

These are just super minor notes. Overall, he's heading in a fantastic direction!

[jeffgeorge]

Nov 3, 2016 9:39:17 GMT -9 chiefasaur said:

Line art is slick and clean, and the pose reads well!

Thanks! That means a lot, especially coming from you.

I know it's been mentioned before, but he doesn't really register as a halfling, but, I don't know what other fantasy races look like in your style, maybe this is what the inhabitants of jeffgeorge's Shire look like. I'm sure if I saw him next to a human or elf, the scale would become immediately obvious.

It's been literally decades since I've drawn enough fantasy characters to establish a "style." In fact, I really haven't cartooned much for any purpose in the past 20 years, apart from the occasional monster doodle to jazz up a chart or handout when I was teaching elementary school. You know almost as much about my current "style" as I do at this point--we'll just have to see what tumbles out of the pencil.

Personally, when I design "small" creatures for card models, I find a few "cheats" handy. I make their heads a bit bigger, so their expression doesn't get lost when scaled waaay down. Sometimes, I'll include a normal sized item, just to indicate they are smaller.

By "small" here, do you mean minis depicting less-than-man-sized characters (halflings, gnomes, even dwarves), or simply minis that are going to be reduced to about 1.25" tall? I did make his head a bit bigger than a human head would be according to proportions taught in how-to-cartoon books (he's about 5 heads tall, instead of 6-7 heads for a human figure), but perhaps I need to go even further to make him read as a halfling. His arms and legs are a bit short in proportion for an adult human as well, or at least were intended to be. Again, maybe that variation is too subtle to be apparent to anyone but me, since I know what I intended and you guys can't.

As for a normal-sized item for scale, I'm not sure what would be appropriate to include in a mini intended for tabletop gaming. When he's a finished figure, standing 20mm tall on the game table, next to a 32mm-tall human, perhaps that will provide some scale reference.

I think my main critique might be his outfit. It is a 100% fine, readable, working fantasy soldier/warrior outfit, but it just doesn't scream "halfling" to me. Maybe find something in your halfling culture that makes their clothing a bit more unique, like how all the hobbits in the LotR seemed to have their trousers end mid-calf. I do like his little cape

This is a valid issue, though the problem may in part lie in my choice to draw a fighter first. In choosing projects, I tend to follow the Bigweld maxim (see Robots): "See a need, fill a need!" In all the paper mini's I've bought--and I've bought lots--and in all the ones I've seen--and I've seen even more--there is a real dearth of halflings apart from rogues, and perhaps rangers. So I started with a straight-up, D&D-style fighter-in-heavy-armor halfling, because it's a character I can see needing and not having. If I'd started with a more traditional halfling role, he'd probably look more hobbity, but chainmail is pretty much chainmail, especially at 30mm. (That is chainmail under his tabard, btw, covering his upper arms and forming a skirt below his belt. Chain texture will be added when I color the figure.)

He does have muttonchops and a shaggy head of hair, though! That's got to count for something, right?

These are just super minor notes. Overall, he's heading in a fantastic direction!

Again, thanks very much. I put this out there partly for everyone's input, partly for the encouragement I knew I'd receive even if I didn't deserve it, but mostly for accountability. If people are watching me as I experiment with figure-making, I'm more likely to see the project through to a finished mini. And so far, everyone's been fantastic in providing support in all of those categories.

[jeffgeorge]

OK, here are a couple of variants, in which I've scaled up the head and feet, to make the overall proportions more hobbitish and less human. The two variants are quick-and-dirty, copy-paste-scale versions that have rough edges; try to ignore that. I'd like to know if either of the variations reads more obviously as a halfling.



I have my initial reaction, but I'm curious to see if others agree, so I won't share my assessment until a few of you have weighed in.

Thanks in advance for letting me know which version works best for you!

Edit: I didn't change the hands, partially because I think it might not be necessary (Elijah and Sean wore rubber feet in LotR, but not rubber hands...), but mostly because scaling the hands will be much more complicated than the feet  because they are more complex and more in the middle of the figure.

[jeffgeorge]

Here's a quick prototype (made with Variant 2, so I've tipped my hand on which version I prefer. Oops.), on the table with two Okumarts minis. I didn't calculate the reduction for this version carefully; he's probably a couple of mm too small, when compared with Dave's dwarf.




I think it's pretty clear he's a halfling, between the size comparison with the other figures, and the larger-proportioned head and feet. Your thoughts?

As an aside, the two Okumarts minis are ones that happened to be sitting on my desk at the time, but they show the difference between a mini that's had a coat of seal and one that hasn't. The dwarf was coated with 2 or 3 light coats of Krylon Clear-Gloss Sealant (or something like that), while the archer is bare cardstock.

[Vermin King]

I was opting for the second variation

[migibb]

My first reaction was to go for the third one, as I liked the larger head, but number two is more in proportion (his head and feet). SO I'd go for that too.

[cowboyleland]

I say he looks great next to Okum's figs, which is saying quite a lot. Soldier on!

[jeffgeorge]

Nov 3, 2016 14:23:26 GMT -9 cowboyleland said:

I say he looks great next to Okum's figs, which is saying quite a lot. Soldier on!

Okum is (one of) my hero(es)! And a nice guy on top if it!

[chiefasaur]

The bigger head and having some other characters there for scale really sells it as a halfling now.
I never thought of it, but I reckon halfling fighters are kinda rare in the wild.
Excited to see more figures from you!

[jeffgeorge]

Nov 3, 2016 16:02:47 GMT -9 chiefasaur said:

The bigger head and having some other characters there for scale really sells it as a halfling now.
I never thought of it, but I reckon halfling fighters are kinda rare in the wild.
Excited to see more figures from you!

Let's see me get this one done before we go looking for more...

[jeffgeorge]

OK, here's the front and back.



I went with the right-hand version in the set of three above--biggest head and feet. I then made the feet even slightly bigger than that. Then I did the back. I put a hood on the cloak, because that seemed like something a halfling would do. When I do the coloring, I may add a bunch of pouches and satchels as hobbity details--I feel like halflings won't travel far without their pipeweed, pocketable snacks, and cooking spices--such as will still read at less than 25mm tall.

[migibb]

Looks excellent jeffgeorge - I look forward to seeing what hobbity geegaws you can come up with to equip him with.....

[Vermin King]

Are most folks doing 32mm now? There was a time when it seemed like 25mm was the standard, then 28mm, then 30mm. I might have to start scaling things up a bit

[jeffgeorge]

Nov 4, 2016 5:33:47 GMT -9 Vermin King said:

Are most folks doing 32mm now? There was a time when it seemed like 25mm was the standard, then 28mm, then 30mm. I might have to start scaling things up a bit

They do seem to be creeping up over time. I remember my best friend and I picking 15mm lead minis in the late 70s because you got more of them in a pack than you did 25s. Everything was 25mm when I faded out of the hobby in the late 80s, and I come back, and it's all 30 or 32mm. In a few more years, when we're  using 12" action figures to play D&D, we'll finally have to admit to ourselves that we've been playing with dolls all along...

For that matter, I'm not even sure how you're supposed to measure the scale--to the top of the head? to the eyeline? I assume that the reference character is a human male standing straight up, but I'm not even certain about that.

When it comes down to it in the end--and it really is the end, since scaling the figure is just about the last thing I'll do--I'll measure a bunch of actual figures from various artists, and pick a size that makes him look about right among them. If there's more of a science to it, someone will have to fill me in.

[Vermin King]

Eyeball test ... That's what I've been doing a lot lately. On buildings, I take a sample of doors from commercial artists and lay them over the door on my model, and scale my model to 'look right'

This would be so much easier if the 'scale' would be 1/50 or something along those lines

[jeffgeorge]

I don't think even 25mm was a very standardized standard back in the day. I remember that one brand's sculpts would be half a head taller than another, and gamers thought the bigger ones were cooler, so the other brand would make theirs bigger, back and forth, till we got where we are today. Without an outside force to regulate them, the metal/plastic mini makers are probably going to be locked in a perpetual arms race for whose figures can "look down on" whose.

Fortunately, through the magic of "Custom Size" on PDFs, (or scaling in PS or GIMP, for those willing) paper mini users can fine-tune their minis to match the ones they already have, so exact scale is less of an issue.

[mesper]

Kinda late to the party, but I really like this one!

This mini combines good/useful paper-mini figurine positioning and the good fighter/warrior stance, then the "face impression" is just superb!
I like overall good proportions and especially "perspective" approach to the arms/hands: hand with shield (as well as shield alone) and the one with sword - sign of quality but at the same point kinda rare approach (actually I'm also guilty of using /in some cases/ kinda "flat" perspective;)

Regarding proportions IMHO in case of halfling - foots and especially head (vide GoT Tyrion) should be slightly bigger compared to the body.

Nov 4, 2016 5:33:47 GMT -9 Vermin King said:

Are most folks doing 32mm now? There was a time when it seemed like 25mm was the standard, then 28mm, then 30mm. I might have to start scaling things up a bit

Yep - bigger IS better!

[Vermin King]

I guess I need to get a jump on this and start working on those 90 mm figures again

I guess the late great Fabrizio Prudenziati was ahead of the curve

[jeffgeorge]

Nov 4, 2016 15:31:33 GMT -9 mesper said:

Kinda late to the party, but I really like this one!

This mini combines good/useful paper-mini figurine positioning and the good fighter/warrior stance, then the "face impression" is just superb!
I like overall good proportions and especially "perspective" approach to the arms/hands: hand with shield (as well as shield alone) and the one with sword - sign of quality but at the same point kinda rare approach (actually I'm also guilty of using /in some cases/ kinda "flat" perspective;)

Thanks very much. Hearing this from experienced artists/craftspersons like yourself means a lot, and really inspires me to keep working.

Regarding proportions IMHO in case of halfling - foots and especially head (vide GoT Tyrion) should be slightly bigger compared to the body.

I hear what you're saying, and you may be right, but at this point, I'm eager to get this figure colored, printed, and on the game table, so I'm going to hold off on further tweaks for now. I want to get a small set of halflings done, in different poses and gear, male and female, and then see where I end up. If I see that the early ones no longer match the later ones--which will presumably be better--I'll fine-tune them then to bring them into line with their kin. As mentioned above, my "artistic style" is an unknown quantity and probably a moving target at the moment, so we'll have to see where it goes over the next few weeks.

[jeffgeorge]

Here's the beginning of coloring. I haven't done any of the metal yet--that's tomorrow night. Not sure if the simple two-tone shading will be sufficient, possibly with some sort of highlighting, or if I'll need to go to gradiated, airbrush-style shading. I want to scale it down and print it at size to see how much detail/realism will actually read at final size.





Edit: Just printed it out on paper at scale, and it looks like the contrast of the shading needs to be increased--most of the detail in the shading is lost right now. Fortunately, each shade of every color is on a separate layer, so I can easily brighten or darken them one by one. But that's for tomorrow.

Thanks for following this learning process, everyone.

[migibb]

Nov 4, 2016 23:56:17 GMT -9 jeffgeorge said:

Thanks for following this learning process, everyone.

Not at all - I am finding it fascinating

[printableheroes]

Hey jeffgeorge, he looks great! I love the detail in his face, great to have an expression that reads that well small. What mini are you working on next?

[jeffgeorge]

Jan 16, 2017 21:53:40 GMT -9 printableheroes said:

Hey jeffgeorge, he looks great! I love the detail in his face, great to have an expression that reads that well small. What mini are you working on next?

Next? I haven't finished this one...

I hit a wall with his mail, finding myself unable to move forward because I can't find a way of rendering chainmail that looks like chainmail on a 1-inch-tall figure. I started with halflings because I feel like that's an niche that is not well covered (aside from a few very Tolkeinesque, hairy-footed, pot-bellied figures scattered among a few variety packs from different artists), and with a straight-up fighter because I sensed that halfers in mail are very hard to find. Now I know why...

I've spent more time than I should online and on YouTube, looking for methods for rendering mail, but none of my experiments so far have satisfied me. Maybe I'm too fussy, but I'm so slow at this, and have so little time to work on it, at the very least, I want to come out with figures that I would want on my table. The thing that's hindered my development as an artist throughout my life is how slow I am to produce a piece that's finished to the point of being publishable. I have so many projects that are between 50% and 85% done, that I've gotten frustrated with and set aside, it's sad, really...

If I get back to papercraft design any time soon (I'm suddenly buried with "real" work), though, I should work on finalizing the Dungeons of Olde first, so I can get at least a PWYW  starter set on DriveThruRPG, so more folks can have access to them.

[lightning]

Chainmail has a unique pattern


But as you say for that size you will not see much detail. I think something like this could work. The pattern is just hinting at what the original pattern looks like.

[Vermin King]

Have you looked at paper soldiers? I always liked the mail that Fabrizio Prudenziati used on his soldiers. They were primarily 90mm and 45mm, but I think that if you used that type of texture and didn't reduce it to the point of blur, it could work

[printableheroes]

Here's a couple quick ways I've done chain mail/scale mail in the past. Honestly, as much as it seems "lazy" I find simple cross hatching to read just fine in most cases, and it's also the least time consuming. Slap a shadow & highlight behind it and you're golden.