I attempted to base the face of my character on Maneskin singer David Damiano as he conveys a subtle masculinity which I feel is vital for Cassian. Unfortunately, my attempt at rendering a face in Zbrush has proven very challenging due to the complex structure of the skull, which I in all honesty did not anticipate being one of my main issues. When sculpting the head out, I found several of the key landmarks but found it challenging to notice what the key distinctions were to make a truly human face. Dynameshing and Z-remesher helped somewhat but I was never truly able to fix the section around the mouth and I had committed too far on my head sculpt to start again which in hindsight feels like it may have been a mistake.
The body was based on the professional wrestler Drew Mcintyre due to his enormous stature. Within the internal logic of Cassian sporting a large wingspan that would need to lift his weight and others when he flies, I theorised that he would need an immensely muscular back. Logically, this would make sense for the wings to protrude from the trapezius muscle groups as these quotes suggest:
“I doubted Cassian was drinking in the rest of the image, though: the stomach muscles gleaming with sweat in the bright sun, the bunching of their powerful thighs, the rippling strength in their backs, surrounding those mighty, beautiful wings. Death on swift wings.” (Maas, 2016)
“You’re trying steer with your arms. The muscles are in the wings themselves – and in your back. Your arms are unnecessary- they are more for balancing than anything.” (Maas, 2017).
Reference list
Anon, 2022. Damiano David. Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damiano_David#/media/File:Damiano_David_2018_(cropped).jpg [Accessed January 10, 2022].
Maas, S.J., 2016. In A Court of Mist and Fury. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, p. 182.
Maas, S.J., 2017. In A Court of Wings and ruin. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, p. 304.
WWE, 2021. Drew McIntyre’s most impactful claymores: WWE top 10, April 7, 2021. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfMqnuWfJEg [Accessed January 10, 2022].
