Character design
'Ace' is a character in which I have wanted to animate, and for a few years the design of him wasn't on paper, so on this page you will be able to see the visualisation of the character, as well as the process of designing and 3D modelling.
Modelling the body
Before I could model the main design of Ace, I modelled the inner body of him. this way I have a base to model over and cloth, as well as a body to be able to rig in the future for animation. I have never modelled a human body before so it did take me quite some time to learn the process and keep the typology correct. I ran into numerous issues when modelling, however I was able to figure out what they were and fixed them, allowing me to continue and finish the model.
Shoe Modelling
The shoe is currently in the process of being modelled. The image above the the current progress of it.
Ace
This image is the first design I have done for the character and I was rather happy with the design, i decided to make it the final design. My thought process for the design is that I wanted there to be a casual aspect of the suit, so that way you can tell that he is just a 'regular' person. I think having Ace wear baggy jeans and red converse style shoes is rather unique as many 'superhero' characters have their suit as an all in one, or very sci-fi, so it makes it more believable that its a D.I.Y suit as he just had to make the mask and torso clothing.
Due to liking masks 7, 9 and 10, I decided to try and incorporate them all into one, however this did mean mask 9 would be out of the question as I wanted a mask where I can still show expression, and a helmet would not be able to do that as clearly. While majority of the mask design is the same as 10, I decided to make the 'goggles' not wrap around the mask just to make it look cleaner, and I decided to keep the tassels at the back of the mask, so then that way it doesn't feel that 'bland'.
As seen in the image, Ace uses two swords for their weapons, and this is to complement their power, in which their soul is split, but is trapped inside the swords, so whenever they throw the swords, due to the soul wanting to be whole, he is able to teleport to them.
The emblem of the Spades symbol on their chest is to represent their background as a cheat in gambling through cards, which is where they were able to coin the name of 'Ace'
Sword Model
Before starting the modelling process of Ace, I decided to start modelling his sword. The reason for this was to be able to get myself used to the modelling tools within Maya, to better prepare myself and improve the workflow for when starting on the body. I am pleased with the outcome of this model as it does match the initial drawing of the swords, however I added a more defined section for where you grip the sword, as the concept image make it look like the sword has no hilt and that the blade is wrapped.
Mask Designs
The first step to bringing my character to life was to design what style of mask I wanted to give them, so I did 10 quick and rough sketches of different mask styles that I could possibly use. When I first imagined this character, they had the mask in the style of number 4, however when visualising the masks, I stepped away from that style and preferred numbers 7,9 and 10.